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Keeping it real

On May 11, 2012, in Natalia, by sweden
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On Friday, our home was brought to life in a big way. Bright balloons, blueberry lollipops, excited giggles and two giant jumping castles— one indoors and one outdoors— filled every room with the innocent joy of childhood.

The occasion was our daughter’s third birthday and we celebrated by reaching out to the wonderful community in her Swedish nursery school, as well as friends we have made in the past few months and Embassy staff with young children.

The result was a delightful mélange of authentic conversations among parents and a raucous carnival-type atmosphere with kids occasionally shrieking with excitement at the prospect of eating as many chocolate cupcakes as they wanted and running wildly through the formal parlors and hallways of the old European home.

As a mother, nothing could make me happier or prouder than seeing the joy on our daughter’s face as she frolicked with her friends or saw the huge Princess-pink jumping castle for the first time. My husband and I both noted that neither of us had ever had a grand birthday party like that, nor do we really recall having any birthday parties until our teen years and those were mostly at inexpensive pizza parlors like Chuck E. Cheese! This was something really special we hope she takes away from this incredible experience abroad. It’s also a way for us to share this incredible gift and home with as many people as we can.

We strive to make this home as open, inclusive and accessible as possible, and try to be all those things personally. It can be intimidating and formal to enter an Ambassadorial residence so steeped in formality, beautiful art and tradition, but I can tell you that no one was feeling intimidated when they were greeted at the door with inflated balloon animals, Barney songs streaming through the air, a popcorn machine and our sugar-infused daughter whose face was blue from eating too many lollipops.

Nothing strips people of their professional trappings and formality like kids. Keeping it real was the theme of the evening, in the best of all ways. And that is the kind of atmosphere Mark and I hope continue.

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Looking to the Future

On April 27, 2012, in Natalia, by sweden
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Mrs. Natalia Brzezinski, Special Adviser for Innovation Alec Ross and Sweden's Minister of Foreign Affairs Carl Bildt

Recently, I’ve participated in two distinct forums with a recurring theme: focusing on innovative solutions to the challenges and opportunities of the future.

Nothing epitomizes these challenges and opportunities like the Internet. Whether the Internet will be a force for positive change and progress or for repression and tyranny is the worrisome question facing governments, policymakers, businesses and the citizens around the world that it has finally given a voice and outlet to.

This is a pivotal issue and we were so pleased to host our friend Alec Ross, Secretary Clinton’s senior advisor for innovation, last week to shine some light on it. Alec came to attend Stockholm’s Internet conference on Internet Freedom spearheaded by Foreign Minister Bildt, an early and enthusiastic pioneer on this issue. Both Ross and Bildt gave prescient and insightful speeches and sat on a panel together addressing questions on how to positively harness the Internet for international development, freedom from political repression and economic progress.

The theme of the day really struck a chord with me as I truly believe the language of individuality, openness and expression espoused by social media and the identity of the Internet writ large is universal and increasingly becoming more integral to self-identity for the young generation than the language of their homeland. The Arab Spring brought this to the forefront, and even today we see young Egyptians from across the political and religious spectrum fighting for common values of transparency, anti-corruption and opportunity for all.

Ensuring the future for the young generation by harnessing our common values was a key theme at another event I attended yesterday.  Save the Children in collaboration with Unicef organized an inspiring seminar on children’s rights and business principles. I attended at the invitation of Ambassador Lisa Svensson, Sweden’s dynamic Ambassador for Corporate Responsibility and the youngest Ambassador in the Foreign Ministry.

Protecting and supporting children around the world is a passion of Queen Silvia’s, and Her Majesty gave a strong set of opening remarks calling on businesses to take greater responsibility for the lives of children and safeguard their rights through the ten principles developed by the United Nations “Global Compact” on corporate responsibility.

Sweden has a cultural legacy of helping those in need, and it’s no surprise that its companies are consistently ranked as having the highest levels of corporate responsibility through carefully developed and targeted programs. Many of the corporations here have been able to strike a healthy balance between making money while doing something good for society.

Children’s rights are directly tied to levels of female empowerment since women are predominantly responsible for the livelihood of young children in the developing world. If women are able to make their own money, it’s been proven that they will use that money to educate their children. For this reason, I believe promoting women’s entrepreneurship is critical to the plight of children.

It was incredibly heartening to learn about the large-scale initiatives many Swedish companies are enacting to help women start their own businesses, secure loans and get their goods to the marketplace.

