HEDDA KRAUSZ SJÖGREN

Hedda Krausz Sjögren is a writer, producer and senior advisor.

Between 2017 and 2021 she served as Sweden’s first Cultural Attaché to South Africa, at the Embassy of Sweden in Pretoria.

MY WORK

On February 1, 2023 I assumed the role of CEO and artistic director of Colombine, one of Europe’s leading Theatre Agencies. In 2022 I curated for the Gothenburg Bookfair. Between 2016 and 2021 I worked for the Swedish government as senior advisor and Counsellor for Cultural Affairs, based in South Africa and Stockholm.

I spent most of my career writing and producing for the stage. I created a performance and production concept based on authentic witness accounts, Voices Projects.

I have worked in 30 countries, from Afghanistan to the United States, from Sweden to Nigeria, and I have put over 1000 decision makers on stage to portray human rights defenders and women’s rights activists. I also had work produced at the Royal Dramatic Theatre.

I lecture, participate on panels, and consult on issues related to cultural diplomacy and the role of arts and culture in international relations. I curate and moderate.

MY PHILOSOPHY

As a kid I was always lost in some story or other, imagining I was a detective, a musketeer or an adventurer. As a grown up I found a way to use that imagination in my work.

People lending their voices to other people’s stories is a way to catalyze change, that is what I believe and also what I have seen as a result of the work I do.

Women have begun to speak publicly of their experiences of fighting in resistance movements after 30 years of silence reclaiming their personal history; women have dared to seek help from abusive relationships; politicians have cried and followed up with policy changes – as a result of the documentary storytelling projects that I work with.

I am always looking for ways of creating what someone called ‘sustainable compassion’.

One of the ways is to make people imagine what it is like to be someone else –  and what better way than by sharing experiences, stories, and speaking other people’s words?

PROJECTS IN DEVELOPMENT

  • Bokmässan i Göteborg, Thematic Advisor, Nordiskt Litteraturpolitiskt Toppmöte
  • HC Productions, a visual arts & production design consulting bureau based between Cape Town, Johannesburg and Stockholm, with my partner Craig A. Smith, a multi award-winning painter, photographer and film production designer. (Golden Bear Berlin Film festival, multiple Cannes Lions)

PLAYS (a selection)

VOICESIda1

Voices provides a method for advocacy, using documentary theatre and strategic communication as key components. Voices projects address human rights and women’s rights issues and are always contextualized and implemented by local partners

More information at voicesprojects.com

RECENT ENGAGEMENTS

  • Moderator Swedish Presidency, European Union Conference on Artistic Freedom and Cultural and Creative Industries, Free to Create. Session “Protecting artists under threat”.
  • Guest Curator Gothenburg Book Fair 2022
  • Moderator Gothenburg Book Fair, numerous sessions, including Future of Bookfairs with CEO of Frankfurter Buchmesse, Juergen Boos and Frida Edman, CEO of Gothenburg Bookfair.
  • Chairman of the Board Unga Klara 2022
  • Member of the Board, Sweden -Iceland cooperation fund
  • Co-founder A/nordi/c, think tank for Nordic Cultural Policies 2021
  • Moderator Swedish stakeholder conference for Creative Industries, Ministry of Culture 2021
  • Keynote Swedish Institute – Creative Force 10 years 2019
  • Guest expert, Geneva Centre for Security Policy, master class & panel for Media and Arts for Peace. 2017
  • Guest speaker at Walsh School of Foreign Service, Georgetown University, in the course “Media, Arts & Culture: Fuelling war or creating peace?”, January 2016
  • Panellist at the Swedish Institute: “Svenska varor och värderingar – synergi eller motsättning?”, April 2016
  • Panellist at United States Institute of Peace, Washington DC: “Catalyzing Change: Women, Media and the Arts” April, 2015
  • Panellist, Swedish Embassy in Serbia & Montenegro, Podgorica, Montenegro: Seminar on the Swedish Feminist Foreign Policy, March 2015
  • Moderator at Royal Dramatic Theatre, a series of post performance talks with war survivors on Nobel Prize laureate Svetlana Aleksijevitjs work. 2015
  • Member of the board, foundation Albert Bonniers 100-årsminne, literary awards to Swedish authors of fiction and non-fiction, translators and illustrators. 2014 – on going
  • Teacher of courses and workshops in physical theatre methods (Tadashi Suzuki and Viewpoints), for instance at Stockholm Academy of Dramatic Arts. 1998 – on going

CLIENTS 2015 – 2016 (a selection)

Royal Dramatic Theatre, UN Women Bangladesh, Swedish Institute, Lynx Asset Management, Lärarförbundet, Forum för levande historia, Hyper Island, NATO/SHAPE.

HIGHLIGHTS

To date, I worked in 30 countries globally ranging from Afghanistan and Ukraine, to Egypt and the USA.

I had work produced at the Royal Dramatic Theatre in Stockholm, the Istanbul Theatre Biennale and in the parliaments of the EU, Ukraine, Sweden and Serbia, as well as in villages, town halls, universities, churches and in The Library of Alexandria.

My work has been featured in international media, have a peek here.

ARTICLES

SWEDISH RADIO (SR)

Hedda och Seven – om en konstnär, ett internationellt projekt och kvinnors rättigheter.

PRI

Hedda comments on the Stanford rape for PRI.

VIDEOS

NATO’s highest ranking generals on stage as women’s rights activists from Hedda Produktion on Vimeo.

Varför är Den tomma stolen ett viktigt skolprojekt och hur är det förenligt med ABB Industrigymnasiums arbete? from Hedda Produktion on Vimeo.

CONTACT

Mail: hedda@hedda.nu
Phone: +46 (0) 706 73 73 72
Skype: heddasjogren

Address
Hedda Produktion AB  c/o CEBEKO
Prästgårdsgränd 2
125 44 Älvsjö
SWEDEN