Call for papers

In the royal gardens of Fredensborg in Denmark stands a large monument of roughly hewn granite stones combined with classical marble heads. Known as Forblommet Antik, or covert or ambiguous antiquity it was made by the Danish sculptor Johannes Wiedewelt in the 1750s and is indicative of how he sought to merge his studies of ancient antiquities with Nordic materials and landscapes. By seeing Forblommet Antik as emblematic for a willed entanglement of classical forms (the heads) and Nordic materials (the rough granite) we seek to explore how, during this period, the hegemony of the classical was becoming tempered—and even challenged—by the fascination for and the growing belief in the existence of a particular Nordic aesthetic. Informed by the region’s own history, climate and geography, antiquarians, such as O. Worm, had established a tradition of collecting Nordic antiquities during the 17th century uniting naturalia with artificiosa, and thus reaching beyond the studies of ancient texts to include local landscapes.  

In this session, we wish to examine the role of classicism in the Nordic countries, and how it became entangled in the idea that there existed a Nordic aesthetic that somehow differed from the classical tradition. The session thus centers on the 18th century at the cross-section between 19th century reception of ancient antiquities and 17th century antiquarian practices, highlighting Nordic pre-historic landscapes and archaeological remains.

We are interested in papers that discuss the following, but not limited to, questions:  

• How did antiquarian practices of the 17th century and the focus on archaeological remains from the Scandinavian countries impact the reception of antiquity during the 18th century?  
• How did growing ideas about Scandinavian landscapes matter to the formation and negotiations of a Nordic classicism during the 18th century?  
• How did materials, stones, wood, clay, and their circulation inform the merging of classical art and Nordic aesthetics?

Session chairs:

Tonje Haugland Sørensen, researcher, University of Bergen, tonje.sorensen@uib.no
Amalie Skovmøller, associate professor, University of Copenhagen, skovmoeller@hum.ku.dk. 

Please submit your proposal to session chairs by 28th of February 2025. 

Keywords: 18th century classicism—Nordic landscapes—antiquarianism—aesthetics

A growing interest in Indigenous architecture is emerging internationally. This interest encompasses architecture designed by, with, or for Indigenous communities, as well as the impact of non-Indigenous and colonial architecture. In the Nordic countries, a new interest in Sámi architecture has developed over the past decade, though studies on the subject remain limited and fragmented. Studies on architecture in the Nordic countries have rarely aimed to transcend national frameworks, thus Sámi architecture has also been obscured as a transnational phenomenon.  

As part of an initiative by the Architecture and Design Museum Helsinki, the National Museum of Norway, and ArkDes we are collaborating on a project to explore both Sámi architecture specifically, and architecture in Sápmi from a broader perspective. 

We are seeking papers that discuss how architecture and architectural culture in Sápmi have developed and evolved through interactions with, in spite of, and as a result of various nation-state geopolitical strategies from the 17th century to the present. We welcome studies of all scales, from small vernacular structures that respond to different local contexts and geographies to infrastructure and regional industrial, extractive operations.  

Session chairs:

Carlos Mínguez Carrasco, Chief Curator, ArkDes, Stockholm 
Petteri Kummala, Head of Research, Architecture and Design Museum, Helsinki 
Bente Aass Solbakken, Senior Curator, The National Museum of Art, Architecture and Design 

Please submit your proposal to session chair Bente Aass Solbakken (bente.solbakken@nasjonalmuseet.no) by 28th of February 2025.

Keywords: Sámi architecture—indigenous architecture—architecture in Sápmi—colonialism and architecture—decolonising architecture 

This panel explores art and creative practices, including patients’ art and public art, in health care institutions in a Nordic context. 

Art is experienced, used and practiced in numerous settings and situations, also when we are at our most vulnerable and challenging stages of life. Art can be found in most hospitals, as public art, art therapy, in collections, exhibitions, and in hospital archives. Research about art and creative practices in healthcare institutions can contribute to a better understanding of the important role art can play in relation to people’s mental and physical health. The history of art in institutions of care also reveal the changing perceptions over time of the relation between art, creativity, and health. In addition, artworks made by patients hold various possible narratives about life in the institution, diagnostic practices but also about agency, resistance, and individual life stories.  