In places like Bangladesh, H & M is educating women on their rights such as simply asking for maternity leave and safe places to breastfeed. While touring Ericsson’s headquarters last week at the invitation of two of its top female Vice Presidents, I learned of the many ways Ericsson is empowering women in Africa, for example, through the “Connect to Learn” initiative that brings women and children quick access to broadband. In partnership with the UN Development Program, IKEA is sponsoring the education and empowerment of women in over 500 villages in Uttar Pradesh, India to learn how to start their own businesses. These are just a few examples I have heard about recently of the many, many Swedish companies that are taking the lead on this issue. It is a rich area where both Swedish and American companies can share best practices and collaborate.

Values-based leadership with a strong foundation in social innovation will be the dominant business model of the future, in my opinion. Today, the young generation entering the workforce is demanding that their companies care about something beyond just the bottom line. Business schools are slowly moving away from a financial, investment-based “Wall Street” focus to one rooted in imagination, innovation and corporate responsibility. I have deep faith that in the next 10-20 years we will have furthered the progress of women and children around the world through innovative public-private partnerships and the dedication of both sectors to empowering women and girls.

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U.S. Green Cities Delegation Confirms “All Politics is Local”

On April 20, 2012, in Mark, by sweden
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In the late 1970s/early 1980s, then-U.S. Speaker of the House, Tip O’Neill, coined the now-famous saying “all politics is local”. This holds particularly true in the United States where the federal system reserves to states and cities most authorities and decision-making powers, making America a “ground-up” society were local action and grass-roots enthusiasm leads the way.

Earlier this week Natalia and I hosted a breakfast for a group of mayors and city representatives from the U.S. National League of Cities to get a flavor of how they are developing and implementing environmentally sustainable solutions. The delegation – representing Baltimore, Maryland; Cleveland, Ohio; Dubuque, Iowa; and St Paul, Minnesota – also met with Swedish counterparts under the auspices of the Swedish American Green Alliance (SAGA) to exchange best practices on urban sustainability to make sure that local politics does not stay local, but that these great solutions spread internationally.

Each of these elected officials displayed an impressive breadth of knowledge and determination to implement effective sustainability programs in their respective cities, each with very distinct and individual challenges and opportunities. Natalia and I were so inspired by the level of commitment and imagination in the room.  Whether it was tackling issues of transportation in Baltimore, spreading knowledge through early education on sustainability in Cleveland, or high-speed rail and an emphasis on public-private partnerships in St. Paul,  each of these city representatives were finding creative solutions to make improve the quality of life for their citizens. By utilizing his years of experience at John Deere Co.  and a dedication to improving the lives of his nine grandchildren, Mayor Boul of Dubuque, Iowa has helped make Dubuque one of the best small cities to raise a family, according to Forbes.

The delegation visited Hammarby Sjöstad together with Natalia. Hammarby has gone from being a former industrial site in the late 1980s to a sustainable neighborhood with cutting-edge holistic solutions that help its nearly 26,000 residents make significant energy savings while also saving money. The goal of the “Hammarby Model” is to integrate energy, water and waste to make the most efficient system possible.  What was once a polluted area populated by squatters, has now become a coveted residential areas for young families and professionals due to its vast and family-friendly “green areas”, efficient garbage sorting system, district heating and goal of making it the first completely electric car area by 2020. Hammarby Sjostad has become a global example of sustainability, and has over 13,000 visitors per year. Our city representatives, along with Natalia, were able to place a peg on a map of the world for all visitors. The map depicted visitors from Canada to China, Norway to Saudi Arabia.

In a similar fashion, the U.S. cities we met have adopted a number of sustainable initiatives. Council member Kraft of Baltimore told us that a 2.25% tax increase on downtown parking has allowed the city to offer free public transport in the city center which has encouraged residents to leave their cars at home.  Mayor Coleman of St Paul informed us about his city’s district heating grid which is run on biomass. Considering St Paul was one of the main destinations for Swedish emigrants in the late 19th century, it is not too surprising that it was two Swedes who constructed the city’s district heating system a couple of decades back

Both Natalia and I were pleased to see how Swedish and U.S. cities are uniting to take the lead in urban sustainability. This goes for both large and small cities. Dubuque, a town of 60 000, and its mayor, Roy Buol, has shown how a small city can serve as a small scale test pilot for bigger cities. As an example, Dubuque recently teamed up with IBM to launch a brand new smart metering system that will allow the town’s residents to keep a close eye on their energy and water consumption as part of Dubuque being IBM’s test bed for its “Smarter Cities” initiative. The overall goal is for this system to be spread around the United States and around the world.

