Womankind

It was a shock to walk past an old dream the other day, slumped against the footpath, dirty, scratched, and somewhat more diminutive than in my recollections. In my youth, this (now rusting) blue lump of metal was my symbol for grown-up success - it

Harvard academics Jennifer Drake and Ellen Winner recruited 80 undergraduate students and sat them in front of a traumatic movie involving torture and murder. Later, the undergraduates were handed a set of colouring pencils and a white sheet of paper

Want to be rich and famous? Then don’t expect to be happy, argues psychologist Tim Kasser in his book The High Price of Materialism. If your aim in life is to be wealthy, famous, and good looking then you’re increasing your chances of being miserable

There are merits in living a contrarian life. Much like those contrarian investors you read about who buy shares when everyone else is piling out: they’re deliberately and systematically doing the opposite to what everyone else is doing. The crowds a

Danish artist Trine Søndergaard admits to being introverted. Raised in country Denmark, the self-taught artist found photography to be the perfect medium. “I could go into the world with my camera - I had access, a purpose, and permission to enter. T

In his search for what makes for a rewarding life, psychology professor and author Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi encountered a rare breed of happy people. These happy people, who he calls ‘autotelic’, don’t need fame, fortune, or good luck to be happy. In

From the 1870s artists began to flock to Skagen in northern Jutland - a place so remote they needed a rowing boat to reach it. In low tide, local fishermen waded out to the boats to carry the radical artists and truth seekers ashore. As poet Holger D

At age 20, Danish painter Vilhelm Hammershøi trained with Skagen artist Peder Severin Krøyer, who took an interest in the artistic progress of his young pupil. “I have a student who paints quite strangely,” wrote Krøyer about Hammershøi. “I don’t und

You can spend years in Copenhagen without ever realising there were once walls around it. You could change trains at Denmark’s busiest station, Nørreport, every day without knowing this was where the northern gate once stood, that right into the nine

I have always had a passion for art - maybe because I’ve never been particularly creative. I’m not very good at drawing or painting. People who possess these skills, the ability to make a statement about the world through a performance or a sculpture

When I was young, I could work for 48 hours straight, drinking gin at the same time, and I’d be perfectly fine the next day. But not today. Tonight, I am playing until five in the morning, but I’ll take a power nap during the day or I won’t get throu

When I was a little girl, there was this older girl who made pearl necklaces, and I wanted to be exactly like her. So, I started buying pearls and making necklaces at home. My grandma was fond of jewellery too; I remember she had a gorgeous jewellery

If you were to record your inner voice during the day, it may be surprising to hear what it has to say. “Stupid! Why are you always stuffing things up!” This inner voice may spend time ruminating on what other people are doing or thinking; “Why are p

In her book, You Can Heal Your Life, Louise Hay asks her readers to imagine they’re in line at a cafeteria, or a buffet in a luxurious hotel, where instead of dishes of food, they are presented with dishes of thoughts. You get to choose any and all t

“Amateurs sit and wait for inspiration, the rest of us just get up and go to work,” is a quote attributed to Stephen King, the prodigious writer of horror fiction. The thinking of an amateur, “I’ll wait until I am inspired,” is one reason why amateur

To do lists are popular tools for prioritising the day ahead, allowing us to focus on certain tasks that we think are important to get done in a day, or in a life. But rarely do we write out a ‘not to do’ list, listing those activities we don’t wish

You have a unique vision for women’s fashion - a look that is different to many other brands. Was this unique vision for how women can look, one of the reasons you pursued fashion as a career? With each new collection I try to continuously explore a

Danish fashion designer Stine Goya believes in the power of colour to change our moods, and possibly our self-concept and ambitions. The youngest of six children in a very traditional family, Goya, whose fashion pieces are notably bright and colourfu

What does style mean to you? Style is when you mix creativity with a bit of functionalism. It has nothing to do with money. Style is when you style an old dress in a new way instead of throwing out and buying new stuff. How do you work? I am fasci

Danish design was inspired by modernism, a radical shift in the way society viewed life, art, politics, and life. Following the horrors of World War I, people sought to re-invent themselves and changes brought on by technology and the industrial revo

My hometown is Copenhagen, where I live in an apartment in the area of Nørrebro, which is filled with little shops, green start-ups, and cafés. It gives me lots of daily inspiration. I live with my 20-year-old son who is studying music, who will be m

On a recent Sunday, I found myself sitting on my bed, surrounded by small bottles of perfumes, creams, and soaps I had pilfered from various hotels. Agonising over what should stay and what should go, I put them into ever-smaller piles. Finally, irri

You design lamps, furniture, and jewellery. Objects are your universe. How can objects change our world? I have an ambivalent relationship with objects. On the one hand, I gather too many of them. On the other, I would like to get rid of stuff and I

Dear Hera, My husband works as a financial manager at a large company and he works long hours during the week. We have three children, and I have reduced my hours to part time so that I can take them to school, sports, and be with them after school

What was your first encounter with orangutans? I first met orangutans when I was a teenager during a work placement at a zoo. I guess I did fall in love with them at that time, but in my wildest imagination I never thought I’d be working with them o

By W.H. Auden The Danish philosopher Kierkegaard is one of the master thinkers of the modern age, a defining influence on existentialism and on twentieth-century theology, and this brilliantly tailored selection from his vast and varied writings -

SMK presents the largest ever retrospective exhibition about Danish painter Anna Ancher. Thematically, Ancher’s paintings were influenced by a lifelong connection to the light and geography of Skagen. Together with her husband Michael Ancher and Theo

I’m the one who’s paintedthe pictures at the Skagen museum. I said to myselfthat is your life and thenI began to paint. I think it all started with the lunch pictureI got so hungryfelt quite at home. I painted Krøyer and DrachmannTuxen, Ancher - her