Research in this field is often interdisciplinary, combining perspectives from for example art history, museum studies, medicine and medical history, history of ideas and cultural heritage studies. The topic is also closely related to current artistic and curatorial practices where it often is examined in relation to power and norms regarding creativity and health. The session provides a platform for papers that explore individual artists, exhibitions, specific sites and institutions, art works, projects, archives, collectors, or collections. In line with the conference’s aim this session should be seen as an invitation to explore and expand our knowledge about the Nordic context and aims to encourage further research collaborations. 

Session chair:

Hedvig Mårdh, hedvig.mardh@kau.se

Please submit your proposal to session chair by 28th of February 2025. 

Keywords: mental health—patient created artwork—public art—healthcare institutions—collections—archives 

This session explores the artist’s role as it relates to, becomes entangled with, or disrupts ideas of a “Nordic” identity. Since the rise of the artist as a professionally distinct and exceptional creative agent during the early Renaissance, artists have been interpreted—and have often interpreted themselves—as pars pro toto of their geographical area, region, nation, culture, etc., thereby taking on representative roles in terms of style, motifs, and expressions. Artworks are supposed to communicate not only the qualities of their individual makers, but also the places with which they identify. Then, as now, both art objects and their creators tend to be appropriated and politicized as symbolic—or even deviant—phenomena, either reinforcing or unsettling notions of collective national or “Nordic” identity.  

In this session, we aim to problematize the expected connection and interaction between such composite identities within the role of the artist by highlighting cases of supposedly “Nordic” artists who promote, negotiate, or question their national or Nordic identity, particularly in relation to their self-fashioning as representatives for or against such notions. Self-fashioning may imply strategies of self-promotion and validation through visual self-display in different media or embodied life-performances. It may involve strategic art production either in support of, or opposition to national or regional labels, evolving through textual discourses that reinforce or transcend images of national or Nordic identity. We thus welcome papers that discuss diverse aspects of identity formation in the artist’s role and its relation to Nordic identity, whether by investigating individual artists or theorizing general themes and questions in historical or contemporary contexts. 

Session chairs:

Andrea Kollnitz, Professor in Art History, Stockholm University, andrea.kollnitz@arthistory.su.se 
Øystein Sjåstad, Professor in Art History, University of Oslo, oystein.sjastad@hf.uio.no 

Please submit your proposal to session chairs by 28th of February 2025. 

Keywords: artist’s role—Nordic identity—self-fashioning—self-promotion—nationalism

This session invites papers that critically assess the histories, places, practices, and politics of biennials in the Nordic countries. Today the term biennial is used to refer to landmark survey exhibitions of international contemporary art, including not just biennials but also triennials, and even the quinquennial exhibition, documenta. Examples of biennials from a Nordic context are the Helsinki Biennial, Göteborg International Biennial of Contemporary Art (GIBCA), Lofoten International Art Festival (LIAF), Bergen Assembly and the ARoS Triennial. We encourage papers that address both these more known examples and other unknown and less extensive initiatives.   

In the introduction to The Biennial Reader (2014) Filipovic, van Hal, and Øvstebø call for what they term biennialogy—“the study of something in a systematic, rigorous way in order to generate a body of knowledge”. The editors convincingly argue that biennials try to make sense of contemporary culture and that there is a need to examine them not only to understand what is at stake in the art (field), but also to comprehend today’s world. Even if there has been a growth in research on biennials since The Biennial Reader was published ten years ago (see for example Green and Gardener 2016; Kolb, Patel, and Richter 2018; Kolb, Patel, and Richter 2020), surprisingly little is written about biennials in the Nordic countries. How did they come about? Which artistic and curatorial practices do they generate? What topics do they address? How do the biennials in the Nordic countries attune and adapt to the local sites, and which place-making activities do they produce? How do they respond to and reflect the politics of the Nordic nation states and the geopolitical situation? Do they have impact on the practices of a broader field of contemporary art, and are they comparable to biennials outside of the Nordic countries? Is there a potential for continued relevance and future of the biennials, and do they foster resilient communities—in the long term? These are some of the questions we ask. 