All politics truly is local – sustainability is no exception.

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US Olympic Gold medalist & US Sports Envoy Visits Sweden

On April 12, 2012, in Natalia, by sweden
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Natalia Brzezinski and Evan Lysacek

Moments of solitude in a cold, harshly lit rink, pushing your body and mind to the breaking every hour of every day— this is how newly named U.S. Department of State Sports Envoy, 2010 Olympic Gold medalist and my long-time friend Evan Lysacek described his true Olympic moment in men’s figure skating.

 
Evan began his inaugural journey as an official Sports Envoy by performing pro bono with Stockholm Ice over Easter weekend. The show held at the state-of-the-art Globe Arena was a dynamic display of international champions that left one breathless. Evan’s performance to the tango from Moulin Rouge electrified the crowd, but it was his humble and fun demeanor as he signed scores of autographs and related with children that stole the evening.

 
The following day we packed into a car headed for Södertälje—a city outside of Stockholm known for its richly diverse immigrant population from countries such as Syria, Turkey and Iraq. Here, the Embassy teamed up with Admir Lukacevic—a young, fiercely dedicated youth organizer who was born in Bosnia— and the organization he founded, “Sports Without Borders”. As a young, immigrant boy growing up in southern Sweden, Admir had two choices: become a pizza delivery boy or a thief. He chose a third option, and worked tirelessly to educate himself and start a program for more than 4,000 youth that uses sports as a vehicle to build confidence and community, and to inspire dreams.

Standing at center ice with his gleaming black skates on, Evan delivered an inspiring speech emphasizing his many setbacks and the fact that he was never the most naturally talented athlete, but always the one who worked the hardest. Admittedly, I had tears in my eyes remembering all the 4 am wake-up calls I endured as a young skater and watching the beauty of the graceful movements by Evan and the tiny skaters.
With that, we all hit the ice and spent almost an hour skating, laughing and connecting with each other. Nothing was more liberating and fun than skating hand-in-hand with my husband around the rink and realizing that I still had it in me to do a few single jumps and spins!

After a fascinating tour of the city hall and lunch with the Mayor of Södertälje, the day was capped off by a visit to the Embassy where Evan was able to tell his Olympic story and connect with the dedicated staff on national pride and serving one’s country.

For Evan, it was not about the glory of standing on the podium with a shining gold medal around his neck and hearing the crowds shout “U-S-A”, but about the years of early mornings and late nights, the missed birthdays and Christmases with family, the stress fractures and the broken, bloody toes that he envisions when he thinks of winning the gold medal.

 
In this way, we are all defined by the sacrifices we make for our dreams and our families each day. Whether we are athletes, single mothers, Foreign Service Officers or young Marines it is the tough obstacles and the fight in us to never give up in life that defines greatness.

It took me many years to overcome a biting sadness and sense of failure at not being able to fulfill my Olympic dreams of ice skating and essentially sacrificing my childhood to a goal I never reached. But being able to bring Evan here and have him inspire so many people brought me full circle and showed me that we all make our personal contribution to the world every day by the sacrifices we make for others. For me, it has always been the failures and the hard falls that shaped me most of all.

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Boldly Going Where This Man Has Not Been Before

On April 3, 2012, in Mark, by sweden
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Last week, I had the honor of leading a group of Swedish and Finnish defense officials on a visit aboard USS ENTERPRISE (CVN-65) as part of the ship’s last deployment.  I am attaching a picture of us about to embark on that memorable day.

At the invitation of the U.S. Naval Sixth Fleet, guests from Swedish and Finnish Ministry of Defense, Parliament and Armed Forces were invited for the day long visit.  Our group was flown out to the carrier and experienced an “arrested” landing, as well as a “catapult” launch.  Well, actually two landings as we had a rare occurrence of a “hook skip” where the tail hook of our aircraft actually jumped over the wires that were waiting to bring us to an abrupt stop.  Thankfully, aircraft carrier pilots are prepared for such an event and we landed successfully on the second attempt!

Between those memorable events, the Swedish and Finnish guests learned about interoperability between Navies and the carrier’s ability to support the full spectrum of foreign policy from humanitarian assistance through power projection.   This theme was consistent throughout the visit as many times aircraft carriers are only thought of in the sense of attacking targets.  However, during its last deployment in 2011, USS ENTERPRISE participated in the anti-piracy mission off the coast of Africa, much as the Swedish Navy did in 2010.

