Our new Programme Assistant and Svenska Kulturfonden intern Tilda Forss joined the team this week. Here’s their first impressions of Brussels and the Institute!
“Bonjour à tous, I’m Tilda!
I’m the newest rascal to join this wonderful team, and I am very eager to get cracking on my 11-month internship here in the heart of Europe. I’m a 23-year-old Finn-Swede from Sibbo, who’s spent the last four years in Norway, moulding my love for theatre, contemporary dance, and hiking! This summer, I graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Comparative Literature and English from the University of Oslo, a degree that included a fantastic creative semester at the University of Auckland. I’m an avid writer and I also come packing experience in Design and Fine Arts. My hobbies include power yoga, reading classics, and extensive, rambling fiction writing, and my guilty pleasure is any and all sitcoms.
I was drawn to the internship because of the way culture is increasingly underestimated in the current political climate. I am honoured to soon be able to affect the intersectional contemporary art scene, excited to dust off my French, and looking forward to networking in Brussels’ sea of galleries. Further, I’m thrilled to get to work in such a sustainable and inclusive office. My goal is to coordinate events that will subvert expectations, strengthen communities, and remind people that none of us are in this alone.
So far, my first impressions of Brussels have been that it’s a bustling place, completely different from the grey, stale EU-centre I was expecting, and much warmer too! Did I pack enough sunscreen? You bet I didn’t! If you see me reading at a café in Saint-Gilles, come say hi! It’s going to be a very good year!”
Tilda joins us as part of the Svenska kulturfonden (SKF) / The Swedish Cultural Foundation in Finland internship.
Cover photo: Ela Suleymangil / Finnish Cultural Institute for the Benelux