Modern Swedish icons ABBA, design and culture
Perhaps Sweden’s greatest export is its culture and its modernity. Swedish design, music, art and literature are admired the world over. That Sweden punches way above its weight, historically and in modern times, in terms of the impact of its culture around the globe is without doubt.
Take Björn Borg’s tennis game: stoical, rock solid, with a single-minded attitude and never-say-die tilt. Perhaps descriptive of Swedes as people. But instead of analysing Swedes perhaps we should just enjoy and celebrate the sheer showbiz of ABBA, the functionality and aesthetic of Swedish design, the peace prize of dynamite inventor Alfred Nobel and the Swedish folklore-inspired works of Astrid Lindgren. And much, much more.
As Ingemar Stenmark, man-of-few-words skiing legend, replied to a sports commentator’s criticism of one of his performances: “Try it yourself”. So why don’t you try Sweden?