A Programme Year In The Making - Umeå2014 (128 pages)

a programme year in the

makingCapitaL oF CULtUre

year Umeå2014

Photo: Malin Grönborg.

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a programme year in the

making

CapitaL oF CULtUre year Umeå2014

Programme content: Umeå2014Production: Pondus Kommunikation ABCover picture, book and sleeve: Northofsweden, Andreas Nilsson, Thinkstock, Per Enoksson and Garry Knight. Printing: Original, UmeåBook printing co-financed by: Swedbank

Published April 2013

Content8 voices on Umeå2014 4–5

Introduction 6–9

Background 10–13

The seasons 14–15

Dálvvie (deep winter) 16–25

Gijrradálvvie (early spring) 26–33

Gijrra (true spring) 34–41

Gijrragiessie (early summer) 42–49

Giessie (summer) 50–57

Tjakttjagiessie (early autumn) 58–63

Tjakttja (true autumn) 64–71

Tjakttjadálvvie (early winter) 72–79

Initiatives 80–95

Co-creativity 96–99

The northern lands 100–103

Riga 104–105

Collaborations in Europe 106–107

Building for the future 108–111

How to get here 112–113

Those who are making it possible 114–119

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“Umeå – European Capital of Culture is the northernmost European city to have been awarded this honour. Throughout the entire year the city will shed a beautiful light on its history, its people and their connection with the rest of Europe. Umeå2014 will provide a unique opportunity to instil a rejuvenated sense of pride in the city and surrounding region. We are very much looking forward to being a part of this chapter of European history”.

Androulla Vassiliou, European Commissioner for education, culture, language and youth issues

“Umeå University is recruiting researchers and students from Sweden and the rest of the world. Being European Capital of Culture is strengthening and makes Umeå more attractive and visible. The university is an active part of the programme initiative. This investment is of long-term importance both for us and for the develop-ment of the entire region”.

Lena Gustafsson, Vice-Chancellor Umeå University

“I think that we’ll have more unusual things happening here. Things you don’t normally see otherwise. And maybe even a surprise! I would like to see David Guetta, a DJ that I really like a lot”.

William Billman, 10 years old, Umeå

“Culture is one of the most powerful forces behind growth and development. In Umeå we have invested more in culture per resident than other Swedish municipalities. Today Umeå is one of Europe’s fastest growing cities and in 2014 we’re taking the next step. Taking our unique experiences as a starting point we want to work together with you to continue developing culture-driven projects through-out the whole of Europe. Join us on this journey!”

Jan Björinge, Capital of Culture CEO, Umeå2014

8 voiCes on Umeå2014

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“Umeå2014 provides an opportunity through its content and format to provide visitors with more knowledge about the contemporary and vibrant Sami culture”.

Michael Lindblad, Chairman Såhkie, Umeå Sami Association

“Umeå2014 is a very important investment for the entire Västerbotten region. We now have a unique opportunity to share the cultural traditions of Västerbotten with the citizens of Europe. Umeå2014 will also en-able us to build a modern northern region together with culture as our driving force”.

Magdalena Andersson, County Governor, Västerbotten

“2014 is going to be a very special year for Sweden when Umeå, together with Riga, becomes the European Capital of Culture. Being a capital of culture presents unique opportunities for both Umeå and the entire country to contribute to cultural development in many different ways”.

Lena Adelsohn Liljeroth, Minister of Culture

“Umeå2014 is the northernmost capital of culture ever appointed within the EU. This initiative will help raise the profile of the region’s fantastically rich resources. As the gaze of Europe turns to northern Sweden, the status of the region will rise which in turn will create new opportunities for tourism. But perhaps the greatest influence will be a belief in the future and in development – even for Piteå and other municipalities in the region”.

Peter Roslund, Municipal Commissioner, Piteå

8 voices on Um

eå2014

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Sara Lidman. Photo: Ulla Montan

Photo: Olga Ekaterincheva.

Photo: Malin Grönborg.Photo: Johan Gunséus

Photo: Anna Öhlund.

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WeLCome to eUrope’s

northern Lands!

Umeå is a proud, forward-thinking city in today’s integrated and multifaceted Europe. A city built on participation and co-operation combined with passion and curiosity.

Culture is an essential part of building a society where a sense of openness allows the creativity of people to shape its future. For many years now we have been working hard to build a cultural city that reflects this philosophy.

Which is why we are so delighted to invite you to our city. The preliminary programme we are presenting here is

built around the eight Sami seasons that represent the very essence of the northern lands and provide a framework for the cultural activities that await us in 2014.

A warm welcome to all our local, regi-onal, national and international partners. See you soon!

Marie-Louise Rönnmark, Municipal Commissioner/Chairwoman of the Capital of Culture Committee

Introduction

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GLASHUSET (the Glass House) Creating and influencing before and

after 2014. Located in the main square in the heart of the city.

Komeda. Photo: Kia Naddermier.

Photo: Malin Grönborg.

Profilteatern. Photo: Sofie Ekholm.

The Glass House, Rådhustorget. Photo: Andreas Nilsson.Sune Jonsson Centre of Documentary Photography. Photo: Sune Jonsson.

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Introduction

Let’s go!

Hello! Umeå has been chosen as the European Capital of Culture 2014 – a unique opportunity to enable culture in all its forms to get some well-deserved space and recognition as a crucial part of any multifaceted society.

Two applications to the EU commission lie behind the programme you are now looking at and the journey from ideas to implementation has been long and event-ful. Through searching, euphoria, reflec-tion, looking to the future, doubt, chaos and a goal-orientated approach to a defined cultural policy we have finally arrived at this point and our programme! One year of anticipated events created by people in Umeå and the northern regions in co-ope-ration with others from the rest of Sweden, Europe and the world. This is huge!

We are happy and proud to be able to present this exciting selection of events happening in Umeå and the surrounding region during our tenure as European Capital of Culture 2014: performing arts, photography, dance, opera, pop, blues, jazz, tango, architecture and fashion.

Festivals and art exhibitions. Concerts, design projects and national sports events. Camps, conferences, choirs, excursions and European co-operation.

Right now we’re letting the programme year mature and grow. We are planning, adjusting and making room for more projects and ideas before we finally raise the curtain.

There is still time and space for new and unexpected events to take their place in this programme. So what are we waiting for? Let’s go!

Fredrik Lindegren, Artistic Director, Umeå2014

Phot

o: F

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Lars

son.

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Why is Umeå a CapitaL oF CULtUre?

It’s the autumn of 1986 and I am attending a culture conference at Hässelby Castle. Every- one is there. At the podium a Norwegian cultural sociologist is holding up a full-page advertisement placed by the municipality of Umeå in Dagens Nyheter (a Swedish national newspaper).

“This is the future”, the man exclaims and goes on to describe the grand visions of this medium- sized city and its mix of knowledge and culture.

I am the only participant from Umeå and during the break everyone wants to talk to me. What’s going on ‘up there’? What are you doing?

Never would I have guessed that 23 years later Umeå would be chosen as the European Cap-ital of Culture. But the cultural elite’s amaze-ment over the bold initiative of Umeå‘s politi-cians was a sign of things to come. This was of course about cultural politics. Cultural politics and a belief in the future.

In September 2009 Umeå was competing along with Lund, Uppsala and Gävle for the title of European Capital of Culture 2014. It was a well-deserved bid and there are a number

of reasons why. Personally I’d like to use an analogy to highlight a rather odd reason. If you consider the EU as a political project through and through then the cultural scene in Umeå could also be viewed in the same light. An opera house, symphony orchestra, muse-ums, theatres, a host of festivals and an ener-getic rock scene all bear witness to this. To this you can add industrial design, architecture and art education in an impressive cluster down by the river.

All of this had been mainly created through political decisions spanning 40 years, while Lund had been ‘preparing’ for around 1000 years, Uppsala at least 500 years and Gävle around 200 years. This was not simply a triumph for Umeå but a victory for purposeful cultural politics as a whole.

However, cultural politics isn’t an ethereal con-cept, something that floats in the breeze. The roots of the capital of culture year must be grounded elsewhere. No other city in Swe-den expresses the public sector’s amazing post-war expansion better than Umeå.

Reflections by Leif Larsson, journalist and former culture editor at Västerbottens-Kuriren

(a regional newspaper in Västerbotten).

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ckground

Miles Davis at Umeå Airport. Photo: Lena Sondell/VK image archive.

NorrlandsOperan, The Marriage of Figaro. Photo: VK image archive. Marta, UIK. Photo: Johan Gunséus.

Ögonblicksteatern. Photo: Andreas Nilsson.

Refused. Photo: Andreas Nilsson.

Umeå University. Photo: Mattias Pettersson.

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By the end of the 1950s this rather sleepy res-idential and regimental town suddenly accel-erated and started growing by 1,000 people a year on average. By 1960 60,000 residents lived in Umeå. Today we number some 117,000.

The arrival of the university was crucial in laying the firm foundations for this unparalleled growth. And when in 1974 the state introduced a new cultural policy the politicians in Umeå immediately set to work. Suddenly in the eyes of the south it was the ‘barren’ north that was graced with its own opera house! This new vision also incorporated the city’s jazz festival, which, with Lars Lysted as its driving force, established itself as one of the country’s most distinguished events of its kind.

As soon as this journey began things quickly picked up pace. The opera chamber ensemble became a sinfonietta which in turn became a full symphony orchestra. Two theatre companies, Ögonblicksteatern and Profilteatern went professional and the newly constructed Bildmuseet (Museum of Contemporary Art and Visual Culture) bridged the gap between science and culture.

Gallery owner Stefan Andersson began work on Umedalen’s Sculpture Park and the opera company moved from makeshift premises in the old civic centre to a restored fire station and finally at the turn of this century (thanks to a clever property deal) into a purpose-built con-cert hall complete with a full-sized opera stage.

Film, chamber music, folk and rock music all got their own festivals and Sami culture was

highlighted and began being celebrated during a special week every year in March. In the mid 1980s the city centre was given a facelift with the arrival of a new library and civic centre. During this period the theatre association made huge strides, increasing its audiences tenfold in just a few years.

Things got even better when the city’s ice hock-ey team Björklöven became Swedish champi-ons in 1987 and during the 1990s Umeå Football Club qualified to the top division Allsvenskan, an achievement that triggered a substantial expan-sion of their stadium at Gammliavallen. Around the turn of the century UIK (Umeå’s women’s football team) led the way, winning the Swedish championships and attracting fantastic crowds.

It is an impressive track record which gave rise to a broader theoretical superstructure. In 1987, with Umeå as his starting point, national econo-mist Åke E. Andersson launched his ‘K society’ thesis based on knowledge, creativity, culture and communication (in Swedish all these words begin with ‘k’). This thesis formed the basis of a new way of thinking about social development and is now an accepted part of modern politics.

However, neither the public sector nor cultural politics alone create art or culture – they merely provide the right conditions. Above all else art and culture come from creative people. Without these artists, and not forgetting skilled organ-isers (some might say ‘bureaucrats’), things would not have taken form the way they have.

Another part of a progressive cultural city is an active feminist movement. Drawing inspiration

Photo: Annakarin Drugge.

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ckgroundfrom the renowned ‘Grupp 8’ (a feminist net-

work created in 1968 by eight women in Stock-holm) women play a vital role in local politics, with Margot Wikström leading the way. It was Margot, in her role as municipal com-missioner back in the 1980s, that represented a new way of thinking. At the same time the university was laying the foundations for what today has become an advanced (and hopefully controversial) gender studies centre.

That men in Umeå’s modern culture are under close scrutiny can perhaps be attributed to the surprisingly high degree of equality in the municipality’s salary structure.

In Umeå women to a great extent make up the basis of cultural life both politically and public-ly. Marie-Louise Rönnmark (s) and Anna-Karin Sjöstrand (fp) have, from the outset, powered the capital of culture project forwards. This is indicative of all the initiatives driven by women in Umeå which are now manifested in a women’s history museum at Kulturväven.

But now, as everything starts moving forwards, cultural politics is not the centre of things any more. When NorrlandsOperan moved to its current location the old civic centre, which was renamed ‘Galaxen’, became home to the country’s most vibrant rock scene endorsed by the vegan and straight edge philosophies.

The main symbol for this development was rock band Refused who, according to leading experts, are on a par with rock legends such as Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd. In December of 2012 Refused ended a world tour with a sell-

out farewell concert in Umeå in front of 3,000 ecstatic fans.

The road to 2014 hasn’t exactly been straight or easy to travel. Two heads of culture have left the journey early. There have been fights about money, art and controversial exhibitions – the latest in November 2012 centered on Sara Lid-man’s quotations displayed in the pedestrian subway next to the city’s railway station.

Nazi lectures at the university, Nazis on the thea-tre stage, burnt-out Scan lorries, angry voices, urinating performing artists and artists accused of necrophilia have all contributed to the kind of disorder that is only to be expected of a cultural scene that wants to achieve something different.

When taxpayers’ money funds culture it sometimes provokes strong feelings. But Umeå’s politicians need ‘ice in their blood’ to stand firm against populist and anti-culture sentiment and combine this resolution with the collective will of the municipality’s residents to keep public life free from the suggestion of xenophobia or racism.