Another key observation for the guests was the absolute professionalism displayed by the crew of the carrier and the pilots of its air wing.  On its 4.5 acre (18,000 square meters) flight deck–the largest in the world, with winds gusting over 30 knots, jet engines literally over the heads of the personnel working while aircraft were taking off and landing just 20 meters away, there was a ballet-level of precision.  We were told the average age of those personnel was a mere 19 years old and yet every one of them knew the overall mission of the carrier, their position in contributing to that mission and the required teamwork to accomplish the mission.  The ship and air wing leaders provided the training, direction and resources and then let the team complete the mission.

Our Swedish and Finnish guests left the carrier knowing a bit more about the ability of our military forces, as well as our willingness and desire to work with other nations.  I think they also left with a bit of admiration for the fine men and women of our country.  It was truly a day I will always remember.

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A Model for International Security Cooperation

On March 27, 2012, in Mark, by sweden
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Today, at the Nuclear Security Summit in Seoul, South Korea, Foreign Minister Carl Bildt made history.  He announced that Sweden and the United States worked together to transfer plutonium from historical Swedish nuclear research and development activities to the United States for disposition under a U.S. nonproliferation program called the Global Threat Reduction Initiative (GTRI).  This is historic for a couple of reasons – it’s the first shipment of plutonium to the United States under the GTRI and will therefore be a model for other countries who seek to safely dispose of this type of material.  Additionally, it brings us one step closer to improving nuclear security worldwide.  I applaud the Swedish team for their commitment to global nuclear security and for their dedication to such a complex and technically challenging project.  Our two countries have worked on this project together for three years.

Foreign Minister Bildt’s announcement was a major result of a process launched at  the first ever Nuclear Security Summit convened by President Obama in Washington DC in 2010.  In April of 2010, 50 world leaders met in Washington to develop a plan to lock down nuclear material, disrupt nuclear trafficking, and prevent nuclear terrorism.  The leaders also decided that separated plutonium and highly enriched uranium would need special attention.  Permanent reduction of these materials would reduce the global nuclear threat.  In Seoul, world leaders came together for the second  Nuclear Security Summit to report on their progress and to make new commitments.  Speaking at the Summit, President Obama applauded the work that countries have done saying “we are fulfilling the commitments we made in Washington.  We are improving the security at our nuclear facilities.  We are forging new partnerships.  We are removing nuclear materials, and in some cases, getting rid of these materials entirely.”  As a result, the world is safer.

Sweden and the United States have once again worked together to tackle a serious and significant global challenge.  It is my hope that this cooperation will be an example for other countries looking to dispose of such material.  As President Obama noted in his remarks at Seoul, “no one nation can do this alone.”

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Values-Based Leadership

On March 26, 2012, in Natalia, by sweden
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Photo: Andreas Wanitzky

 

Last week I was incredibly honored to deliver the keynote speech at a conference on “values-based leadership” organized by the American Chamber of Commerce in Sweden in cooperation with the French Chamber of Commerce. I had the privilege of speaking with an accomplished panel of business leaders from companies like Facebook, as well as Maud Olofsson, former Deputy Prime Minister of Sweden and a pioneer in promoting women in business and politics.

 
My speech focused on the values of the Millennial generation—those born after 1980— and how those values will affect the future dynamic of the workplace and alter conventional leadership structures.

 
Understanding the identity of a generation is essential to understanding where our ever-globalizing world is going. Young people today comprise the most connected dimension of global society, and in much of the developing world the bulk of the population is under the age of 30. In the Middle East, nearly 65% of the population in some countries is under the age of 24.

 
This is an activated group looking for authentic, selfless and transparent leadership, and driven by a quest for a compelling personal narrative grounded in social responsibility and global experiences, a sense of work-life balance and a professional home with a greater purpose beyond just profit-margins.

 
Categorizing an entire generation is an enormous and potentially Sisyphean task. There are always exceptions to every generalization, and the beauty of the human condition is its diversity. But I gave my best, studied assessment and we had a vibrant conversation that touched on what qualities future leaders will have—high emotional intelligence, cultural sensitivity, a capacity to anticipate change and openness—and how to most effectively promote women to leadership positions in business.

 
My hopeful prediction is that women will take the lead in the Millennial generation. For the first time in American history women are outnumbering men in terms of college degrees and master’s degrees by close to double, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Because they grew up in a post-Feminist period and were educated in the 1990s when the “self-esteem” movement hit grade schools in America— Millennial women truly believe they can be leaders in society.