Session chairs:

Hanne Hammer Stien, Professor, Academy of Arts, UiT The Arctic University of Norway
Elin Haugdal, Professor, Department of Culture and Language, UiT The Arctic University of Norway

Haugdal and Stien are co-heading the research group Worlding Northern Art | UiT.  

Please submit your proposal to session chair Hanne Hammer Stien (hanne.hammer.stien@uit.no) by 28th of February 2025.

Keywords: biennials—contemporary art—artistic practice—curatorial practice—place-making—Nordic 

Craft have been in focus of interest for institutions, practitioners, and researchers for a long time as means to differentiate or unify the Nordic and/or Scandinavian region. Stakeholders such as museums, handicraft associations, or individuals, have used different methods to map craft—its techniques, materials, and objects—aiming for understanding, interpreting, and communicating craft and its contexts. In different collections or inventories the nordicness of craft may mean different things. It can be Nordic by nature—focusing materials from the region. Or Nordic by regional definition—where the aesthetic categorizations can be used to rule out or include craft traditions from other countries in for example the Baltic region.  

Common methods are to make inventories, to document, to collect, and to archive craft, by processes of selecting and deselecting. The results of these efforts may be photographs, sketches, films, interviews, descriptions, manuscripts, handbooks for crafters, books on craft, collections of different kinds, or discussions on social media etc. The mapping activities are not limited only to the Nordic region but reverberate in collections around the world.  

In this session we want to focus on mapping, archiving, and disseminating craft in historical, as well as contemporary practices. As a we would like to explore new ways of presenting research instead of or alongside traditional papers, we welcome contributions in written or other materialized/visualized forms (films may not exceed 20 min) about the actual archives or collections, as well as techniques and methods used when mapping craft and the Nordic. 

Some possible questions include, but are not limited to:  

• What ideas and ideologies seem to be at work?  
• How do the (de)selection processes work?  

Session chairs:

Johanna Rosenqvist, Linnéuniversitetet, Institutionen för musik och bild, Växjö
Anneli Palmsköld, Institutionen för kulturvård, Göteborg
Karin Gustavsson, Folklivsarkivet med Skånes musiksamlingar, Lund 

Please submit your proposal to session chair Johanna Rosenqvist (johanna.rosenqvist@lnu.se) by 28th of February 2025.

Keywords: craft institutions—documentation—inventories—material cultural studies  

We invite scholars to join a session exploring the vital cooperation between artistic networks, galleries, and museums across the Nordic region throughout the 20th century. Recent research reveals that from 1945 to 1990, Nordic exhibitions constituted half of all foreign exhibitions in Sweden’s major art institutions, with the 1980s and ‘90s being the most vibrant periods of cross-border interaction. Despite this, the motivations, resources, and contexts that drove these connections remain largely unexplored. 

Traditionally, art history has focused on the interactions between Nordic artists and the major international art centers. However, the “horizontal” relationships within the Nordic region—between institutions, artists, and cultural actors—deserve greater attention. We currently lack a comprehensive understanding of connections within the Nordic art world, including the art market, collectors, patrons, art schools, museums, and state agencies. 

This session seeks contributions that examine the public platforms of artistic exchange in the Nordic region, such as exhibitions, art or trade fairs, feminist manifestations, political festivals for peace or against nuclear power, public art, art journals, and conferences etc. during the 20th century. We aim to investigate the conditions and outcomes of these collaborations, the networks of professionals, key funders, and the institutions that facilitated them. Additionally, we are eager to explore the various media and public spaces where these collaborations unfolded, and the visions they communicated to a Nordic audience. 

We welcome scholars interested in deepening the conversation around the important interactions that have shaped the Nordic art community and in uncovering the untold stories of artistic cooperation in the region.

Session chairs:

Marta Edling, Södertörn University, marta.edling@sh.se 
Jessica Sjöholm Skrubbe, Stockholm University, jessica.skrubbe@arthistory.su.se

Please submit your proposal to session chairs by 28th of February 2025. 