All this, in these difficult times, is another sig-nificant part of what it means for a municipality that has been given the responsibility from its location in the north to shape that elusive phe-nomenon we know as European culture.

Leif Larsson

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Dálvvie(deep winter)30 Jan–27 Feb

Season of tending

Giessie (summer)

11 Jul–28 AugSeason of

contemplation

Tjakttjagiessie (early autumn)29 Aug–9 Okt

Season of harvesting

Gijrragiessie(early summer)20 Jun–10 Jul

Season of growing

Gijrradálvvie(early spring)28 Feb–29 Apr

Season of awakening

Gijrra(true spring)

30 Apr–19 JunSeason of returning

Tjakttja (true autumn)

10 Okt–20 NovSeason of

driving force

Tjakttjadálvvie(early winter)

21 Nov–29 Jan

Season of wandering

Photo: Emil Myrsell. (CC BT-NC 2.0)

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Stet!

the eight seasons oF the programme year

The Samis – the EU’s only indigenous people, have always regarded the northern region as a borderless country. Ubmeje, (the Sami word for Umeå) is a part of Sápmi – the lands inhabited by the Sami people – and their history, culture, livelihoods, religion and lang-uage. The Sami calendar year is a way of recording the shifting changes of the seasons and focusing on what is important in each and every period.

And that is why we have divided our capital of culture year into eight seasons that embody the Sami’s calendar. The seasons have their own rhythm, formed by the Sami’s cultural heritage and closeness to nature. Every season has its own character and traits, just like the activities we have planned during the European Capital of Culture year.

The complete capital of culture year will comprise hundreds of projects, among them main projects, festivals and free-standing programme activities. Certain projects and activities will reoccur every season and the programme will be continually added to.

WITH RESERVATION FOR CHANGES!The programme year has been formed over several years and even now is not completely fixed. In just the same way that the weather changes creative ideas and projects also evolve over time. We would therefore ask for your understanding should certain elements change before the start and by the end of the capital of culture year. A large number of projects will be added while others will be replaced or change shape and form.

Whatever the changes we are convinced that the year will offer tens of thousands of unique ‘stories’ that will put the northern lands firmly on the map for ever!

The Sea

sons

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Dálvvie – The season of tending

The thick blanket of snow protects both soil and land. Under millions of sparkling snow crystals nature rests as she tends her delicate work as the world slows down. In its own way the severity of the barren winter tends the reindeer, causing them to move with gentle purpose in order to survive. Their hooves break through an almost metre-thick layer of snow in order to reach the lichen. Every day the protective winter ensures survival goes on.

Only the furry one rests in its winter lair – the one that from the beginning of time has been blessed with a long rest during the harshest of seasons.

The sun has retreated back to the northern firma-ment, spreading its hope, light and comforting rays, causing the snowflakes to glisten in appreciation.

ÅSA SIMMA

Photo: Per Lundberg

Sune Jonsson Centre of Documentary Photography. Photo: Sune Jonsson.

Ladies’ world cup. Photo: Lars Klefbom. Fair City. Photo: Pär Wretling

Per Enoksson, Kollektivet.

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lvviedáLvvie (deep Winter) 30 Jan–27 Feb

EXTRAORDINARY

THE INAUGURATION – The Future Flows Through UsJanuary arrives with darkness and cold. This is how Umeå has always known it to be and is why we have learnt a few things about darkness and cold. We know that darkness should be greeted with light and cold with warmth. Our capital of culture year will not be any different other than this time we will have the whole of Europe’s help! At the start of our capital of culture year Umeå, Sápmi and Europe will gather their collective forces for a three-day long inauguration. The result will be an experience packed with innovative performances, artistic collaborations and captivating activities for everyone in the city.

International artists, local creators and participating residents will be taking to open spaces and charging the town with vibrant energy. Everything from theatres and restaurants to the Umeälven river and the ci-ty’s population will be a part of this living flow.

All this is possible thanks to a collabo-ration between the city, arts institutions, schools, independent artists, musicians, performers and, not least, the citizens of Umeå. Together we will create a generous

and welcoming whole in which the specific will meet the universal, large meets small and old meets young. When the day greets the night reindeer will rush through the city and reality will transform into a picturesque experience of snow, ice, warmth and enchan-ting song. Darkness will be filled with light, stillness will become motion and warmth will burn snow. Welcome to the European Capital of Culture 2014!

SELECTIONS FROM THE PROGRAMME

SUNE JONSSON CENTRE OF DOCUMENTARY PHOTOGRAPHYSune Jonsson (1930–2009) was a widely res-pected and acclaimed author and documen-tary photographer from Västerbotten county. He had an extraordinary ability to depict contemporary events. In January 2014 Västerbotten Museum formally opens its Centre of Documentary Photography.

Besides showing Sune Jonsson’s wide- ranging life’s work the centre will also be staging lectures, film viewings, exhibitions by guest photographers and other activities.

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SWEDISH CHAMPIONSHIPS WEEK, WINTER – Top-class national sportAs early as the third week of 2014 you can enjoy sport at the highest national level when ’Swedish Championships Week’ hits Umeå. Barely a month before the 2014 Winter Olym-pics get under way in Russia’s Sochi athletes from all over Sweden will be competing for national medals in some 20 events. Swedish championships week is a project run by Riks- idrottsförbundet (the Swedish Sports Confe-deration) and SVT (Swedish public service television company). Umeå is the host city for the Swedish Championships Week in 2014. The aim of the week is to hold Swedish cham-pionships in various sports in a single city over the course of seven days. Swedish Champi-onships Week is open to the Swedish Sports Confederation’s 69 member federations.

THE SAMI CHINESE PROJECT – A global dance performance Chinese culture takes a thrilling role in Umeå’s capital of culture year. Norrlands- Operan, together with the Chinese dance company TAO Dance Theater, will create a dance and music performance that has the goals not only of uniting these two disciplines but also of uniting the local and the global. To reach these goals Chinese and Sami mu-sicians are working closely with one another on the project. Simon Issát Marainen (from the band Árá) and Axel Andersson (from the bands Glesbygd’n and Árá) are both contributing compositions.

KLUNGAN – Comedic performance artTheatre and comedy group Klungan is once again working with choreographer Birgitta Egerbladh. Together they have developed a headstrong and innovative form of comedic performance art. For their third collaboration the group has chosen to focus on sound and is asking the question: “What’s making that noise?” They offer a comical, choreograp-hed performance revolving around sounds and what makes them. The world premiere is at Sagateatern in Umeå in January 2014.

THE MARVELLOUS IS ALWAYS BEAUTIFUL – Surrealism in focus Dream and reality, man and nature, ima-gination’s freedom and the instinctive. Bildmuseet starts 2014 off with surrealism’s boundary-crossing ideas and forms of ex-pression. Besides paintings, sculpture and photography ‘The marvellous is always beautiful’ exhibition also features fashion, design and literature from this major Europe-an movement.

EUGEN ONEGIN – OperaPyotr Tchaikovsky’s opera Eugen Onegin, which is being performed at Norrlands- Operan in 2014, holds a special position as the most played and loved of Russian operas. The opera is based on a poem by Alexander Pushkin and revolves around Tatjana, the young country girl who falls haplessly in love with the restless heartbreaker Eugen Onegin. Tchaikovsky painted the story with

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BiLDMUSEET Public space for contemporary art and visual expression

Umefolk. Photo: Bjarte Edvardsen.

© Katarina Pirak Sikku Skin 4,

Dorothea Tanning, La Grotte © Moderna Museet.The Sami Chinese Project. Photo: Axel Andersson.

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such sensitivity and palpable empathy that it has a rightful place amongst opera’s master-pieces. Peter Mattei and Maria Fontosh take the title roles. Eugen Onegin is being presen-ted as an opera concertante.

INITIATIVES

Read more about general projects and recurring themes on pages 80–95.

8 SEASON CONCERTS – Beethoven and BeyondThe ‘season of tending’ concert is Beethoven and Beyond. Beethoven’s music in general and his nine symphonies in particular have an extraordinarily significant position in European classical music. In Beethoven and Beyond his nine symphonies are given particular attention while at the same time a contemporary take is provided by nine commissioned works – one for each symp-hony. These new works are being composed by nine different composers and performed by NorrlandsOperan’s symphony orchestra under the baton of Rumon Gamba.

8 X ART – Skin 4 by Mehmet Ali UysalSkin 4 is a permanent artistic installation. It will be ready just in time for the start of our capital of culture year. Sculptural in form, Skin 4 is a nine-metre high wooden clothes peg that is integrated into the surrounding

grass. It is being created by internationally famous Turkish artist Mehmet Ali Uysal. This project has been contributed to both with ideas and finance in collaboration with Balticgruppen. It is one element in an ambition to enrich the area around our river and Umeå Arts Campus with public art.

URBAN FORUM – The eight seasons’ parkAs part of developing the city area between Umeå’s bridges, Lugn och Ro – de åtta års- tidernas park (Peace and Quiet – the eight seasons’ park,) is officially being opened during the ‘season of tending’. Through a co-creative process the residents will be encouraged to fill the park with contents that play with scales, functions, colours and materials. In this way the park will become a dynamic place that contributes to energising the river area in central Umeå. Many different activities will be taking place throughout 2014.

8 SAMI ARTISTS – Katarina Pirak SikkuCan sorrow be inherited? This is the ques-tion artist Katarina Pirak Sikku asks in her project on Swedish racial biology’s studies of the Sami population. Her exhibition, in which she gives a new perspective on the history of Swedish science, can be seen at Bildmuseet in 2014.

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lvvieBeethoven and Beyond. Peter Mattei. Maria Fontosh.

Photo: Malin Grönborg. 100 MIGRATORy. Photo: Mikael Rutberg.

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CHALLENGING POWER – Pojken, flickan och muren‘Pojken, flickan och muren’ (The boy, the girl and the wall) is a theatre piece for children created by dramatist Camilla Blomkvist and based on the Ulf Stark book of the same name. It is being performed in Umeå schools and also going on tour. This piece together with ‘With my eyes only’ are Ögonblicks- teatern’s major contributions for 2014.

FAIR CITY – Theme: FoodIn the ‘season of tending’ this Fair City project focuses on food with sustainability as the key word. Pupils in Hörnefors (a short distance from Umeå) in collaboration with the Gastro-nomy programme at Umeå University have developed new recipes showing how they imagine our region’s food in the future.

RIVER STORIES – JukkaslåtarIn Jukkaslåtar (Jukka’s tunes), musician Gunnar Idenstam recreates personal memo-ries of growing up in Jukkasjärvi by Tornälven (the Torne river). In a glorious melting pot the sounds of organ, violin, saxophone and digital computer sounds blend with Sami song per-formed by Sofia Jannok and joik from Simon Marainen. Idenstam performs Jukkaslåtar in Teg’s church at Folk- och världsmusikgalan (Folk and World Music Gala) between 20–23 February. He then takes the arrange-ment on tour throughout the county.

ROCK ART IN SÁPMI – 100 MIGRATORYGlass artist Monica L Edmondson’s hundred glass vessels have returned from their world travels and go on show in the 100 Migratory exhibition at Västerbotten Museum. The vessels have migrated in and out of various environments, countries and worlds. By linking Sami tradition, Swedish glass and handicrafts the artist is seeking not only to show the vessel as both a messenger and a metaphor for man but also to raise issues such as affiliation, identity, origin and migra-tion. As a part of the exhibition dancer Carmen Olsson is creating a performance in collaboration with NorrlandsOperan. Influ-enced by her Nordic and Spanish heritages, Carmen Olsson has developed Mibudo, her own personal stylising of the Japanese dance form of Butoh – Mibudo. It is charac-terised by precision and a deep connection captured in every move. The exhibition opens 1 February 2014 at 14.00 at the Västerbotten Museum.

FESTIVALS

UMEFOLK 2014 – Folk and world music‘Umefolk’ is an annual folk music festival. In our capital of culture year it is being combined with Folk- och världsmusikgalan (Folk and World Music Gala). Umefolk is a

Photo: Andreas Gradin.

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popular meeting point for practitioners and music aficionados alike.

WINTER CITY 2014Winter city is a much-appreciated tradition in Umeå. In 2014 it is being developed into a celebration of our long winter and the endless opportunities for activities and experiences offered by the snow, ice and cold. In the year’s coldest months we trans-form the city into an arena for winter expe-riences. It features installations such as an exquisitely crafted, exciting snow fortress and a centrally located snowboarding park. The initiatives of residents are captured and added to with the know-how of experts and artists. Exchanges of ideas and skills with other winter cities will boost the event and build the contact networks Umeå needs to be a first-class winter city for 2014 and the future! Winter city is an important element in the inauguration and will be a prominent part of the city’s scenography throughout this cold season.

And this isn’t all! See the current programme at www.umea2014.se

Umefolk. Photo: Bjarte Edvardsen.

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Gijrra

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Illustration: Marie Persson.

Strömpilen. Reindeer parking. Photo: Eva Conradzon. Per Enoksson: Ski Star.

Profilteatern. Photo: Andreas Nilsson.Photo: Andreas Nilsson.

Gijrradálvvie – The season of awakening

Each day lengthens a ptarmigan’s step at a time, reviving. Icicles drip tears of joy, the awakening conjures forth movement. Expectant reindeer cows, bearing new life within them, gaze towards the northwest. Underneath the blanket of snow the soil’s desire to awaken lives on. The reindeer cows know. Soon it will be time to return to the same snow-free patches that have welcomed their calves year after year.