 
What these young women need to continue their professional development is mentorship. This is something Ms. Olofsson emphasized, as well as several other panelists. Projecting successful role models is critical to giving young women the self-confidence to take innovative risks and go for the promotions or professional challenges they may feel are out of their grasp.

 

This is not about cutting men out of the equation, but leveling the playing field so there is a relatively equal balance of men and women in leadership positions. A healthy gender balance has been proven to be the most effective formula in leading companies.

 

Promoting commercial, people-to-people ties and gender equality in the workplace was a common thread woven throughout the week. In addition to the conference, we hosted two separate roundtables on these topics. Sweden and America share many common values, and bringing people together to brainstorm and debate is one of the most productive ways to inspire and facilitate progress. It is something we look forward to doing much more of in the coming year!

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Convening for women’s empowerment

On March 22, 2012, in Mark, by sweden
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One of the best things about serving as US Ambassador is the ability to bring inspiring, diverse sets of people together to speak openly and work on the challenges of the day.

That’s exactly what happened this week at our residence, where my wife and I hosted a roundtable on the topic of Women’s Business Leadership.  Our main speaker, Maud Olofsson, is a path-breaking leader in this realm and a long time partner and friend of the United States. She is the former Swedish Deputy Prime Minister.  She is also one of just two European women, along with Cherie Blair, to be invited as a leader to Secretary Hillary Clinton’s ground-breaking International Council on Women’s Business Leadership.  On that Council, she chairs the “leadership” sub-committee.

The goal of the Roundtable was for Ms. Olofsson to give a readout on the inaugural meeting of Secretary Clinton’s Council which occurred in late January. Olofsson said she returned inspired by the enthusiasm and will in the group: “Secretary Clinton is serious, she really wants to change things!”

What ensued was a vibrant discussion among women of all ages and cultural backgrounds, from the private sector and the public sector, mothers and wives and grandmothers, passionately debating the merits of quota systems, the need for extensive childcare programs, cultural sensitivity when it comes to gender issues, and many more topics. It was a conversation that could’ve lasted far longer than two hours. I was one of only two men there, and I was inspired by the strength and talent in the room!

Ms. Olofsson gave us a detailed account of “facts and figures”, as she likes to say, that strongly make the case for engaging more women in business and entrepreneurship. This is not charity for women; women are an educated, skilled demographic that is necessary to bring into the workforce for the sake of economics and growth. An aging demographic will put an enormous strain on the workforce in Europe, and the full potential of the workforce must be engaged to sustain this. Women are also an asset. Extensive research has shown that the most effective and successful executive boards and leadership teams are the ones with an equal balance of men and women.

Many women emphasized the role of childcare in “liberating” women in both wealthier Western nations and developing nations. The truth is that the work women do at home is not accounted for in GDP, not acknowledged and not compensated. If women were freed from that to some extent, they could contribute that amount of productivity to the economy. It has also been shown that when women make the money, they prioritize their children’s educations and that is the first thing they spend their profits on. Empowering women in business will empower the future. And women need help at home to accomplish that.

Beyond childcare, one idea that is the brainchild of Ms. Olofsson is the hugely successful “Ambassador’s Program”, which she initiated as Minister of Enterprise. This program, focusing on showcasing female “role models” and entrepreneurs and sending them  to schools around the country has been emulated by 22 European countries now. The most important and simple things to create change is being a role model, Olofsson emphasized. And the idea of finding these kinds of strong female role models in every country in the world, and showing women in countries where they are still being repressed that it is possible to be independent, to make your own money and to start your own business is the key to this initiative.

The event ended with 25 women connecting, sharing stories and promising to reconvene with more ideas. I hope this is just the beginning of a long set of meetings.

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Celebrating International Women’s Day

On March 12, 2012, in Natalia, by sweden
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The Lebanese philosopher and diplomat Charles Malik famously said: “The fastest way to change society is to mobilize the women of the world.”

I was reminded of these words at a luncheon I attended in honor of International Women’s Day organized by the International Women’s Club of Stockholm. The luncheon was sponsored by HE Sheikha Najla Al Qassimi, the United Arab Emirates Ambassador to Sweden, to raise money for The Hunger Project— a global, non-profit organization focused on ending world hunger by empowering women toward independent and entrepreneurial solutions. Sitting at a long table surrounded by socially motivated and powerful female diplomats—many from nations with traditionally poor records on gender equality— I was heartened by how far women have come in the past few decades.