Keywords: artistic circulations—cross-border connectivity—regional collaborations

This session examines the architectural interactions between the Nordic countries and the Mediterranean, examining the North’s ever-evolving relation to the South as a cultural and geographical entity, as well as a place of the imaginary. We invite papers on Nordic architects and architectural theorists—from the rise of National Romanticism to the present—who have engaged with the Mediterranean, exploring how their travels, exchanges, and experiences influenced their work and writings.

We particularly encourage contributions on the post-WWII modernization period, when the development of summer tourism and the relative economic prosperity of the Nordic countries drew broader Nordic audiences to the Mediterranean, permeating popular culture (as expressed, for example, in the popular travel books of Göran Schildt or Thorbjørn Egner’s Folk og røvere i Kardemomme by). During this time, and in the following decades, the still rural Mediterranean offered Nordic architects, such as Sverre Fehn, Jørn Utzon, Christian Norberg-Schulz, and Alvar Aalto, the opportunity to reflect on modernism, history, the vernacular, and their own architectural traditions in perspective.

Additionally, we welcome papers on topics such as:

• 19th century Nordic encounters with the Mediterranean in the context of Neoclassicism and National Romanticism,
• The interwar modern movement and its fascination with the Mediterranean, reflected in events such as the 1933 CIAM IV,
• Contemporary leisure architecture and real-estate projects developed in the Mediterranean by Nordic architects and investors for a northern clientele.

What role have these Mediterranean encounters played in the dialogue between modernity and tradition that shaped Nordic architecture in the 20th century? In what ways has the Mediterranean served as a “mirror” for Nordic identities? To what extent have these “Dreams of the South” informed Nordic architectural practices?

The session aims to transcend the entrenched concepts of European “centre and periphery” and challenge the primitivising and sometimes orientalist views that often color northern-European perceptions of the South, as well as the equally persistent romantic perception of the Mediterranean as the “cradle of classicism”. Dreams of the South ultimately invites scholars to reflect on, re-examine, and question Nordic architecture and cultural identity in regard to the Mediterranean and to re-evaluate these exchanges in the context of today’s hyper-connected world.

Session chair:

Panagiotis Farantatos, Architect, PhD, Associate Professor, School of Communication and Culture – Art History, Aarhus University, pfarantatos@cc.au.dk

Please submit your proposal to session chair by 28th of February 2025. 

Keywords: North and South—imaginary—architecture—national identity—Mediterranean

This panel is focused on non-Nordic artists who have been or are part of the Nordic art world. How did they become involved in this art world? Were they marginalized, or did they belong? How were these artists met in their time: with friendliness or resistance from fellow artists, institutions, and audiences? And how has art historical writing addressed them? Do they belong more to one national art history than another, or have they fallen into a third position? Can or has global art history changed this? Has the concept of “Nordicness” impacted their narrative? 

Key questions include whether distinctions between Nordic and non-Nordic artists remain relevant, and how global forces such as colonialism, geohistory, and identity has shaped the understanding of foreign artists in the North. 

This session is also open to discussing Nordic artists working in other Nordic countries, expanding the dialogue on artistic belonging across borders within the North. We welcome papers that address this topic through various lenses, including but not limited to historiography, institutionalization/musealization, identity, and decoloniality. 

Session chair:

Karen Westphal Eriksen, PhD, Research Fellow, National Gallery of Denmark, karen@westphal-eriksen.dk

Please submit your proposal to session chair by 28th of February 2025. 

Keywords: colonialism—geohistory—historiography—identity—global art history—institutionalization—otherness

This session aims to critically examine the art historical hierarchy that traditionally positions certain figures or centers as the primary sources of artistic influence in the Nordic countries. Since the 1970s, and particularly throughout the 1980s, a shift in perspective emerged with social and technical studies revisiting established ideas about borders, centers, and peripheries in Medieval northern art. However, some forces have resisted this shift, and there remains a tendency to revert to national perspectives. 

Today, there is a timely opportunity for a comprehensive, renewed view of Medieval Nordic art, prompted by the emergence of global art history, advancements in technical art history, and an increasing distance from earlier art historical paradigms. 