ÅSA SIMMA

PROFiLTEATERnAn arena for fringe theatre

Photo: Ma

lin Grönb

org.

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Gijrra

dá

lvvie

giJrradáLvvie (earLy spring)

28 Feb–29 aprSELECTIONS FROM THE PROGRAMME

HORROR THEATRE – Horror in focus on the stageFor five weeks of our capital of culture year Umeå will be a meeting place for horror afi-cionados. Discover, if you dare, a festival that takes the performing arts as its starting point and continues, via the film world, to music and science. Festival organiser Profilteatern is taking this opportunity to stage its own per-formances of Utbrott (Outbreak) and the now classic En kvinna i svart (A woman in black). Guest troupes from other European countries are also featured in the current schedule.

UBMEJEN BIEJVIEH – A natural meeting place in SápmiNaturally enough you will still be able to enjoy the popular Sami week (Ubmejen Biejvieh in Sami) in 2014. This time the theme is Sápmi yesterday, today and tomorrow/Sábmie juktán, údne jah båhtije ájggáje. Among the programme items are Sami concerts, art shows, handicrafts exhibitions, lectures, films, theatre and dance. Sami week coincides with our sports holidays and therefore also features many outdoor activities for children.

Events and activities take place at Väster- botten Museum and other venues around the city. Ubmejen Biejvieh has become a natural meeting point for Sami from the whole of Sápmi (the lands inhabited by the Sami people). Sami culture comes to the fore at this time and excites the interest of local people and tourists alike. The organiser is Såhkie Umeå Sameförening (Såhkie – Umeå Sami Association), a body that works to spread information about the Samis and Sami cultu-re and aims to safeguard and promote Sami interests at an exhibition being held at the Västerbotten Museum.

SNOW CASTLE WINTER TALE Vintersaga i snöslott (Snow castle winter tale) is a collaborative project in which the municipality’s streets and parks department builds, the culture teachers at Kulturcentrum narrate and children act, react and interact. Come and be part of a true winter tale in northern Europe’s most beautiful and im-pressive snow castle!

MADE IN SÁPMI With quality craftsmanship, design and handicrafts at its centre the Made in Sápmi exhibition raises questions about traditional skills, change and identity. The exhibition is

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being produced in collaboration with Sámi Duodji (the Sami Crafts Foundation) and Ájtte (the Swedish Mountain and Sami Museum in Jokkmokk).

THE SPRING FORWARD FESTIVAL – Young dancersSpring Forward is an annual dance festival in which young dancers and choreographers showcase their works to the public. The festi-val visits a new city every year. In the capital of culture year 2014 it is coming to Umeå. The festival is an initiative of Aerowaves – a European dance network that is active in 36 countries. During Spring Forward it will be possible to make contact with dancers from throughout the whole of Europe.

INITIATIVES


8 SEASON CONCERTS – Från mörker till ljusIn this ‘season of awakening’ concert NorrlandsOperan’s symphony orchestra and the Sångkraft chamber choir perform Från mörker till ljus (From darkness to light) by Estonian composer Mirjam Tally. Based on both minimalism and modernism, Tally’s works experiment extensively with tone and colour. Tally is an internationally famous Estonian artist whose pieces have been performed throughout Europe and the USA.

The texts in this work are taken from Följ stigen (Follow the path), a collection of poems by Paulus Utsi.

8 x ART – ConvoyConvoy is an installation and performance that takes its inspiration from Sami tradition, ecology and mythology. Convoy seeks to mobilise and activate our shared responsibility to achieve sustainable development. It does this via a collective performance that uses symbols such as growing grass and prams. The prams symbolise delicate fra-gility. At the same time they also represent gentle safekeeping and hope for the future. Gunilla Samberg, an Umeå-based artist, is the mastermind behind Convoy. Umedalen Skulptur (a sculpture park located just out-side the city) is just one of the many places where she has works on display. Convoy will be staged in central Umeå throughout the entire exhibition.

CHALLENGING POWER – Tantflickans & Flicktantens dagTantflickans & Flicktantens dag (Old ladies’ and young girls’ day) is a theme day that seeks to inspire audiences to an awakened interest in equal opportunities. Research from the TantForsk! and FlickForsk! Networks will be presented during the day. TantForsk! is studying a group that was often previously ignored in research – old ladies. FlickForsk! carries out gender-aware research into the history, culture, lives and social conditions of young girls.

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lvvie8 season concerts. Mirjam Tally.

Umeå Open. Photo: Andreas Nilsson.

8 × Art. Convoy © Gunilla Samberg.

Spring Forward festival. Photo: Jan Komarek. Old ladies’ and young girls’ day. Photo: Madelene Edlund.

Photo: Marko Feklistoff.

nORRLAnDSOPERAnOne building, many stages

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FAIR CITY – Theme: spaceIn this part of the Fair City project our gazes turn towards space. This Nordic project in-volves Kulturverket, Umevatoriet (the Umeå observatory) and pupils from Umeå, Viborg and Akureyri. Together they have created modern myths and new constellations. Thus, in the ‘season of awakening’, the project can be said to use a newly awakened starry heaven to present the children’s view of im-portant stories from their day-to-day lives.

FAIR CITY – Theme: waterJust in time for World Water Day on 22 March this Fair City project focuses on our most important resource – water. In collabo-ration with Umeva (a company involved with water and waste management), pupils from Holmsund and Obbola take a closer look at this indispensable natural asset and work on visions for the future.

ROCK ART IN SÁPMI – Jag är tusen årThe theatre piece Jag är tusen år (I am a thousand years old) builds on the Sami culture’s unbroken traditions from the time of rock paintings and petroglyphs. Taking part are some of the most popular joik per-formers and actors from two Sami theatres, Giron Sámi Teáhter in Kiruna and Beaivvás sámi nasunála teáhter in Kautokeino. The piece has its world premiere in March 2014.

RIVER STORIES – Mánáj vuöllieIn the ‘season of awakening’ the River Stories project is a joint performance resul-ting from the coming together of two choirs: NorrlandsOperan’s children’s choir and a children’s joik choir. This is a meeting of not just two choirs but of two different cultures and traditions. The project facilitates a cultu-ral and musical exchange in which new life is breathed into old traditions thanks to some one hundred children and young people. This performance is the finale for the project, which has been running since autumn 2012.

FESTIVALS

LITTFEST – A festival of the written wordWith around one hundred international and Swedish authors taking part, Umeå’s lite-rature festival is now an annual highlight. Littfest is held in Umeå Folkets Hus (the city’s civic centre) and offers seminars, talks, workshops, exhibitions and time to browse through the many books that form the heart of the festival. Several writing competitions will be organised and prizes awarded. Crow-ning Sweden’s largest annual competition for novels, the ‘Umeå municipality short story prize’ is one of these. The festival gets under-way in week 11.

Foto: Felipe Tofani (CC By-NC-SA 2.0).

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UMEå OPEN – Grand SlamUmeå Open is a part of Grand Slam 2014, a project that aims to establish Umeå as one of the world’s leading and most vibrant music capitals. The festival is one of Sweden’s largest indoor rock festivals and a popular meeting point for music lovers throughout the north of Sweden. Grand Slam, which in-cludes Umeå Open and Pop Up, is arranged by Humlan, a non-profit cultural organisation in Umeå.

STORYTELLER FESTIVAL IN SKELLEFTEå – Storytelling power for allFor a whole week Berättarfestivalen (the ‘Storyteller Festival’) fills not only Skellefteå, the storytellers’ town, but also the entire area with “storyteller power” and listening enjoyment for everyone. you are welcome to take part in over one hundred activities that demonstrate the enchantment of story-telling. Storyteller cafes, seminars, courses, competitions, storyteller theatre and much more help make up this week. The various activities in the Storyteller Festival are pre-sented by storytellers from the region and guests from Sweden and Europe. Together they are keen to show that storytelling can be everything from a carefully repeated story or a tool in pedagogic situations to a spon-taneous exchange of memories that enable us to pass on our cultural heritage. Be part of this proud storytelling tradition yourself!

The Storyteller Festival is arranged by Kultur Skellefteå, Västerbottensteatern, Skellefteå Museum and Västerbotten Museum in colla-boration with a number of local organisers.

HOUSE OF METAL – Norrland’s largest hard rock festivalThis festival has been held at Umeå’s civic centre every year since 2007. In our capital of culture year House of Metal will open for visitors in week 9! Festival-goers can enjoy listening to around 25 bands from Sweden and the rest of the world. House of Metal has the ambition of becoming Sweden’s best metal festival.

12 POINTS JAZZ – Jazz from all over EuropeThis festival showcases young, creative and ambitious jazz musicians from all over Europe. Drop in on the festival when you visit Umeå in 2014. Dublin is the true home of 12 Points Jazz, which is staged every other year in one of Europe’s young, vibrant cities.

This programme is being constantly updated at www.umea2014.se

12 Points Jazz.

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Gijrra – The season of returning

The days and nights are light now. A dea-fening rumble lets loose the ice. The living watercourses tickle the land, enticing the greenery to return. May is Miessemánnu – the calf month. It is now that the young take their first faltering steps. To the safe, familiar patches of snow-free ground on the mountain slopes, the same familiar grounds, they return year after year. The calves gather strength, collecting courage for life’s journey ahead.

ÅSA SIMMA

Photo: Per Lundberg

Photo: Inta Ruka. Per Enoksson. The State’s flagship.

Zhang Huan, Family Tree, 2000. © M+ Sigg Collection.

Zhang Xiaogang, Bloodline Series, 1998. © M+ Sigg Collection.

SPARKEnUmeå skateboard park

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GijrragiJrra (trUe spring)

30 apr–19 Jun


2014 NEW VäSTERBOTTEN AUTHORS – Children writing booksThis project gives 2,000 of the county’s children and youths the opportunity to write and publish a book. As part of the celebra-tions the authors can present and sell their works at a large book fair in Umeå in May. Umeå Legend Club and Tellus, a storytellers’ association, are behind the project.

CONTEMPORARY CHINESE ART In the summer of 2014 the halls of Bildmuseet will be filled with a major exhibition of Chine-se art from recent decades. The pieces going on show are from one of the world’s foremost collections of contemporary Chinese art, the M+ Sigg Collection. M+ is Hong Kong’s new museum of visual culture and is due to open in 2017.

INTA RUKA – Photographs from LatviaPhotographs by Inta Ruka, the internationally famous Latvian photographer, are being shown at Västerbotten Museum. Since the 1980s she has taken captivating portraits of people in sparsely populated areas and

major cities and her work has won many grants and prizes.

ANNÉE OLOFSSON – Exhibition at Galleri Andersson/SandströmOne of Sweden’s most significant contem-porary photographers will be presenting an entirely new set of large-scale photographs that have never been shown before. This is an incredibly strong set. She has been wor-king on it for three years and, thematically, it differs markedly from her earlier work. It revolves around environments that, at first sight, can be perceived as romantic idylls. However, behind the facades, the underlying depictions are of involuntary isolation and life situations over which there is no control.

NORRLAND PASSION – Innovative adventure in a circus tentNorrländsk passion (Norrland Passion) is a large, innovative, theatrical adventure in a circus tent. Three young Norrland dra-matists have each written a piece. Together these three works form Norrländsk passion, a showcase of what northern Sweden is capable of producing. The project paves the way for new meetings, widened networks and improved collaborations between Västerbotten and Europe.

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CROSSING BOARDERS CAMPDuring the summer the charitable skateboar-ding foundation Crossing Boarders is holding Crossing Boarders Camp. This is an innovati-ve camp activity for people aged between 13 and 18. There is a deliberate focus on girls. The goal is to increase access to leisure activities for under-represented groups.

INITIATIVES


8 SEASON CONCERTS – The Shape of Punk to ComeThe ‘season of returning’ concert is an orchestral interpretation of The Shape of Punk to Come, the last album of hardcore band Refused. This legendary Umeå band is a milestone in punk’s history.

Refused put Swedish hardcore scene on the world map. The Shape of Punk to Come is now being rewritten and arranged as an orchestral version to be performed by NorrlandsOperan’s symphony orchestra.

CHALLENGING POWER – Unlimited! European OFF Meeting Unlimited! is a networking meeting for pro-fessional practitioners of fringe performing arts. The meeting comprises workshops,

seminars and master classes. It kicks off with Live Art Marathon, a public programme of performances. This offers a wide range of artistic and cultural forms of expression from Europe and the Middle East. The meeting focuses on cross-disciplinary and norm- critical creativity and is arranged by Teater-centrum and European sister organisations. At the same time participants will be able to explore how digital network platforms can increase accessibility and contribute to inter-cultural creativity and collaboration.

FAIR CITY – Theme: communicationPupils from southern Umeå work creatively on how they see communication in the city of tomorrow. How do we really communicate and why? Kulturverket’s artists and Umeå University’s HUMlab address the questions and let the children lead the way.

URBAN FORUM – Umedalen adventure playgroundThe ‘season of returning’ sees the inauguration of Äventyrsleken på Umedalen (Umedalen adventure playground), a new meeting place for all those who like to play and discover. A district party based on the local residents’ interests (e.g. graffiti, choir singing and acrobatics) signals the opening.