I felt hopeful just listening to the soft-spoken and clearly gifted UAE Ambassador speak about the strides her nation has made in education and professional opportunities for women. Nyamko Sabuni, Sweden’s Minister for Integration and Gender Equality, also gave a passionate call for protecting the integrity of women’s rights. The sheer talent present in the room underscored the fact of the day: activating the women around the world is the key to peace and economic prosperity.

Later that day, I was again moved by the words of a woman candidly giving truth to power in a very different and much more intimate way. Eleanor Coppola, the wife of the famous director Francis Ford Coppola, was set to speak at the Fotografiska museum on the topic of women in the arts. Fotografiska Museet is a cavernous, fantastically organized space located in an old shipping building on the industrial bank of the canal. I arrived an hour early and meandered through the mysteriously-lit exhibits, which ranged from photographs masterfully playing with the dimensions and concepts of architecture and space to heart-wrenching images of beaten and disfigured child soldiers in the Ugandan Lord’s Resistance Army by photojournalist Marcus Bleasdale.

Eleanor Coppola is a petite, elegant woman with cropped silver hair and a shy smile. She began her speech by nervously joking that her voice may crack several times throughout because she is not used to being “on this side of the microphone”. From there, she gave a beautiful portrait of a life that began with big dreams of working in the digital art world and how three children, a famous husband and the pressures of being a 1950’s housewife put her dreams on hold. After almost a decade of frustration and soul-searching, she found her voice again and began making documentaries, her most famous being “Hearts of Darkness: A filmmaker’s Apocalypse” based on the making of her husband’s noteworthy and troubled film “Apocalypse Now”.

Both of these events reflected both how far women have come but also how the challenges of the past continue to limit us. Like Mrs. Coppola, I struggle to balance my family with professional goals, and try to be everything to everyone. It is an unparalleled challenge to try and “have it all”. But our society will not maximize its potential until women have the resources to be both mothers and professionals. The values and skills women possess are unique and well-matched for today’s challenges, and we need their voices at the negotiating table to address them.

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Bringing people together around Swedish Art

On March 5, 2012, in Natalia, by sweden
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Dimitri Keiski, Natalia and Ambassador Brzezinski

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Last Friday, we opened up our residence to showcase art from some of the most exciting, rising young artists in Stockholm’s vibrant cultural scene. Our goal was to create an all-encompassing experience that appealed to all the senses from the moment a guest stepped through the door.

 

In addition to exhibiting art of all mediums—digital, visual, performing arts and arts created through year-long experiments and life experience— we also had two musical performances that beautifully contrasted off of each other. One was Dimitri Kieski, the 2011 True Talent winner and a product of modern society’s reality television obsession, and the second was Ad Hoc, an all-male A cappella group who dressed in 16th-century traditional Swedish garb and sang Latin hymnals as well as “Barber Shop” ditties.  The result was a dynamic evening that brought people from all ages and professions, both Swedes and Americans, together around art.

 
Well before we even set foot on a plane to fly to Stockholm, my husband and I were exploring ways to relate with Swedes in a genuine way—a way that transcended both generational and cultural bounds. One obvious answer was art. Although we are not trained art connoisseurs or collectors, Mark and I have a strong personal connection to the values most tied to art: creativity and free expression.

 
As a young boy, my husband discovered a deep-seated love for nature and the environment because of art. His mother, Emelie Benes Brzezinski, is a sculptor who works with wood and whose work has a strong ecological connection. Mark spent many afternoons as a boy watching her carve into the splintered wood with her chainsaw and listening to stories of what the wood was saying to her as an artist. Each of Emelie’s pieces has its own distinct personality based on the rough nature of the bark or the smooth curves and lines of the tree.

 
For me, the opportunity to express myself as a competitive ice skater, to lose myself in the music and movement, gave me a sense of identity and confidence as a young girl. I can still remember the liberating rush I felt throwing myself into the air for a double axel and the loss of inhibition and insecurities that came with every spiral and glide. Ice skating very much formed who I am today. For both of us, art and expression is a theme running through our respective coming-of-age narratives.

 
In this exhibit, we focused on the role of the artist and whether this often enigmatic identity evolves over time or remains universal. By examining one of the most influential and catalytic inventions of the modern century—television — one conclusion for me was that the portrayal of the artist through the lens of mass media has many constants.

 
The need for human expression is timeless. This is a universal value shared by America and Sweden. Today all over the world, young people are increasingly mobilizing around this value. For these reasons, we are exceedingly proud to display the work of some of Stockholm’s brightest young contemporary artists, and most importantly to understand their identities and what colors their view of society through their work.

 
More photos of the event are on the U.S. Embassy Flickr photostream

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