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“Scandinavia’s Role as a Hub for Black American Culture”

“Scandinavia’s Role as a Hub for Black American Culture”


**Exploring the Nordic Utopia: African American Expatriation in the 20th Century**

In the mid-20th century, as the United States grappled with the violence of the Jim Crow era, increasing numbers of African American artists, musicians, and intellectuals sought refuge in foreign lands far from the racial tensions and precariousness of the American South. Many have heard of the Black exodus to cities like Paris, where individuals such as James Baldwin, Josephine Baker, and Langston Hughes forged new, creative lives amidst a burgeoning avant-garde scene. However, an often overlooked chapter of this diaspora occurred further north in Scandinavia, where a unique history of migration, creation, and racial reflection unfolded. The exhibition *Nordic Utopia? African Americans in the 20th Century*, displayed at the Chazen Museum of Art in Madison, Wisconsin, delves into this story with revealing depth.

### A Symbol of Migration: Eugene Haynes’ Suitcase

One poignant image at the center of the exhibition is a suitcase once owned by Eugene Haynes, a Juilliard-trained Black classical pianist. The suitcase, displayed next to shoes, gloves, a hat, and a Bible, becomes symbolic of the journey many Black artists undertook to Scandinavia. For Haynes, Denmark became a part-time home during a ten-year period stretching from 1952 to 1962. The juxtaposition of his personal belongings showcases the dignity and talent possessed by these artists — a dignity that was often rendered invisible or outright scorned in the racially segregated United States.

Denmark, Sweden, Norway, and Finland grew to represent a promise of racial equality that was, while fragile, enticing to Black intellectuals and artists. Segregation in America wasn’t just a social burden — for many, the pervasiveness of racial violence made staying in the U.S. too dangerous. A door to safety and artistic freedom was open across the Atlantic, and many African Americans eagerly stepped through it.

### The Nordic Promise: “Escaping the Stifling Air”

The Nordic countries acted as oases of racial egalitarianism, with their primarily White populations presenting a future of less overt discrimination. While Paris was more famous as a hub for Black expatriates, the Nordic region emerged, as poet Gregory Pardlo put it, as a “hipper” destination for those who wished to flee American racism. It wasn’t just about running from racism, but about the desire to move beyond the constant definition of one’s existence by race. For many artists venturing north, relocating meant the ability to create art free from the expectations to always address the Black experience or confront U.S. politics.

Painter William H. Johnson exemplifies this journey. Famed for his folk art-styled depictions of African American life in Harlem upon his return, Johnson’s earlier work during his time in Europe took on intense Van Gogh-esque qualities. He indulged in purely expressionist forms, painting Nordic landscapes, portraits, and scenes not discreetly connected to race. However, when he returned home in 1938, his stylistic change suggested the value of distance — it revitalized his approach to chronicling Black life with a potent clarity.

### A Thriving Jazz Culture and Dynamic Art Scenes

For musicians, particularly in the jazz community, the Nordic countries provided professional opportunities, personal freedom, and creative camaraderie. Saxophonist Dexter Gordon remarked on his freedom in Europe, saying, “Since I’ve been over here, I felt that I could breathe … just be more or less a human being, without being white or black.” His expression captures a central yearning that accompanied the African American expatriates to Europe: the desire to exist unfettered by the constant pressures of racial categorization.

Stockholm and Copenhagen, in particular, became vibrant cultural hubs for artists and musicians. Painter Herbert Gentry, for instance, regularly traveled between Paris, Stockholm, and Copenhagen, environments that sustained thriving international art and jazz scenes. His paintings often reflect the movement inherent in these transitions — abstract works crafted on unstretched canvases, easily folded and packed into suitcases for transport across cities and countries.

Musician Josephine Baker, singer Anne Wiggins Brown, and saxophonist Coleman Hawkins are emblematic of the high-profile names who capitalized on the love and professional recognition they found in these Nordic spaces. For many jazz musicians, Scandinavian audiences provided an appreciative, almost reverent atmosphere that contrasted sharply with American racial hostility. Moreover, the relaxed social mores of these societies granted a level of sexual and personal freedom that many African American artists, particularly women like Baker, found liberating.

### Artistic Experimentation and the Search for Freedom

The artists who emigrated to the Nordic regions did not merely change locations; they reshaped their art, often embracing European modernist influences. Ronald Burns, who moved to Denmark in 1965, immersed himself in a dream-like Surrealist style, synthesizing