The adventure playground has been created through an active dialogue with Umedalen residents.

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8 season concerts. The Shape of Punk to Come.

Rock Art in Sápmi. Petroglyph, Stornorrfors. Umedalen Skulptur, Jaume Plensa. Photo: Galleri Andersson/Sandström.

Photo: Sarah Naut.

Elsa and Ida, Crossing Boarders Camp.

SCHARinSKA viLLAnHistorical music arena

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RIVER STORIES – CrescendoOn the 31st of May 2014 400 young people will be getting onto a stage at the old prison site in Umeå to perform Crescendo, a mammoth concert organised by Kulturakademin (the Culture Academy) as part of the River Stories project. Crescendo is a cross-border collaboration in which Västerbotten music schools are participating along with several choirs from Helgeland in Norway. Respon-sible for the music are composers Arvid Martinsen and Jonas Knutsson, who is also providing the band.

ROCK ART IN SÁPMI – Find new rock artIn 2013 the Rock Art in Sápmi project is run-ning a competition to find new rock art in Västerbotten. The winner will be announced and the find presented during the capital of culture year 2014. Besides their prize the winner will also receive recognition for their find. The jury comprises archaeologists from Västerbotten Museum and Umeå University.

FESTIVALS

UMEå KULTURNATTA – Twenty-four hours of cultureUmeå Kulturnatta (Umeå culture night) is the largest and most comprehensive regularly held culture event in Umeå. With over 2,500

participants in over 300 programme items the event provides twenty-four non-stop hours of culture in the city. The programme is presented by more than 150 different orga-nisers to tens of thousands of visitors – an ex-ample of co-creativity at its best! Entry to all the events is free and the entire twenty-four hours offer many extraordinary cultural ex-periences. Umeå Kulturnatta is celebrating its 10th anniversary in 2014.

2 DAYS IN UMEå – Youth scene This capital of culture year 2014 contribution comes from Umeå Fritid Unga (a municipal body representing the interests of young people). During a two-day music festival around 100 different music/dance acts will perform on five different stages as Umeå has the honour of holding Sweden’s largest drug-free youth festival, Livet är en fest (Life is a party). This is the annual festival that Fritids-forum (“Leisure Forum”) holds for all youth

The MADE festival Photo: Lena Brylle (CC By-NC 2.0).

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Nina Hagen, Umeå2014 ambassador. Photo: Roger Degerman.

club members throughout Sweden. Partici-pation, diversity and having fun together are the key concepts.

For ten years now this festival, which mo-ves around the country, has been organised by and for young people. Various workshops, talks, discos and LAN and TV game competi-tions are being arranged.

MADE – Music, Art, Dance, ExperienceMADE is a performing arts festival regulary held in Umeå. It started in 2006 and is contini-ously developing the festival for our capital of culture year. The festival champions the un-expected and builds its programmes around international, national and local performers and artists. MADE is a historically unique fes-tival with genre-mixing forms of expression. This is exemplified by NorrlandsOperan’s vision ‘A playground for new expressions’.

Get involved! See more at www.umea2014.se.

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Gijrragiessie – The season of growing

Early summer, the earth slowly clothes itself in green, adorns itself in the colours of the plants. Cautiously and fumbling, she stretches out into the warm air. Crops take on strength. The trees’ leaves become bolder, allowing the wind to play with them. Mosquitoes drive the reindeer herds to the upland glaciers. We prepare to move to the mountains where the calves have always stayed and where they have always grown in their protective herds.

ÅSA SIMMA

Per Enoksson. Gentik between 7 and 11.Gammlia. Photo: Petter Engman, Västerbotten museum.

Umeå Institute of Design. Photo: Annakarin Drugge.

Sångkraft. Photo: Johan Gunséus. Bloom. Photo: Umeå Tourist Office.

GAMMLiAvästerbotten museum and open-air complex

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giJrragiessie (earLy sUmmer)

20 Jun–10 JulSELECTIONS FROM THE PROGRAMME

A CHORAL MIDSUMMER LIGHT’S DREAM – International choir festivalA Choral Midsummer Light’s Dream is Umeå’s international choir festival arranged by the Sångkraft chamber choir. The 2014 festival will have the whole of Umeå singing in the lightest week of the year – midsummer! The programme includes concerts, work-shops and a European composition written especially for the festival.

DESIGN RESEARCH SOCIETY 2014 During midsummer week Umeå welcomes you to the Design Research Society 2014 conference. The conference, which is the world’s foremost in design research, is held every other year at different locations. 2014 is its first journey to the Nordic countries. The conference aims to bring together leaders in its field with a view to developing tomorrow’s design research.

Umeå Institute of Design (UID) is on the Umeå Arts Campus next to the Umeälven river and is home to students and teachers from around the world. UID features at the top

of several international rankings and is an inspiring meeting place for creative people.

TRADITIONAL SAMI HEALING THEN AND NOW – ExhibitionIn the ‘season of growing’ two bodies, the Centre for Sami Research and Umeå’s Med-icinhistoriska museet (Museum of Medical History) are inaugurating a new exhibition about Sami healing. The venture is sup-ported by the Sami parliament. For several hundred years Sami culture has been gathe-ring knowledge on how we can heal and prevent injuries and illnesses. This exhibition lets you experience Sami healing’s develop-ment – from the past to the present day!

One part of the exhibition is a herb garden in which some of the most important plants are being grown for use later on in a work-shop where, in collaboration with Umeå Uni-versity’s Department of Chemistry, extracts will be prepared and tested in various ways.

BLOOM – Adorning all Umeå Umeå has traditionally always had a com-prehensive and detailed floral programme known as Bloom. In 2014 this programme is being complemented with various them-es designed to generate collaborations

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with residents, experts and artists etc. Bloom is a thought-provoking and beauti-ful embellishment of Umeå. It also gives a new perspective on the city’s flowers. Our parks will be displaying everything from edible plants to instructively com-posed flower beds and top-class designs from celebrities in the gardening world.

CULTURE FOR SENIORS – CULTURE AND HEALTH – JättepicknickJättepicknick (Gigantic Picnic) is an annual event in Döbelns park. It is also the start of the park’s entire summer programme. The programme covers everything from music and sing-alongs to boules and guided tours of the surroundings. Our senior citizens meet in the park, have fun and enjoy the picnics they have brought along. In 2014 the event will be extra special as senior citizens will be able to experience a European take on Jättepicknick and the subsequent summer programme.

INITIATIVES


8 SEASON CONCERTS – StadionmusikThe ‘season of growing’ commences with Stadionmusik (Stadium music), a dramatic performance that, in an innovative way, mixes the ingredients of arena sport with contemporary classical music. This arena

performance in Umeå’s Noliahallen brings together around 400 participants, including Olympic-level sportspeople, soloists, NorrlandsOperan’s symphony orchestra, young athletes and choirs. David Moss is responsible for the concept and direction. Prepare yourselves for a fascinating and unexpected collision of sport and music!

8 x ART – Vasaplan, the social gardenIn the ‘season of growing’ Umeå’s Vasaplan, a perpetually busy bus terminus, is transformed into a social garden. The 8 x konst (8 x art) project gives the terminus a new face filled with, for example, plants and allotments. This is a place for exhibitions, meetings, concerts and other types of social activity. Umeå’s vision is to increase its popu-lation to 200,000 by 2050. Public spaces must therefore be transformed to meet new needs. Just like Vasaplan in the ‘season of growing’!

8 SAMI ARTISTS – Liselotte WajstedtLiselotte Wajstedt is a script writer, director and filmmaker. Her films often move in the borderland between documentary and experimental art film. In 2014 Bildmuseet premieres her new film project called The Lost One. This sees her go in search of her family’s history and her Sami roots.

FAIR CITY – Theme: travellingThe Fair City project in the ‘season of growing’ focuses on travel. Be Green (a project that works for a better and more

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Culture for seniors, Gigantic Picnic.

Art sails in II. Photo: Madelen Eliasson. River Stories. Big Nila and Little Docka.

Liselotte Wajstedt. Photo: Lisa Kejonen.

T3 AREnAUmeå’s largest football

and events arena

Stadium music.

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sustainable environment), Kulturverket and school pupils in the city’s western districts investigate travelling in Umeå and give us new perspectives on how it might look in the future.

URBAN FORUM – VasaplanIn the ‘season of growing’ an innovative gar-den will be shooting to new heights. Vasaplan is the heart of public transport in Umeå and the focus will be on how it can be developed. The challenge is to realise concepts such as ’discovering’, ‘transforming’, ‘making acces-sible’ and ‘communicating’. Vasaplan is a national collaboration project.

RIVER STORIES – Stor-Nila och Lill-DockaStor-Nila och Lill-Docka (Big Nila and Li’l Doll) is a musical that revolves around love, unrest, poverty and Sami life in the 19th century. The text has been written by Mikael Niemi with music by Per Egland. All the com-pulsory schools in Västerbotten will receive study materials for use in several subjects as well as copies of the musical. There will be public performances in Umeå, Lycksele, Storuman and Tärna.

Photo: Annakarin Drugge.

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FESTIVALS

MIDNIGHT LIGHT TANGO FESTIVALWeekend courses with prominent internatio-nal tutors will be on offer throughout Tango- festival (Tango festival). you will also have the opportunity to watch world-class tango performances at Västerbotten Museum and other venues around the city. Tangofestival is being organised by Tango Norteño, Umeå’s Argentinian tango association.

The project actively creates networks between the tango association in Umeå and others in Sweden and Europe. In the capital of culture year 2014 a special collaboration is being undertaken with Riga.

And this is not all! See the latest programme at www.umea2014.se

Photo: John Perivolaris. (CC By-NC-ND-2.0).

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Giessie – The season of contemplation

The short but bright summer keeps people and reindeer awake. Calves must be marked. At last the reindeer can feast on the earth’s bounty. They must nourish themselves in order to survive. Soon they will be putting on their beautiful, rugged autumn coats. Antlers are forming and we watch how the reindeer grow in stature.

ÅSA SIMMA

Per Enoksson. The Earth is a sin...

Swedish Beach Tour. Photo: Tage Olsin.

NorrlandsOperan’s symphony orchestra. Photo: Malin Arnesson.

U x U music festival.

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Giessiegiessie

(sUmmer) 11 Jul–28 aug

EXTRAORDINARY

ELEKTRA – Unique operaNorrlandsOperan will create history when it presents a unique version of Richard Strauss’s Elektra. The opera is being perfor-med for the first time ever in a full-format outdoor performance involving over 250 participants. To do full justice to this expres-sionistic masterpiece NorrlandsOperan is collaborating with the Catalan performing arts group La Fura dels Baus. The latter enjoyed its first international breakthrough with its staging of the inauguration of the Olympic Games in Barcelona in 1992.


U x U – Music festival by people, for peopleSummer 2014 welcomes the first U x U (you by you), a music festival by people, for

people. The festival has been made possible by crowd-funding. Consequently the num-ber of people involved determines the size. Umeå’s music scene and the city’s residents have welcomed the festival with great enthu-siasm. Furthermore U x U is attracting visitors and participants both from Sweden and abroad. A fantastic festival awaits. Just how fantastic is up to you!

SUMMER THEATRE – Hjärtat som ingen ville haHjärtat som ingen villa ha (The heart that nobody wanted) is a summer performance for all ages that involves music, dance, acrobatics and fire. The narrative is inspired by a Maria Gripe story and this performance version has been dramatised especially for Umeå’s new amphitheatre in Broparken.

Kulturcentrum is staging the performance as one element in its 40th anniversary. The performance features young people from Teatermagasinet working closely with two associations; Jamo Jamo Arts and Lek som en gycklare (‘Play like a jester’).

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SWEDISH BEACH TOURIn the middle of our ‘season of contemplation’ the streets of central Umeå will be filled with sand for Swedish Beach Tour, a display of top-class beach volleyball. From 6–9 August Eu-rope’s elite players will be in Umeå to contest what is always a packed-out event. Swedish Beach Tour is arranged by Svenska Volley-event (Swedish Volleyball Events) and the beach section of IKSU, a health and fitness organisation founded at Umeå University. Between matches there will be outdoor movies and volleyball exhibitions. Parents can also let their children try out the sport for themselves.

SWEDISH ATHLETICS CHAMPIONSHIPS This is a classic event in Swedish athletics covering all disciplines except marathon and relay. The championships attract large public and media interest and were previo-usly held in Umeå in 1972 and 1992 – both times in front of considerable crowds. In 1972 the major star was discus thrower Ricky Bruch with his 64.40 m throw, which remains a championship best to this day.

In the 1992 championships middle- distance star Malin Ewerlöf won her first 800 m title. Local arrangers IFK Umeå and Umedalens IF won high jump golds with Maria Gruffman-Rönnlund (IFK) and Patrik Thavelin (UIF).

In 2014 Umeå’s great hopes are middle- distance runner Viktoria Tegenfeldt and sprinter O’Dain Rose.

INITIATIVES


8 X ART – KonstcampenKonstcampen (Art Camp) allows culture to take possession of new and unexpected arenas. For example, what happens if a band of artists rolls up in a pimped-out caravan at a camping site and erects a large tent? In Konstcampen the artists offer, amongst other things, film showings and workshops.