This session seeks contributions that offer fresh perspectives on Medieval Nordic art. We welcome submissions that address: 

• Art Historiography: Topics illuminating the contributions of the early generation of scholars as well as the contemporary currents that resist or challenge a radical reassessment of art historical traditions. 
• Defining “Nordic” in Medieval Art: Studies exploring the concept of “Nordic” within the discipline, notions of being localised “inside” or “outside” the region and the implications of horizontal art history. 
• Cross-Disciplinary Case Studies: Investigations merging art history with conservation science, where material studies either challenge or reinforce traditional assumptions about the boundaries of Nordic art. 
• Network Studies: Research on artistic networks, clusters, and interactions between agents and “actors” within the Nordic region’s art production and trade. 

Session chairs:

Dr. Kristin Kausland, Senior Researcher and Paintings Conservator, PhD, Norwegian Institute for Cultural Heritage Research (NIKU), Oslo, kristin.kausland@niku.no
Prof. Dr. Julia Trinkert, Assistant Professor of Medieval Art History, Heinrich-Heine-Universität Düsseldorf, Institut für Kunstgeschichte, Düsseldorf, trinkert@hhu.de 

Please submit your proposal to session chairs by 28th of February 2025. 

Keywords: medieval art history—cross-disciplinary studies—hierarchies in art—borders and peripheries—materiality in art—network studies—art historiography

The idea of a special closeness with nature has been and still is one of the strongest narratives about Scandinavian Design. While its roots can be traced back to the occupation with and construction of national art, lifestyles, and material cultures in the National Romantic period, it was also very much prominent in the formation and branding of the concept of “Scandinavian Modern” in the 1950s, where images of Scandinavian landscapes featured prominently supporting claims of the special character of Scandinavian Design stemming from traditional craft cultures that had preserved an intimate understanding of local natural materials, or that the organic forms of Scandinavian “organic modernism” were being derived directly from features in the national landscapes. 

This strong narrative was, however, shaped in a period where the forces of industrialization and urbanization were rapidly changing both design cultures and actual landscapes, and it can even be argued that the success of this dream image of Scandinavian culture may be viewed as a reaction to these changes. The present climate crisis has only enforced the narrative even further since it can be used to position Scandinavian Design as particularly sustainable, but on a background where the modern relationship with nature has been thrown into question.  

The starting point for this session is the notion that design mediates nature in a double way. It does so by physically shaping and regulating landscapes and making natural phenomena tangible, but also by providing images and narratives of regional landscapes and relationships with nature. There is thus a reciprocal relationship between the way design has shaped Nordic landscapes and relationships with nature and the way it has produced images of Nordic nature as part of the construction of Nordic identity. We therefore welcome papers that through historical or present cases explore how design has shaped Nordic landscapes and worked as an interface between man and nature as well as papers that explore how nature is or has been represented as part of the branding of Scandinavian Design. 

Session chairs:

Niels Peter Skou, Associate Professor, Design Studies, Department of Design, Media and Educational Science, SDU Kolding, nps@sdu.dk 
Anders V. Munch, Professor, Design History, Department of Design, Media and Educational Science, SDU Kolding, avm@sdu.dk 

Please submit your proposal to session chair Niels Peter Skou (nps@sdu.dk) by 28th of February 2025.

Keywords: Scandinavian design—mediation of nature—construction of Nordic identity 

Our session delves into the concepts of “myth”, “mythology”, and “mythmaking” in the context of art, architecture, design, and visual culture in the Nordic countries. Although “myth” is often used to denote falsehood, from a Cultural Studies perspective, the term is used to refer in general terms to a story that narrates supernatural involvement in the physical world or bespeaks core cultural values.  

Our approach to the session topic is twofold. On one hand, we are interested in ways myths and mythologies have been visualized, circulated, and contested in the Nordics. How do art and design pieces and practices communicate, transform, or subvert nationalized narratives and religious or other belief systems? 

On the other hand, we are interested in the material and/or discursive mechanics of myths, mythologies, and mythmaking. In this aim, we ask how some Nordic artworks or artists have become considered as iconic or legendary—and some have not. In what ways can myths within and about the visual arts be critiqued or challenged?   

Our session is open to interdisciplinary takes on myth, mythology, and mythmaking. How do e.g. art historians or scholars of religion working with visual materials understand and work with the concept of “myth”? We welcome papers covering topics from all time periods, past and present. 

