KEY POINTS:
Princess Birgitta of Sweden is in New Zealand for a week-long Swedish culture event.
Swedish Style highlights modern trends in design, art, music, gastronomy, travel, business and sustainability.
Birgitta Ingeborg Alice, sister of King Carl XVI Gustaf, is the patron for the event.
The 71-year-old, who lives on the Spanish island of Majorca, has a keen interest in design, as did her late uncle, industrial designer Count Sigvard Bernadotte of Wisborg, who was nicknamed "The Design Prince of Sweden".
Princess Birgitta, whose estranged husband is Prince Johann Georg of Hohenzollern, was at the Sweden in Ten Visions fashion exhibition at the Auckland University of Technology's St Paul St Gallery yesterday.
The event was originally developed by curator Ingrid Giertz-Martenson for a festival of culture in Rome in 2003.
It uses nine phenomena which characterise life and values in Sweden today - nature, water, winter darkness, summer light, northern lights, equality, innovation, function and lagom (a Swedish word meaning just the right amount).
The Swedish ambassador to New Zealand and Australia, Karin Ehnbom-Palmquist, said Swedish Style would help strengthen the ties between the two countries.
"This will be an opportunity to bring Swedish culture to life and for Kiwis and Swedes to get to know each other better."
Other events at Swedish Style include lunches at the Hilton Hotel in Auckland, cooked by Swedish chefs, and concerts by jazz singer Lill Lindfors.
Swedish Art & Design Extended is an exhibition from some of the 2000 expatriate Swedes who call New Zealand home.
* A full programme for Swedish Style can be found at: www.swedishstyle.co.nz