Swedish athletics championships.

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© Carola Grahn

The Bombettes. Photo: Andreas Nilsson.La Fura dels Baus.

ExEL AREnAindoor arena for sports and events

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8 SAMI ARTISTS – Carola GrahnArtist Carola Grahn works with several dif-ferent media, including photography, sound and text. In 2014 she is producing a new audio piece for Bildmuseet. Her work often focuses on power structures in relation to gender and ethnicity. Amongst other things it also investigates and raises questions about Sami and Swedish identity.

FAIR CITY – Theme: energyThe Fair City project in the ‘season of cont-emplation’ considers what energy is really needed for. Children and young people from northern Umeå together with Kulturverket presents creative thoughts on how, energy- wise, Umeå can be developed sustainably and fairly. Aiding them is Naturskolan (the ‘School for outdoor learning’) and Lär- och forskningscentrum (the ‘Learning and Research centre’).

RIVER STORIES – Rock Out WildIn the ‘season of contemplation’ the River Stories project is working with the Rock Out Wild hard rock festival. Between the 1–2 August 2014 the festival will be held on the banks of the roaring Vindelälven river next to the Nalovardo ski facility outside Sorsele. Besides real hard metal Rock Out Wild also offers some gentler sounds. Be part of the cool atmosphere generated by people of all ages coming together!

Reindeer herding in Kultsjödalen. Photo: Magnus Ström.

FESTIVALS

UMEå FOTBOLLSFESTIVAL – International youth tournamentWith a little over 7,000 players and coaches this is one of Sweden’s largest international football tournaments for young people. The ambition of Umeå Fotbollsfestival (Umeå Football Festival) is that everyone should have the opportunity to take part, which is why the tournament has classes for children, youths and the disabled. There is also a class that is run in collaboration with Korpen (one of Sweden’s largest amateur sports associations).

Activities and meeting points are also arranged off the field of play. The intentions for 2014 are to increase the number of inter-national sides, attract more girl teams and, through careful travel planning and climate proofing, create an environmentally sustai-nable festival.

FOLK MUSIC TAKES THE TOWNDuring the week of the 4th to the 10th of August Umeå will be filled with folk music and song. Riksspelmansstämma (a national get-together of folk instrumentalists), Zorn-märkesuppspelningar (auditions to reach a nationally recognised standard in folk mu-sic) and Folkskandiaträff (a ‘Scandinavian’ folk meeting) with 120 young people from the Nordic countries all feature in the program-

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me. The week finishes with the customary Folkmusik- och visfest (Folk music and song festival) at Västerbotten Museum.

THE HOLMÖN SONG FESTIVAL – Multifaceted meeting placeVisfestival Holmön (Holmön Song Festival) is important for Nordic singers. From the 25th to the 27th of July 2014 organisers Visans Vänner in Umeå will present one of Scandinavia’s most multifaceted song festivals. The pro-gramme features several famous singing stars as well as a few surprises from per-formers who are less well established.

As the Holmön Song Festival is celebra-ting its 20th anniversary in our capital of culture year a special concert is also plan-ned. This gets under way on Wednesday 23 July in central Umeå. Well known artists with minority language connections will be performing here.

BLUES FESTIVALUmeå is one of Sweden’s strongest bastions of blues and roots music. Which is why, during our capital of culture year, Umea Rhythm & Blues association and the restaurant Droskan are presenting a festival featuring the very best in today’s blues and roots music. Local, national and international artists and bands from this exciting genre will all be on the bill.

Photo: Marcin Kempski.

The program is updated continuously at www.umea2014.se.

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Tjakttjagiessie – The season of harvesting

The light, the warmth, the sun and the rain have brought out the best from the earth’s rich pantry. The bull reindeer are magnificent as they prepare for the mating season. The earth brings forth her gifts – berries, herbs, mushrooms to all of us living beings. We hunt. We gather the very last of the earth’s bounty as she starts to undress.

ÅSA SIMMA

RÅDHUSTORGETUmeå’s most central meeting place

Photo: Herman Dahlgren.

Survival Kit. Photo: Fanny Carinasdotter.

Food festival. Photo: Annakarin Drugge

Per Enoksson: Merde.

Weaving fair. Photo: Mats Pallin

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tJakttJagiessie (earLy aUtUmn)

29 aug–9 octSELECTIONS FROM THE PROGRAMME

SAMI TREASURES – An exhibition of utility itemsThe Samiska Skatter (Sami Treasures) exhi-bition at Skogsmuseet (the Forestry Museum) in Lycksele is one of the world’s most inter-esting collections of Sami utility items. It also includes fascinating art, exciting documents and books. Lectures, seminars and shows will be arranged in Gammplatsen (‘the old place’) in connection with the exhibition.

If you’d like to visit Lycksele you can get there and back by train or coach from Umeå.

FOOD FESTIVAL – five days just for foodiesFor five days in autumn 2014 aficionados of good food will have several different ways to savour Umeå’s food culture. The food festival offers everything from themed tents and con-tests to markets for local ingredients. There will be a special focus on Sami food culture.

CONTEMPORARY CIRCUS FESTIVAL – fun for all ages with spectacular artistryNycirkusfestivalen (the contemporary circus festival) is an inspiring, creative meeting place and a fun-filled public event arranged by Umeå Teaterförening. Enjoy the most interesting, challenging and spectacular elements of contemporary circus, street performance and music hall.

The festival will last 10 days during the capital of culture year, between 29 August and 7 September.

WEAVING FAIR 2014 – a popular event, in Norrland for the first time!From 18–20 September 2014 Vävmässan (the weaving fair) makes its debut at Nolia in Umeå. Under the theme ‘joy of weaving’ the fair will feature exhibitions, lectures, sales, excursions, courses, workshops and a night of festivities. This is the first time this interna-tionally acclaimed fair will be held in northern Sweden so the organisers have given it a real Norrland feel. Svenska Vävrådet (the Swed-

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FAIR CITY – Theme: the schools of tomorrowHarvest season is when school starts again so it’s natural that the Fair City project focuses on schools at this time. Pupils from Sävar, a village outside of Umeå, will work with artists from Kulturverket to illustrate their vision of the schools of tomorrow through many forms of expression.

FESTIVALS

CHINESE CULTURE FESTIVAL – A cultur-al exchange between Umeå and ChinaThe Chinese Culture Festival celebrates the vibrant Chinese culture in Umeå. The aim

Chinese culture festival.

Kulturverket. Illustration: Frida Hammar

ish Weaving Council) arranges the fair every three years. Partners this year include the county handicrafts adviser and Västerbotten county’s handicrafts association.

SURVIVAL KIT UMEå – An art festival about survivalSurvival Kit is an art festival about survival on many levels, both globally and locally. It showcases the works of some 30 artists from Sweden and the rest of the world. Survival Kit was conceived in Riga in 2009. Since 2012 it has generated an active exchange between the art scenes in Riga and Umeå.

INITIATIVES


8 x ART – Street ArtStreet Art is an event that spotlights art in the open air and among buildings. The streets of Umeå will be filled with ideas, elegance and wonder for several days in June 2013. The experiences learned during these days will be used to develop a multifaceted, wide- ranging programme for 2014, where urban interventions are invaluable contributions rooted in co-creativity and professionalism.

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is to create a place for Chinese culture in the public eye and develop the cultural exchange that has flourished for many years between Umeå and China.

During the capital of culture year the programme includes art, music and a major performance.

UMEå FASHION WEEK – Fashion in focusUmeå’s young population has a passion for fashion and design so the fashion shows, in-store events and exhibitions of Umeå Fash-ion Week are bound to be exciting. Umeå is the shopping and fashion Mecca of northern Sweden and the hometown of many interna-tionally famous fashion designers such as Johnny Johansson, Petter Hollström, Sandra Backlund and Helena Hörstedt.

The sixth Umeå Fashion Week will be held in mid-October 2014.

Umeå Fashion Weekend. Photo: Henrik Olofsson.

Get involved! Learn more at www.umea2014.se

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Tjakttja – The season of driving force.

Frost makes its presence felt, grips the earth, the yellowed grass lying on the ground like grey hair. The year that has passed has made the earth older. Time drives the earth to rest; she prepares for the little death. The time of darkness, skábma, approaches. Tales of the mystery of life help us through the darkness.

ÅSA SIMMA

SAGATEATERn Open cultural stage

Marie Curie. Per Enoksson. Religiösa förtecken/Religious symbols.

FrostByte. Photo: Emil Lindgren

P-O Enquist. Photo: Ulla Montan

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(trUe aUtUmn) 10 oct–20 nov


BLANCHE AND MARIEBlanche and Marie is a newly written opera by Mats Larsson Gothe and Maria Sundqvist that will premiere at NorrlandsOperan in 2014. Based on Per Olov Enquist’s novel The Story of Blanche and Marie, the opera deals with possible and impossible love. Four striking characters form the centrepiece of the opera, which takes place in Paris at the turn of the 20th century. The protagonists are two-time Nobel Prize winner Marie Curie and Blanche Wittman, once the world’s most famous mental patient.

FROSTBYTE – A LAN for computer gamers of all agesCalling all computer gamers! FrostByte is a big LAN gaming event for all ages that will be held in Umeå during the capital of culture year.

FrostByte is the brainchild of UmeLAN, an association that aims to develop

e-sports and computer gaming culture in northern Sweden.

CHAMBER MUSIC FESTIVALUmeå-raised musician and composer Svante Henryson heads this musical event in the inspiring setting of Sävargården and its restaurant.

Come and enjoy chamber music spiced with hard rock and jazz, concerts intermin-gled with workshops, music students playing with the pros and the restaurant offering exciting culinary experiences. A blend of bold experiments and classic beauty.

LIET INTERNATIONAL Liet International is the melody festival for minority languages – a polyglot alternative to the Eurovision Song Contest. Liet Inter-national creates a stage for performers and bands who sing in minority languages. The festival is one of the largest European events supporting minority languages and has been held annually since 2002.

During the capital of culture year it is being held in connection with the Human

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8 SAMI ARTISTS – Joar NangoWhat is a public place? Architect and artist Joar Nango tries to answer this question in his 2014 project for Bildmuseet, which takes a closer look at Umeå’s public places. He studies and comments on architectural environments and contexts.

Nango’s previous projects include an investigation of Sami building traditions.

FAIR CITY – Theme: children’s rightsSince UN Day falls during the ‘season of driving force’ Kulturverket, BRIS (Children’s Rights in Society) and the Fair City project are focusing on children’s rights. Schoolchil-dren from Umeå’s Marie district consider how we can improve the lives of children in the future, not just in Umeå but worldwide.

CHALLENGING POWER – National conference on genderIn 2014 Umeå will host G14, a national conference focusing on gender studies and equality. The conference will be held in the autumn by the Municipality of Umeå, the county administrative board of Västerbotten and the Umeå Centre for Gender Studies (UCGS) at Umeå University.

Rights Days in Umeå. The festival’s goal is to promote and generate interest in minority languages.

HUMAN RIGHTS DAYSThe Human Rights Days in Umeå in Novem-ber 2014 will spotlight a variety of human rights issues. The aim is to raise awareness about human rights and to enhance and intensify regional HR efforts.

INITIATIVES


8 SEASON CONCERTS – Works for the 2014 Jazz FestivalFor the autumn concert an established jazz musician has written a piece for the NorrlandsOperan symphony orchestra which promises to swing in its very own special way.

The piece, a grand tribute to jazz itself, continues a long tradition of the Umeå Jazz Festival of arranging a concert with the sym-phony orchestra.

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UMEÅ FOLKETS HUSCulture, conferences, dining

Joar Nango, from the Doghouse project, 2010 Illustration: Mikke Hedberg.

Fair City.

NorrlandsOperan symphony orchestra. Photo: Malin ArnessonPhoto: Annakarin Drugge

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Photo: Johan Gunséus.

The program is being continuously updated at www.umea2014.se

FESTIVALS

JAZZ FESTIVAL – World-class jazzAs one of Scandinavia’s leading jazz festi-vals it’s a given that the Umeå Jazz Festival will be a part of the capital of culture year and will feature unique concert productions and world-class performers. It’s a showcase for international jazz greats, new stars and unknown talents. The festival has been an annual event since 1968 and is a joint collaboration between NorrlandsOperan and Umeå Jazzstudio.

2014 FILM FESTIVAL– On-screen in new digital cinemasThe new Väven cultural centre in Umeå is hosting the 2014 Film Festival. The festival draws inspiration from the northern lands and the rest of Europe and will feature screenings in several of its new digital cin-emas. The 2014 Film Festival is the starting point for a long-term film initiative in Umeå with regular screenings and festival activities in the Väven building.

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Birgit Lindberg, Umeå Jazz Festival. Photo: Mikael Rutberg

Betty Carter, Umeå Jazz Festival.

Zap Mama, Umeå Jazz Festival. Tomasz Stanko, Umeå Jazz Festival.

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74Autumn lights. Photo: Reine Vindebro.

Per Enoksson. Vårbestyren/Spring chores.Hjärtats nycklar/Keys of the heart.

Rafael Lozano-Hemmer, Nave Solar, 2011. Photo: Antimodular Research.

Tjakttjadálvvie – The season of wandering.

