Promoting Scandinavian culture in the Greater Vancouver Area, B.C.
Due to circumstances, we have postponed
the next Nordic Art and Photography Show to 2027.
We will announce the new date and invite the participation
of artists and photographers who enjoy working with Nordic themes,
or who have a Nordic connection.
For Leif Erikson Day 2025, we will celebrate the adventures of Nordic people who crossed the Atlantic to seek new homes in North America. This year marks two special anniversaries for Scandinavian emigration. The first Norwegian emigrants (since the Greenland Viking explorations) sailed to North America in 1825, and Icelanders first arrived in Canada to found a major settlement in 1875.
Please join us to learn about the Atlantic crossings of intrepid Scandinavians
with presentations, activities, and living history on the Viking Ship replica Munin
Date: Sunday 26 October, 2025, 11:00am – 6:00pm
Venue: Scandinavian Community Centre, 6540 Thomas Street, Burnaby, BC
Nordic Art & Photography Show and Sale
“Past, Present & Future”
Saturday & Sunday, April 26-27, 2025, 11 am – 4 pm.
Opening reception 11:30 am, Saturday April 26
Admission is free.
Visual Art, Photography & Sculpture with Nordic flavour!
~~Thanks for supporting our Nordic Art community~~
We’re delighted to share these artworks with you,
and we hope you’ll choose to buy something special for your home or workplace.
There will be talks and art demonstrations, music, games, and refreshments.
Our exhibitors share their own past, present, and future – stories of inspiration by family, travel, cultural experiences, or the twists and turns of a dream or saga.
A book table will feature a selection of favourite art books from the Centre’s English-language library.
Artists – If your creativity thrives on Nordic Culture and/or Nordic heritage,there’s still time to reserve a space at the show. Please contact Sussanne Hoiberg at nordicartshow@gmail.com
We’ll celebrate Leif Erikson Day on Saturday, 26 October, 2024
at the Scandinavian Community Centre in Burnaby, BC
This year we’ll focus on Iceland, the windswept home of Vikings and volcanoes.
With the Icelandic Canadian Club of British Columbia,
we’ll explore the replica Viking Ship Munin and learn about Iceland’s volcanic landscape.
Download the poster —
Poster FINAL 4
Sámi National Day 2023
February 6, 2023
Sámi Heritage and Culture
Download Carolyn Thauberger’s presentation–
Sami Culture for UBC 2021 updated 2023
The Sámi flag above is one of the two official flags of Norway. Sámi people have established a strong political presence in Norway which now recognizes this Sámi flag as one of the country’s two official flags. They are flown together on state occasions, the Sámi flag beneath the Norwegian one. Designed by Astrid Båhl, the red part of the circle symbolises the sun, the blue part the moon. The colours red, blue, green and yellow reflect the Sámi national costume. Green symbolises nature, blue water, red fire and yellow the sun. The Sámi call themselves “The people of the sun”.
Sámi people call their home territories “Sapmi”. These lands lie across the northern parts of Norway, Sweden, Finland and the Russian Kola Peninsula. There are 100,000 Indigenous inhabitants in this area. Ancestors of the present-day Sámi have inhabited the area since the birth of Christ and likely much longer. At least 30,000 people of Sámi ancestry live in North America.
The Sámi are a people with a rich and powerful culture one they have held for thousands of years. They are noted for their skill in living successfully in a cold environment and for their cooperative and peaceful social connections (at least before the deliberate introduction of alcohol by politicians wanting to control the Sámi lands and gather taxes from a weakened population). Some believe Sámi people may even have come to the Sapmi areas just after the last Ice Age left 10,000 years ago. Archeological evidence is limited for a nomadic people but studies of language and culture seem to support this. Considering their success there is likely much we can learn from the Sámi about living in a northern climate and about peaceful social organization.
