Happy new 2026!

The Department of Cultural Anthropology and Ethnology wish you all a happy new year and a great start of the coming spring semester!

We are very happy to share this amazing greeting from our former colleague Inna Shvorak, a Ukrainian music etnologist, who was a visting researcher at our department in the fall 2023.

Inna both studies music rituals in contemporary Ukraine and is a trained folk musician. With inspiration from the book ”Ljusa stjärnan- ett vandrande kulturarv” by folklorist Emma Ode, about the common traits of traditions in Sweden, Ukraine and several other places in Europe, Inna has translated the traditional Ukrainian New years-song Schedryk (in English known as Carol of the bells), and recorded her new Swedish version. Inna says:

”As a cultural researcher and folksinger I was so inspired by the description of the old Swedish tradition of walking up to houses, singing with a star during Christmas, that I decided to translate the Ukrainian new years-song ”Schedryk”. The song by Mykola Leontovych, is traditionally not a Christmas song in Ukraine, but a greeting for the new year (shchedrivka). It is about a swallow-bird that brings wishes of prosperity and happiness for the new year. Today, this image resonates with me as a symbol of faith, peace, and renewal — for Ukraine and for the whole world. My sincere thanks to Sweden for its support of Ukraine and for creating a space where Ukrainian culture can be heard, translated, and shared. May the swallow of ‘Shchedryk’ bring good news to us all in 2026!”

Thank you Inna for sharing this layered piece of culture!