The sun wanders away, leaving us in silence and longing. The reindeer are sorted into smaller herds. Cautiously they wander to their winter grazing lands; the ground is sensitive and we must tread on her with care. She sleeps under the glit-tering blanket of snow; the northern lights – the light of the eyes of those who have left us – watch over us; the stars gather in recognizable patterns so that we find our way back, to the new year that is coming.

ÅSA SIMMA

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tJakttJadáLvvie (earLy Winter)

21 nov–29 JanEXTRAORDINARY

FUTURE FLOWS THROUGH US– Closing partyThe closing party of the capital of culture year will be a party where we celebrate moving on with everything we have built, experienced and learned and carry it with us into the future. Väven (’Cultural Fabric’ – our new meeting place for boundary-crossing culture) and its grand opening makes a natu-ral focal point for our celebrations. Finally the doors will open and we can take advantage of all the activities and programmes Väven has to offer. We also get a glimpse of the future as we light up the city in a way that has never been done before.

The city’s annual light festival unveils itself in all its glory! The darkness becomes a vir-tuoso supporting actor while the lights lead us out into a shining new landscape where acoustic works of art, songs and voices sound out. Embraced by all this we discover the city with new eyes and ears. We will do our utmost to ensure that there’s something for every tas-te and that as many people as possible have the opportunity to experience something new.

And for those that don’t want the party

to stop there will be dancing and joint club activities all night long in new and unexpec-ted places.


UMEå AUTUMN LIGHTS– Light festival in the city centreUmeå Autumn Lights is a festival of lights being developed during the course of the capital of culture year in collaboration with other European cities, including Riga, the year’s other European capital of culture. Umeå Autumn Lights has been an experimen-tal workshop for architects, artists and proper-ty management companies since 2005 and aims to explore how light can contribute to an attractive, exciting and safe city centre.

An important part of Autumn Lights is the children’s light festival in Vänortsparken, which is also under development.

RAFAEL LOZANO-HEMMER– Interactive installationsRafael Lozano-Hemmer works with roboti-cally controlled lights, real-time animations,

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site-specific sound and film installations and much more. He finds his inspiration in archi-tecture and performance art. At Bildmuseet you can experience his interactive works, which are a commentary on the increasing conformity of urban environments and socie-ty’s monitoring of everyday citizens.

VäVEN – InaugurationVäven is a creative hub and a brand new meeting place for boundless culture on the Umeälven river in central Umeå. The Väven cultural centre will be completed during the capital of culture year, when locals and visitors alike can watch as its facilities open up step-by-step. Some of these include a new house of culture, a lively indoor court-yard, new restaurants, cafés and a hotel.

HJäRTATS NYCKLAR (Keys to the heart) – Danish church operaThe Danish composer Peter Bruun penned the new church opera Hjärtats Nycklar (Keys to the heart) based on Västerbotten author Martin Lönnebo’s book of the same name. The opera will be performed in four counties by Piteå Kammaropera, with its premier in Umeå during the capital of culture year.

INAUGURATION OF THE WOMEN’S HISTORY MUSEUMSweden’s first-ever women’s history museum is opening during the ‘season of wandering’

in 2014. The museum will be a place for new experiences, insights and contexts, where historical issues meet the modern day and local perspectives mingle with global ones. Digital exhibitions side-by-side with charity collections erase any physical limitations to visiting and participating in what the museum has to offer.

INITIATIVES


8 SEASON CONCERTS WITH DANCING– Héla Fattoumi and Eric LamoureuxThe ‘season of wandering’ concert features an innovative dance piece performed to en-ergetic music. The performance is a collabo-ration between the NorrlandsOperan dance division, the NorrlandsOperan symphony orchestra, the Centre Chorégraphique de Caen/Basse-Normandie in France and chor-eographers and art directors Héla Fattoumi and Eric Lamoureux.

CHALLENGING POWER– The gendered landscapeGuided tours will be available pointing out the tangible initiatives that have been implemented to make this an equal oppor-tunities city. These city tours will also high-

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Women’s history museum. © Katapultkontoret

Väven © Snøhetta. Umeå city church. Photo: Fredrik Larsson.

UMEÅ CiTY CHURCH Music and culture under the arches

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light issues that require making further changes. Tours are available by coach or on foot, either with a guide or alone with a map as your guide. This initiative has already begun but will be expanded for the programme year.

FAIR CITY – Theme: knowledgeKulturverket rounds off the year by focusing on knowledge. Our university town hosts the Fair City project pavilion about knowledge. What is knowledge today and what will be worth knowing in the future? What are libra-ries like and who is entitled to knowledge? Children and teens from the eastern districts of Umeå team up with the university library to work creatively with this theme.

FESTIVALS

POP UP – Grand SlamPop Up Open is the music festival for fans of pop. Immerse yourself in pop music of every kind, performed by megastars and the unknowns. Pop Up Grand Slam is a part of Grand Slam 2014, which aims to put Umeå on the map as one of the world’s most pulsating music capitals.

Grand Slam is arranged by Humlan, a non-profit cultural organisation in Umeå.

Photo: Andreas Nilsson.

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Get involved! Learn more at www.umea2014.se

Winhill/Losehill. Photo: Rebecca Gulan.

Lisa Miskovsky. Photo: Andreas Johansson. Cleo. Photo: David Lundmark.Frida Selander. Photo: Sara Lindquist.

Deportees. Photo: Elin Berge.

Frida Hyvönen. Photo: Knotan.

Annika Norlin. Photo: Håkan Sønderland.

(CC By-NC-SA-2.0)

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RECURRING EVENTS

8 SEASON CONCERTSThe capital of culture year will feature eight seasonal concerts in collaboration with NorrlandsOperan. At the start of each new season we present a new, highly artistic concert project, each with an exciting theme. Beethoven and Beyond, Stadionmusik (Stadi-um music) and a symphonic reworking of the hard rock band Refused’s album The Shape of Punk to Come are just a few examples of what is in store. The eight concerts not only have separate themes but they are also performed at different venues with a variety of artistic input and expressions.

8 SAMI ARTISTSDuring the capital of culture year Bildmuseet will showcase eight artists with Sami roots in eight different exhibitions – one for every season. The artists are based in Sweden, Finland and Norway and work with many

different forms of expression, including painting, sculpture, photography and film as well as installations and performance art. Running alongside the exhibitions will be lectures, talks with the artists, workshops and seminars.

8 x ARTThe 8 x Art project involves eight different artistic representations linked to the Sami seasons that are featured throughout the capital of culture year. These representa-tions can be anything from permanent exhibitions to temporary performances. Projects include a gigantic clothes peg, the transformation of the Vasaplan bus terminus into a garden and an artistic campsite.

you can read more about these projects in this programme, but you will experience much more on-site during the year, such as acoustic art in the municipality’s phone system, indoor clouds and other perfor-mance acts.

Some themes recur every season; other larger initiatives permeate the entire year in the form of development projects aimed at stimulating involvement, participation and culture-driven growth.

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Liselotte Wajstedt, from the project Jorindas resa (Jorinda’s journey).

NorrlandsOperan’s symphony orchestra. Photo: Johan Gunséus.

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CHALLENGING POWERAs the name suggests Challenging Power is about challenging the power structures in society, bringing to light issues about norms and power in a structural context in an effort to achieve lasting change. Maintaining a critical attitude toward norms and focusing on us instead of them can bring to light im-portant issues and create exciting dynamics.

What does a society look like when it is free from sexism, heteronormativity and racism? Can we work from within a society we want to change and free ourselves from the power structure that has shaped our thoughts and our lives? Some issues to focus on are: who has access to culture? Who is the creator and who is the consumer of culture? What representations do we see on stage? Whose perspective is being portrayed?

UMEå URBAN FORUMUrban Forum is a network with the central goal of developing ideas and methods for long-term sustainable city development. During our capital of culture year Urban Forum will be focusing on the city’s public spaces and masterminding several social, technical and cultural activities. The latter include dialogues, major rebuilding and temporary installations in Umeå.

Urban Forum is the result of a general municipal management assignment based on openness, democracy and equality.

Photo: Mikael Lundgren.

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TRÁHPPIE – Sami heritage house and caféDon’t miss the Sami heritage house, which opened in 2012. In Ume Sami the word tráhppie means “an antler with many tines”. This is a fitting name for the multifunctional building where you can buy Sami crafts, read Sami books and look at exhibitions. Lectures and joik concerts will be held throughout the year and the café serves Sami delicacies, such as gáhkku (a special flat bread) with reindeer meat, raw spiced charr and boiled coffee with coffee cheese. Tráhhpie brings together Sami from all of Sápmi.

Tráhppie is also a meeting place for com-munity-sponsored Sami activities, as Umeå is the Sami language administrative district.

UMEDALENS SKULPTURThe sculpture park Umedalen Skulptur will be open to visitors all year round. Walkways and even ski trails will be kept especially clear. During the capital of culture year the park will offer a range of activities related to the sculptures and the artists who made them. These are activities that will be spread throughout most of the year.

Umedalen Skulptur is financed and owned by Balticgruppen. Entry is free.

GLASHUSETAutumn 2010 saw the inauguration of Glas-huset (the Glass House) on Rådhustorget (the town hall square) in central Umeå. Glashuset

is a venue for co-creative arrangers involved in staging the capital of culture year. So far more than 200 co-creators have filled Glas-huset with over 1,000 activities, from dance and music to workshops and exhibitions. Initiatives for “Glashus co-creativity” have come from local, regional and European cultural sources. Before, during and after the capital of culture year Glashuset will continue to be a vital arena for co-creativity for participants and visitors alike.

UMEå GUITAR MUSEUMUmeå brothers Samuel and Michael Åhdén possess one of the world’s largest privately owned collections of guitars and starting in 2014 the whole world has a chance to see it. you can visit the experience-based, interactive exhibition of electric guitars, basses, amps and music accessories at Umeå Guitar Museum.

The museum houses about 500 exhibits altogether. Alongside the exhibition the museum arranges lectures, temporary exhibitions and presentations of new developments. World stars will also visit the museum during the year and hold ‘clinics’ – open guitar lessons.

Umeå Guitar Museum is located in Umeå’s new music centre in Vasaskolan, which is also home to Scharinska’s stage. Together they’re helping to put the city of Umeå on the musical map.

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ROCK ART IN SÁPMIRock Art in Sápmi is Västerbotten Museum’s big collaborative project that started in January 2012 and will continue to the end of the capital of culture year. The project focuses on Sami rock art, Sami symbols and northern cultural traditions.

The aim is to bring to life, interpret and convey Sami history, its past, present and future, through art exhibitions, theatre, seminars and more.

RIVER STORIESOne of the most characteristic elements of the Västerbotten landscape is the rivers running down from the mountains in the west to the sea in the east. River Stories is a series of performances, projects and events centred on the rivers and their impor-tance to the development of Västerbotten and its culture.

The performances will tour the county, demonstrating how the rivers have always been a source of energy, how they serve as transportation routes for people, timber and food and how they provide recreation for people who need to relax. Norrlands- Operan is managing the project with one goal of increasing regional involvement and that of local key figures through activi-ties and participation.

River Stories is also intended to create, regenerate and support organisers of cul-tural events in Västerbotten. The project will

create venues in the region and pave the way for roadshows to showcase local offerings.

VäSTERBOTTEN, THE STORYTELLERS’ COUNTYStories can be a very powerful tool when used correctly. The project Västerbotten, the storytellers’ county supports various elements of the tourist industry by training them in the art of storytelling. This skill will help business owners enhance their brands and make storytelling guides even better at bringing the county’s many sights to life.

In addition Västerbotten Museum will arrange several storytelling performances during 2014.

SKI UMEå2014Developing and increasing the accessibility of the Umeå region’s snow culture is the goal of the SKI UMEÅ2014 project. The Swedish Outdoor Association, in collaboration with a variety of associations, clubs and organisations will be arranging innovative winter environments and activities in the hope that more people of all ages will discover the value of exercise, training and outdoor activities in the snow. Some of its subprojects include the Snow Sliding World Championship, a ski adventure trail with Sami challenges, World Snow Day, easily accessible skiing just a stone’s throw from Umeå city centre and a snow scene on Bräntbergsbacken Hill.

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Västerbotten, the storytellers’ county. Photo: Patrick Degerman.Glashuset (the glass house). Photo: Andreas Nilsson.

Umedalen Skulptur. Sean Henry, Trajan’s Shadow. Photo: Galleri Andersson/Sandström.

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Corners – Turning Europe Inside Out

Västerbotten storyteller Mona Stenberg. Photo: Paulina Holmgren. Stieg Larsson. Photo: David Lagerlöf.

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THE CULTURE TRAINKulturtåget (the Culture Train) is a joint project between municipalities along the Bothnia Line. It aims to develop and enhance long-term sustainable networks for greater collaboration within the region. Rooted in the capital of culture year and with the train as a tool the project will investigate opportunities for regional, national and possibly European collaborations.

The idea of Kulturtåget is to fill the trains and stations along the Bothnia Line with activities such as art videos, live performan-ces, poetry, music and children’s theatre. All these activities will promote the capital of culture year while enhancing the image of the municipalities along the Bothnia Line as a unified region.

