Twenty-five families from China and Sweden took part in “Dad and me” - the Swedish lifestyle show and theatre workshop for dads and kids at the Metro Music Salon at People’s Square Station in Shanghai on June 10, 2017. Meanwhile, the Dads Photo Exhibition was on show at the transfer hall of the station.

The activity was hosted by the Consulate General of Sweden in Shanghai and co-hosted by the Shanghai People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries (SPAFFC).

Deputy Consul General of Sweden Fredrik Uddenfeldt attended the activity with his daughter. He said that he was so happy to see so many Chinese and Swedish families join the activity. “Everyone can relate to fatherhood. Regardless if it is because you have a father, or you are a father yourself, you have thoughts about fatherhood. I think the role of fathers will become more and more important.”

Mr. Bi, a father of a 5-year-old boy taking part in the activity that day held the view that it is very important to spend time with your child, “even through you just silently accompany him”. “Children grow up only once. The best gift we can give him is to grow up with him”, the mother added.

Photo: Kids come and get the “gold coins” of “Pippi Longstocking”.

The series of father-themed events was launched in March 2017, inspired by the Swedish parental leave for dads and the ‘Swedish Dads’ photo exhibition.

In 1974, Sweden was the first country in the world to replace maternity leave with gender-neutral parental leave – for both fathers and mothers. The Swedish government currently offers 480 days of parental leave for each family, of which 90 days are reserved for fathers. Today, the average Swedish father will take 120 days of parental leave.

Johan Bävman is a Swedish photographer and also a young father. He used his parental leave and spent several months at home with his son. He realized the importance of spending time with his child, learning how to take care of him. Thus, Johan started to document other fathers’ stories with his camera. This led to a series of photos named “Swedish Dads”.

Photo: Theatre workshop for dads and kids

China has now fully implemented the "second child policy" and more and more parents now have to confront the pressure of balancing work and family life.

The Swedish Consulate General in Shanghai launched a project titled “Father”, featuring a series of online and offline activities such as a "Chinese Dads" photography contest, a "Dad" photograph exhibition and a parent-child fashion show to review the role of fathers in modern families.  

The host selected 25 finalists from over 15,000 photos that were received from all over China within a two-month period. Now they are presenting them to the people of Shanghai together with the 25 photos from the Swedish Dads exhibition in the Dads Photo Exhibition.

The exhibition is touring at the Swedish National Day celebration People’s Square metro station, the IKEA Beicai store and the China Art Museum in Shanghai from June 6 to July 31.

At the Swedish National Day celebration and opening exhibition on June 6, the winner of the first prize was announced with an award of a family trip to Sweden.

Photo: the winning family (this photo is provided by the Consulate General of Sweden in Shanghai)

Photos by Tang Chun
Story by Wang Jiaye