The Syriac Orthodox Church in Sweden – tradition and change

Södertälje konsthall presents a group exhibition with artists Atorina Adam, Brenda El Rayes, Hanna Al-Haek, Nada Ali and Tony Karlsson Savci. The exhibition touches on topics such as tradition, identity, liturgy, symbolism, spirituality, interpersonal relationships and religion. The exhibition is based on a research report produced by Magdalena Nordin, Henrik Johnsén, Andreas Westergren and Önver Cetrez, for The Swedish Research Council, in which the researchers have examined the Syrian Orthodox Church, its establishment in Sweden, how it has worked to maintain its tradition while trying to adapt to the majority society. Södertälje konsthall has invited four artists to work on the basis of the report and present works that touch on these topics. Hanna Al-Haek is presented posthumously in collaboration with the Hanna Al-Haek Foundation. The title: I Am The Sun is borrowed from a work by Tony Karlsson Savci.

The Syrian Orthodox Church in Sweden has been operating in Sweden since the 1970s, and it has its roots in the Middle East, with the largest followers being Assyrians/Syrians from Turkey, Lebanon and Syria. In the late 1960s, the first Assyrian/Syrian refugees came to Sweden from Lebanon. In the early 1970s, several Assyrians/Syrians, mainly from Turkey, but also Lebanon, Iraq and Syria, came to Sweden. During this period, meeting places were developed for the many Assyrians/Syrians who now called Sweden home. One of the most important meeting places then, as now, is the church. Many of these established in Södertälje where one of the largest communities are found today. In 2018, a project started by researchers from different universities in Sweden. The researchers are Önver Cetrez from Uppsala University, Professor of Psychology of Religion, Henrik Johnsén, Associate Professor of History of Religion from Södertörn University, Magdalena Nordin from Gothenburg University, Senior Lecturer at the Department of Literature, History of Ideas and Religion, and Andreas Westergren from Lund University, Associate Professor of Church History. The researchers were interested in investigating the establishment of the Syriac Orthodox Church in Sweden and how tradition and change have taken place among the largest followers of the Syriac Orthodox Church in Sweden, Assyrians/Syrians.

Picture: Tony Karlsson Savci, New Faces of Mesopotamia (2017). Photo: Sofie Kjørum Austlid.

Based on the report, four themes have been identified; Tradition and adaptation: the tension between the will and the need to adapt and the will and the need to remain faithful to tradition. Experiencing the liturgy: conveying the phenomenological experience of a Syrian Orthodox liturgy. Gender and power: the visible and invisible gender inequalities within the parish structure. The critical youth: how the assembly tries to adapt to get young people involved despite different intergenerational views on important topics. The book was published in 2023 titled ‘Syrian Orthodox Church in Sweden – tradition and change’. Södertälje konsthall presents a group exhibition in which four artists have been asked to interpret the report and its themes through their artworks. Hanna Al-Haek passed away 2020 and is presented posthumously. All artists are connected to the report, whether they identify themselves as Assyr-ians/Syrians, have been in church spaces, work with music and liturgy or with themes such as symbolism, spirituality, migration, interfaith, tradition and adaptation.

Welcome to Södertälje konsthall

Maja-Lena Molin, Artistic Director, Södertälje konsthall.
Daniella Maraui, Assistant Curator, I Am The Sun.

Thanks to:
Uppsala Universitet, Vetenskapsrådet, Hanna Al-Haek Foundation