CULTURE FOR SENIOR CITIZENS – Culture and healthKultur och Hälsa (Culture and Health) is a division of Umeå kultur, a network involving the majority of the organisers and key figu-res in Umeå. Its primary task is to organise and co-ordinate activities revolving around culture and health and to break the loneli-ness and isolation of senior citizens in Umeå. These activities can include anything from ice-hockey to opera.

Culture is an important dimension in a long-term sustainable society. Modern

research has shown the importance of culture in the course of a lifetime. Studies have found that culture, in a variety of forms, keeps people healthy both intellectually and spiritually and that participating in va-rious cultural activities contributes to wellbe-ing and a good quality of life. A rich social life for the elderly has benefits for individuals and for society as a whole.

HONORARY CITIZEN STIEG LARSSONJournalist and best-selling author Stieg Larsson grew up in Umeå and became world famous for his Millennium trilogy.

His series of novels has sold a staggering 63 million copies and been translated into 50 languages. As Stieg Larsson died when he was only 50 years old he never got to see for himself how popular his books had become. Nonetheless, his work is immor-talised and his recognition as an honorary citizen means he has now been given an eternal place in Umeå’s history. Larsson’s authorship and life’s work will be spotlighted during the capital of culture year.

Author Lars Widding (1988), footballer Gunnar Nordahl (1991) and EU commissioner Anita Gradin (1997) are the previous recipients of this title.

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FAIR CITYWhat would Umeå look like in the future if it were up to the children? In the Fair City project Kulturverket works with around a thousand children and young people from Umeå as they create visions and fantasies about the Umeå of the future. We have divided the city into nine parts, each of them working with a particular theme for the future, such as water, children’s rights, ener-gy and communication. This creative effort has been under way in schools throughout 2012 and 2013 and the pupils’ materials and ideas are being interpreted and visualised by professional artists and others who work with culture.

In collaboration with students from the Umeå School of Architecture the project is also designing nine unique pavilions in which each of the districts will present their picture of the Umeå of the future. The pavilions and the children’s work together will form a joint exhibition that will be part of the inauguration of Umeå2014. During the course of the year we will continue to shine a light on the nine districts and their themes to further intensify the work with the children’s ideas and visions.

This project was made possible with the help of multiple sponsors and partners.

FAIR GAME Between 2012 and 2014 Kulturverket is wor-king with children with long-term illnesses, their families and schools to write a football

musical. Alongside Kulturverket’s artists and other culture workers the children will create music, lyrics, characters and events – artistic building blocks that will then be interpreted and shaped by professional authors, compo-sers, artists and singers.

The football musical Fair Game will be performed on 6 June 2014 at the T3 Arena in Umeå. Some of the big names in Swedish football, both men and women, will play the actual game. Collaborators on the project include Italy and Portugal, several local artists and Umeå Fritid.

FAIR OPERAFair Opera is a five-year music, dance and song project that Kulturverket has been working on since 2010. The final result will be a musical drama performance about justice, dignity, freedom of speech and children’s rights as defined in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. Children from Umeå and Rome developed the ideas for the music and the libretto for the performance. Then stu-dents in the script-writing discipline at Umeå University and music institutes in Riga, Piteå, Rome and Perugia interpreted their work.

Now Jan Sandström, composer and professor and librettist KG Johansson are working to combine all the ideas into a full-scale performance.

Fair Opera will be performed in Umeå in the spring of 2014 in collaboration with Umeå Musical Theatre Academy at Strömbäcks folkhögskola.

89Generationskören (the generation choir) with David Sandström. Photo: Andreas Nilsson.

River Stories, Crescendo. Photo: Duncan Kemp.

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KULTUR På CAMPUSKultur på campus (Culture on Campus) is a unique initiative that infuses culture into a scientific environment. Cultural events such as music, literature, dance, theatre etc are produced and arranged each week on the campus of Umeå University. The events are always at lunchtime and are always free for students and staff. In 2011 the project held 38 such events which were viewed by over 20,000 visitors. The project, which features national, local and even international artis-tes, has received a lot of media coverage. In 2011 Kultur på campus appeared in the media 45 times in 36 weeks – that’s more than once a week! Kultur på campus was founded in 2003 and became a registered trademark in 2009.

Examples of performers involved include: Veronica Maggio, Eldkvarn, Laleh, Stefan Sundström, the Cullberg Ballet, Jonas Karls-son, Abalone Dots, Carolina Wallin Pérez, Electric Boys, Sofia Karlsson, Norrlands- Operan, PO Enquist, Sirqus Alfon, Marit Bergman, Al Pitcher, Håkan Nesser and more.

THE CITY – a multi-arts work by dance collective Nomo DacoThe Umeå-based dance collective Nomo Daco is proud to present its multi-arts work Staden (City) – a massive scenic installation that explores what a city is and what it can be. In Staden Nomo Daco creates new links between a variety of art forms by involving

local and international choreographers, musicians, architects and filmmakers. This multi-arts performance challenges the perception of a classic stage setting by viewing the audience as residents of the city in question. Nomo Daco will perform at Umeå Arts Campus.

CORNERS – Turning Europe Inside Out Masterminded by Intercult, Corners: Turning Europe Inside Out is a cross-border cultural project involving 17 European countries. Its contribution to Umeå2014 will primarily

Nomo Daco. Photo: Jostein Skeidsvoll.

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involve enhancing the inauguration of the capital of culture year with exhibitions and activities in a variety of locations in Umeå, beginning in the opening week. Several of the exhibitions are created by Umeå artists in collaboration with artists from places like Cro-atia, Serbia, Ukraine and Northern Ireland.

The artistic projects are co-created, which means that professional artists work together with schoolchildren, young people and senior citizens.

Contributors to the project are: the youth culture centre Pogon from Zagreb; the cultural network Drugo More from Rijeka in Croatia; the cultural festival Exodus from Ljubljana in Slovenia; the Northern Ireland Arts Council; the Teatro Pubblico Pugliese, the institution responsible for performing arts in southern Italy; Bradford University in the UK; Gdansk in Poland, which was a candidate for the capital of culture year 2016 and the selected 2016 capital of culture, Donostia/San Sebastian in Spain.

MIRROR EUROPESeveral European cities are participating in Umeå 2014’s development projects, Mirror Europe, which aims to develop communica-tion between and enrich cultural activities in the participating cities. In Mirror Europe, each city creates several productions, including murals, storytelling and interactive theatre.

In creating these productions, Mirror Europe is testing new cross-border colla-borative methods, including digital co- creation processes that allow new types of meetings and interactive workshops. These innovative new forms of collabora-tion result in new international networks that will last long after the project ends. Mirror Europe hopes that this will lead to

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greater awareness and understanding of other cultures and enhanced international collaboration in Europe.

Some examples of productions include:Dance Your Day – dance culture moves

into new arenas, such as workplaces and hospitals.

Mirror Labs – artisans exchange expe-riences, traditional knowledge and cultural heritage.

Monumental Art – artists paint murals in every city in the Mirror Europe project, inclu-ding Umeå.

Home Is Where Your Heart Is – perfor-mers use rap in an innovative way to raise awareness in the cities.

THE BIRDS SHOW THE WAYIn the project Fåglarna visar vägen (“The Birds Show the Way”) Umeå gets its own cultural birds. Via the internet and apps everyone can follow the cultural birds as they migrate from the Ume delta through Europe to Asia or Africa and back again. Knowledge about Umeå is spread continuously, not only through activities along the migration routes but also through collaborations at sites where the birds choose to rest. Headed by Umeå Fågelförening (Umeå Bird Society) the pro-ject will also include outdoor exhibitions and cultural events with an avian theme, all the while breaking new scientific ground.

Around the end of April a huge homeco-ming party will be held for all the birds re-

turning to Umeå after spending winter down south.

TWIN TOWNSUmeå is an international city with strong ties around the world. These ties will be strengthened even more in 2014.

Umeå’s current twin towns are Vaasa in Finland, Harstad in Norway, Elsinore in Denmark, Würzburg in Germany, Petroza-vodsk in Russia and Saskatoon in Canada.

During the capital of culture year our Nordic twin towns have jointly decided to prioritise their collaborations with Umeå. Harstad continues to focus on young people in the cities, while Vaasa and Elsinore are planning to participate in Umeå’s annual football festival. Petrozavodsk will participate in the ice and snow sculpture festival.

Collaborations and exchanges with other twin towns are also in the pipeline. The ca-pital of culture year is a unique chance for Umeå to further enhance existing ties and to find new ones.

GET YOUR ACT TOGETHER– SkuggteaternSkuggteatern is working with theatre ensem-bles in Europe to hold a spectacular theatre festival in the Ålidhem district. Audiences will be treated to the guest nations’ culture not only on stage but also through the culinary arts.

Get Your Act Together is a two-year project from 2013 to 2015 which aims to open

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Work by FA+, railway tunnel. Photo: Jonny Rönnblom.

Skuggteatern. Fanny Carinasdotter.

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Photo: Peter Rosén

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meeting place filled with exciting experien-ces related to Umeå and northern Sweden.

In and around the roadshow visitors will be immersed in cultural expressions – exhibi-tions, fashion shows, musical performances, culinary experiences, film screenings and so on. All the cultural and artistic elements pre-sented at this central location in each city are the result of a contest prior to the roadshow.

About the contest With keywords such as progressive culture, co-creativity and passion the Artists Caught by [Umeå] contest invites creative people to reflect on and interpret Umeå and northern Sweden.

Starting in April 2013 creators from all around the world are invited to compete in the categories design, photography and film. In brief contestants are being encouraged to create an entry that expresses progressive culture with a connection to northern Sweden.

The finalists will be exhibited during the roadshow. A panel of experts in each of the countries being visited will select national winners in all three categories. All of the winning entries will then be exhibited at a vernissage in Umeå during the capital of cul-ture year 2014 – Artists Caught by [Umeå].

Initiatives

the door to bigger collaborations in Europe and to create new, innovative projects on local and national levels. Those of us not on location will be able to follow the project via a digital platform.

CAUGHT BY [Umeå] – a European roadshow to capture creativity Umeå reaches out to invite all of you to parti-cipate in forming Umeå2014 in a way that no other capital of culture has ever done before. The capital of culture committee will stage a European roadshow in autumn 2013 called Caught by [Umeå].

About the tourCaught by [Umeå] is a roadshow through Europe taking place between September and October 2013 which aims to pique pe-ople’s curiosity and interest in Umeå’s capi-tal of culture year 2014. The project is based on interaction between Umeå and several European cities and countries where the roadshow passes through.

In collaboration with VisitSweden and ICEHOTEL among others, giant blocks of ice will be placed out in strategic locations around the cities bearing a kind of “message”. Perhaps items will be frozen in the ice or messages will be carved into them. The message might even have a QR code on the base which leads the viewer to a film or website. The blocks of ice will all lead to Händelsernas centrum, a large central

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We Want yoU to pLay a part...

siJttabe, UrrUoh FárUone

Would you like to suggest a PROGRAMME ITEM? The programme will remain open up to and throughout 2014, so feel free to make suggestions. All projects related to the go-als of the capital of culture year are invited to be a part of the programme – whether or not your programme is co-financed by Umeå2014. Do you have a project for which you would like to apply for CO-FINANCING? you can still send in project proposals to Umeå2014. We prepare the proposals to be decided on by the capital of culture committee, a poli-tical committee under the Umeå municipal

executive board. If you have a project idea you can apply for a CULTURAL BOOST. The cultural boost is an opportunity for associations and independent operators to apply for up to SEK 20,014 to test or develop project ideas that might become programme items in the capital of culture year.

You too can be a part of this programme. The capital of culture year provides many opportunities to participate and make your own mark

and we would love to hear your suggestions!

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Co-crea

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Would you like to join us?

Photo: Andreas Nilsson/The Core.

“I want to spread the opportunities of co-creativity before, during and after the capital of culture year to

enthusiasts working on a volunteer basis in fields that are not

traditionally considered cultural.”

Ann-Marie Lindgren, Umeå2014 Ambassador.

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Do you run a company and want to participate as a PARTNER? Companies can choose to support specific events, projects, themes or one of the eight seasons. you can also work with a specific cultural operator or carry out cultural initiatives in your own organisation. you could support a specific project through CROWD-FUNDING – grassroots financing through social media. We offer a platform that makes it possible to market your pro-jects and raise funds. Individuals and companies donate money to the projects they believe in and always receive a reward from the project owner.

Would you like to be an AMBASSADOR or a VOLUNTEER? All the events during capital of culture year will require volunteers who can help out, for example, in connection with festivals. In preparation for 2014 we are creating a network and an organisation for volunteers.

As an ambassador you present information about the capital of culture year at various meetings and get-togethers in your own community. And yes – you can be both an ambassador and a volunteer!

