Mother Svea  or Mother Swea  (Moder Svea)  is the female personification of Sweden and a patriotic emblem of the Swedish nation.

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In recent years, the landscape of the public debate in Sweden has shifted, with a lot of discussions regarding who has the right to call themselves Swedish and what being Swedish means, which I have always found very problematic and complicated.

 

Recently (April 2018), a video went viral on social media, created by a group calling themselves "The Northern Brothers". They are a far-right-wing group of (Nordic) men talking about the importance to defend the Nordic countries against foreign "negative influence" and restoring Scandinavia to it's "past glory". This sort of racist groups have sadly been a common element in the public space in Sweden for quite some time, but something about this nationalistic propaganda video, with them repeating their belong and heritage as "Northern Brothers" made me think.

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According to a DNA result I took recently, I'm 72.1% Scandinavian, 15.7% Northern- and West European, and 9.3% Finnish (with the other 2.9% being Baltic and

East European). In the minds of "The Northern Brothers" this would presumably "qualify me to be" a Swedish Woman. But what does that mean?

My partner has 0% Scandinavian or Northern European heritage but is born and raised in Sweden, as are the more part of my previous partners.

The same goes for a lot of my friends. Does that mean they're not Swedes?

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In my opinion, claiming and designating nationality according to genetic heritage is a very silly and limiting way of dividing people into groups.

I love living and working in Sweden, as I've also met all of my partners and friends here, and don't really think twice about their DNA.

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But, as I have seen these nationalistic groups arise, claiming their supremacy over others just through the place they were born and what DNA they might inhabit,

I thought I would show them what the life of an ordinary "Nordic Sister" in Sweden in 2018 looks like - for me.

A bisexual, poly-amorous, hard-working, fun-loving artist, friend, lover, girlfriend, god mother , LGBTQ-activist and woman.

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My main objective with this project is to problematize and also broaden the view of what "A Swedish Girl / Woman" is supposed to be.