WoULd yoU Like to Find oUt more? then visit oUr Website

at Umea2014.se

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Kiruna: Giron Sámi Teáther, in co-operation with Rock Art in Sápmi

Ájtte 25 years, Jokkmokk winter market

Sorsele, Rock out Wild

Lycksele, Skogsmuseet, Sami treasures

Ammarnäs, Blomsterhem

Harstad, Norway. Giron

Sámi Teáther, in co-operation with Rock Art in Sápmi

Storuman, Crescendo, Big Nila and Little Docka

Östersund, ”Stage north”, project Norrland passion

Luleå, Norrbottensteatern,

project Norrland passion

Piteå, Local 2014-office, Acustikum

Umeå2014Skellefteå, Storyteller festival, Västerbottensteatern is project manager for Norrland passion

Vaasa Finland, in co-operation with Vaasa city

Ö-vik, Local 2014-office, High

Coast Art Valley among othersSundsvall, Co-operation Scenkonstbolaget, project management the ”Culture Train”

Sápmi

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the northern Lands

nUarttasiJJie

Umeå’s capital of culture year is a joint venture with the four northernmost Swedish counties and Sápmi (the lands inhabited by the Sami people). Sápmi stretches through northern Norway, Sweden and Finland and all the way out to the Kola Peninsula in Rus-sia. These northern lands will be a natural part of a European dimension, promoting cross-border cultural meetings and long-term collaborations.

Several of the towns in northern Sweden have their own offices supporting the capi-tal of culture year locally. This creates new relationships and we can see a growing interest in intercity projects in the northern lands as the capital of culture

year approaches. Major projects like River Stories also embrace several towns and communities in Västerbotten, offering a myriad of events rooted in the northern lands.

Another project linking the towns in the area is the Kulturtåget (the Culture Train) that uses new and existing infrastructure to promote cultural activities and meetings. At the same time the project gives a new meaning to the concept of journeys.

Collaborating this way between counties not only creates exciting, fertile projects but also opens the door for a wider public to enjoy even more activities. The four northernmost counties and the Sápmi region are today home to more than 2.3 million people.

The northern land

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Photo: Anna Öhlund.

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The northern land

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riga – Umeå’s tWin toWn

riga2014.org

Each year the EU selects two cities to share the title of capital of culture. One of the two must be in a new member state. The European capitals of culture in 2014 are Riga in Latvia and Umeå in Sweden.

Riga is the Latvian capital and with its population of about 700,000 is the biggest city in the Baltic region. Riga was founded in 1201 and the oldest part of the city with its distinctive medieval influence has been named a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. The Central Market, in which old zeppelin hangars have been converted into covered markets, is one of the largest of its kind in Europe.

Riga’s application to be a European capital of culture was based on the three principles of creativity, border expansion and new forms of interaction. The motto for Riga’s initiative is the legal phrase ‘Force Majeure’. This is an expression of the desire to enhance the importance of culture as an instrument for improving cities and people’s lives.

Umeå and Riga are planning several joint projects for the capital of culture year 2014. Umeå will participate in Riga’s pro-gramme year and vice versa. Joint activities and new dynamic initiatives will benefit both regions during the capital of culture year. Umeå and Riga are also planning joint activities for marketing and communi-cations in the run-up to 2014.

Two countries host the European capital of culture each year. The candidate cities are judged by an international jury of ex-perts who decide which city to recommend.

It is the national government of the cho-sen city that formally makes the nomination to the EU and, finally, the EU Council of Ministers awards the title European Capital of Culture.

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Bradford University

UMEå

Sápmi

AArhus,Teatret Gruppe 38

London, Aerowaves

Riga, Survival Kit

Petrozavodsk, Storytelling city day

Gdansk, Monumental Art Festival

Berlin, Die Gorillas

istanbul, Simya Sanat Gracisce,

etno HisteriaParis, improfes-sionals

China, The M+ Sigg Collection

Porto, Casa da Musica

Barcelona, La Fura Dels Baus

Dublin, 12 points festival

Reykjavik, vesturport

Donostia/ San Sebastian.

Zagreb PogonRijeka, Drugo More

Ljubljana, Exodus

northern ireland Arts Council

Pugliese, Teatro Pubblico

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One of the requirements of any capital of culture bid is that it must include a Euro-pean dimension. What exactly does that mean? There are as many interpretations and analyses of this concept as there have been European capitals of culture.

When Umeå applied we chose to take a northern perspective on European issues, giving the European dimension a northern feel. This is also quite logical since Umeå is the northernmost European capital of culture ever.

Our work with the European dimension is largely based on collaborations between projects being pursued in Umeå in relation to other European parties and vice versa. In addition we can add the collaborations of all the Sami projects. These create firm ties between Europe’s only indigenous population and other European cultures.

Colla

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tions in Europe

CoLLaborations in eUrope

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vASASKOLAn new music stage.

Work by FA+, Järnvägstunneln (railway tunnel). Photo: Jonny Rönnblom.

Vasaskolan. Project photo.

HUMlab-x. Photo: Mikael Lundgren.

Illustration: Mikke Hedberg.

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Build

ing for the future

We are bUiLding For the FUtUre

Never before have we seen so many building cranes, so many detours and big holes in the cityscape. Everything is being built up again. The city is being renewed, getting smarter, bigger and more sustaina-ble. Meeting places. Work. Life. Culture. We are taking Umeå not just into 2014 but far into the future. And we’re doing it together.

Culture is growing. The city is growing. you and I are growing. With faith in the future and a mutual commitment Umeå has grown into something new and unique that is reverberating all around the world. Here are just a few examples:

On the shores of Umeälven river a cross-boundary cultural arena for the people of Umeå and visitors is being built. Väven contains a cultural centre, a hotel and restaurants. The world famous archi-tectural firm Snøhetta has designed an iconic building whose rooms will offer a multitude of cultural meeting possibilities encouraging music, art, crafts, dance and dialogue between citizens in new ways. Väven is more than just a building; it is a symbol for collaboration between various forms of activities with a myriad of expe-

riences under one roof. The building will be inaugurated during the capital of culture year 2014 and is a result of a joint venture be-tween Umeå municipality and Balticgruppen.

The new Järnvägstunneln (railway tunnel) features Europe’s biggest work of art in glass, signed by the artist collective FA+. The piece is a 170-metre long glass wall convered with quotations from Västerbotten author Sara Lidman. Not to mention Umeå Östra station with its glass walls and shell construction of glued laminated timber that stands brightly below the University Hospital. Inside the station art by Astrid Sylwan and Knutte Wester is displayed.

Umeå Airport is also getting a facelift and being remodeled for the future. In just a short space of time the number of flights in and out of Umeå has increased dramatically; Umeå has become a hub for travel to and from the entire world. An expanded road network and the Bothnia Line railway connect all parts of the city like life-giving arteries, giving new strength and driving up the city’s pulse.

Our magnificent riverside has been en-riched by the Umeå Arts Campus, a unique cluster of education and art: the Umeå

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School of Architecture, Umeå Institute of Design, Umeå Academy of Fine Arts and HUMlab-x. These facilities provide world-class creative education in an area that challenges the senses and inspires us all. The area is now also home to Bildmuseet, one of the country’s most interesting windows on contemporary visual expression and art. Bildmuseet projects a national and an inter-national character. The exhibitions it produc-es often go on to tour the world.

The music scene is an important part of

culture in Umeå. Scharinska’s music scene, with the guitar museum, café and restaurant in the same building, form a house of music in the heart of Umeå (formerly Vasaskolan). A scene that is even more attractive to local and international performers!

In fact the whole city centre is in transition. New shops, offices and hotels are putting down roots in Umeå. The city is being nurtured by its people, by time and by life. Umeå is changing, growing and building for the future!

Väven. Snøhetta and White Arkitekter.

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Build

ing for the future

nOLiA Trade fairs, conferences, events

Astrid Sylwan, artwork in Umeå East. Photo: Mikael Rutberg.

Umeå East. Photo: Andreas Nilsson.Umeå Arts Campus.

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Photo: Lars Lindh.

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Getting

here

hoW to get here

BY AIR: • Umeå Airport, only 3.5 kilometres from the city centre. • Many daily flights to and from Stockholm. • Several direct flights from cities in Europe.

BY RAIL: • 6.5 hours from Stockholm.• High-speed trains to and from Örnsköldsvik and Sundsvall.• Trains to and from Vindeln, Vännäs, Lycksele, Kramfors, Härnösand, Luleå, Kiruna and Narvik.• 2 central railway stations: Umeå C in the city centre and Umeå East near the university and hospital.

BY COACH:• Daily coaches from Stockholm. • Daily coaches south, west and north from Umeå.

BY SEA:• Daily ferry traffic between Umeå and Vaasa (Finland).

BY CAR:• The E4 motorway links Umeå with Europe.• The E12 leads to Norway and Finland.• The E4 north takes you to Torneå (Finland).

CYCLING AND WALKING:• Walking paths along the river.• More than 200 km of popular cycling routes (bikes are available for hire).

WHERE TO STAY IN UMEå:If you would like to stay in Umeå you have plenty of options: Hotels B&Bs Hostels Campsites Rooms and flats Chalets Visitors’ marinas Read more about accommodation in the official tourist guide of the Umeå region: www.visitumea.se.

Welcome!

Stay with an

Umeå resident?

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Väven, December 2012. Photo: Johan Gunséus.

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Since it was founded in 1987 Balticgruppen has always taken an active role in the deve-lopment of Umeå, participating in community building and enhancing the city’s appeal. Making Umeå more interesting to live in, work in and visit also enhances property values in the city. “Whatever is good for Umeå is good for Balticgruppen” is a slogan that neatly summarises the company’s view of its role in the city’s development. A city’s cultural life is a good reflection of its overall health and in this respect we can say with confidence that Umeå and its people are thriving.

The naming of Umeå as European Capital of Culture 2014 clearly confirms that the city’s cultural life is growing organically

with its population. That’s good for Umeå and for Balticgruppen too. So it is only natural that Balticgruppen is working with and supporting Umeå2014 in various ways. In total Baltic- gruppen’s commitment will involve at least SEK 15 million in funding of programme items that are being developed in consultation with the capital of culture project.

Previous cultural and city development projects that Balticgruppen has supported include: Umeå Arts Campus, Väven (which will include the new cultural centre, among other cultural activities), NorrlandsOperan, Umedalen Skulptur, Sami culture and sculp-tures in public spaces.

baLtiCgrUppen – main partner

oF Umeå2014

All those w

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it possible

“Whatever is good for Umeå is good for Balticgruppen”

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We, the undersigned, in the true spirit of open-source collaboration, declare our part-nership with the capital of culture before the final structure of the collaboration has been set in print. We all have different intentions and purposes with our collaboration. For some of us it is about expanding our human resources, for others it is about buying mar-keting rights, bolstering the region of nort-hern Sweden and using the 2014 platform to find new collaborative partners, launch products or similar goals.

What we have in common is that we all want to be “part of the heart”. We believe in

the capital of culture initiative. We support the basic values of inquisitiveness and pas-sion and we are certain that the creative platforms the capital of culture is working with are a positive way to work together to achieve even better development of the city and the region.

We also aim to contribute financially to programme items and play an active role in this initiative, which will strengthen the bonds between the region’s businesses, the com-munity, the university and the municipality.

In other words we will be co-creators of Umeå2014.

partnership deCLaration

VÄSTERBOTTENS-KURIREN, MOTORCENTRALEN, SWEDBANK, BALTICGRUPPEN,KOMATSU FOREST, POLARBRÖD AND UMEÅ AIRPORT.

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All those w

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Swedbank Norra Regionen has begun collaborating with Umeå2014 for the European capital of culture year. Among other initiatives Swedbank and Sparbankerna are arranging Growth Days in Umeå between 21–23 May 2014.

Growth Days is an event that provides a forum for all those who would like to contribute to creating better conditions for local and regional growth, entre-preneurship and enterprise.

One of the themes of Growth Days 2014 is culture-driven growth and this year the event will be conducted in close collaboration with Umeå2014.

If you would like to know more about Swedbank and Growth Days, visit us at www.swedbank.se/samhalle

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Photo: Andreas Nilsson.

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THANKS TO ALL THOSE WHO ARE MAKING IT POSSIBLE! We want to thank our dedicated citizens and cultural operators in the northern lands, in collaborating municipalities, regi-onal councils, county councils and county administrative boards.

Thank you to the Government and all the national enablers of culture, inclu-ding: Ájtte Museum, the Swedish Museum of Architecture, the Royal Dramatic Theat-re, the Living History Forum, the Institute for Language and Folklore, Konstnärs- nämnden – the Swedish Arts Grants Committee, the Royal Swedish Opera, Moderna museet, Nationalmuseum, the Swedish Museum of Natural History,

Nordiska museet, the National Swedish Handicraft Council, the Swedish National Heritage Board, the Swedish National Archives, Riksteatern, the Swedish Exhibition Agency, the Sami parliament’s Arts Council, Statens historiska museer – the Swedish Government’s museum authority, the National Public Art Council, the Swedish Arts Council, the Swedish National Museums of World Culture, Statens Musikverk – the Swedish Government’s music authority, the Swedish Film Institute, the Swedish Institute, the Swedish Agency for Economic and Regional Growth and VisitSweden.

Our thanks also go to all of our partners in the business community, the EU and all our other friends in Europe and beyond.

thank yoU!Thank you to all of our co-creators for your inquisitiveness,

your passion, your wealth of ideas and your diversity. Thank you for all the effort you are putting into building

Umeå2014. Together we are turning the European Capital of Culture into an inspiring, exciting, vibrant model

of artistic development.

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Welcome to Umeå.

Buerestbåhtieme Ubmejisse.

the adventure can begin

www.umea2014.se

A Programme Year In The Making - Umeå2014 (128 pages)

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