Session chairs:  

Post-doctoral researcher Oscar Ortiz-Nieminen, oscar.ortiz-nieminen@helsinki.fi
Professor Terhi Utriainen, terhi.utriainen@helsinki.fi                                                      
Senior researcher Alexandra Bergholm, alexandra.bergholm@helsinki.fi

All are members of the Whose Angels? Art, Research, and Enchantment project, University of Helsinki (https://blogs.helsinki.fi/kenenenkelit/en/)  

Please submit your proposal to session chairs by 28th of February 2025. 

Keywords: myth—mythology—mythmaking—visual arts—the Nordics 

The session aims to explore the impact major alterations in Nordic church interiors during the 1800s and the subsequent restorations of the 1900s have had on our current perception of church interiors.

During the 20th century, a revived interest in historic church art led to the “restoration” of church interiors, often aimed at recreating an idealized medieval or baroque aesthetic. This restoration process, intended to evoke a pan-Scandinavian artistic heritage, frequently came at the expense of the 19th century designs. Wall paintings were uncovered, fragments of original furnishings were restored and reintegrated, and entire interiors were reimagined according to these ideals.

This session invites discussion on the extent and authenticity of these restorations, as well as the motivations and historical assumptions that underpinned them. For instance, early antiquarians and restorers in Norway sought inspiration in Denmark for ways to “revive” medieval styles. This prompts questions about who influenced Danish restoration practices and how restoration approaches in Sweden and Finland evolved concurrently. 

Potential topics include:

• Expressions of Medieval Nordic Identity: By whom, how, and why was the concept of “Medieval Nordicness” expressed in church restorations?
• Collaborations Between Antiquarians and Restorers: How did the early generations of antiquarians and restorers work together in these projects?
• Justifications for Restoration Choices: What rationales led to the removal of 17th and 18th century features in favor of older layers?
• Preservation and Reimagining of Medieval Art: How was medieval art preserved or reinterpreted in different Nordic countries? What ideas fueled a shared notion of a “Scandinavian color instinct”?
• Historiography of Nordic Identity in Art and Restoration: What are the historiographical roots of “Nordicness” and Scandinavianism in art history and restoration studies?
• Cross-Disciplinary Collaboration and Methods: How have collaborative and interdisciplinary approaches informed past and present practices?

Session chairs:

Project Group “Memento Restauratum! Historical Restorations of Church Interiors in Norway” (MEMRES), represented by: Elisabeth Andersen, elisabeth.andersen@niku.no, and Susanne Kaun, susanne.kaun@niku.no, Norwegian Institute for Cultural Heritage Research (NIKU), Oslo. 

Please submit your proposal to session chairs by 28th of February 2025. 

Keywords: church art and interiors—medieval—universal Scandinavian color instinct—early antiquarians—nation building—restoration—materialities—National Trust—art histography

During the 1972 Documenta 5 exhibition in Kassel, the Scandinavian Bauhaus Situationist, an artists’ group also known as Drakabygget, intervened by staging their own unauthorized “Alternat-Documenta”, a collectively made barricade of “junk” consisting of a pile of wood scraps and trash, situated outside the exhibition hall. Accompanying the work was a series of leaflets stating the group’s demands, including a call to the international art community to “Follow Courbet” by constructing art barricades designed to resist the monopolization of cultural life by an elite art-system of nationalism. In a similar gesture to the French painter’s Pavillon du Réalisme—which challenged the authoritarian art-system by exhibiting work that had been rejected from the Salon of 1855 in a highly visible yet marginal public location—Drakabygget launched their critique without becoming complicit in the system they opposed. This Nordic example is one of many postwar conceptual artworks that address artists’ engagement with institutions as systems of power and the established modes of practice they represent. 

From the corporation to the art school, we invite papers that investigate Nordic and Northern European artists and artist collectives from the 1960s to the present in their operation within or in their attempt to change institutional bodies such as the government, the corporation, and the art school. We specifically ask proposals to consider the role of the art object in an art genre where process is usually favored. Through this line of inquiry, we hope to gain a more intricate understanding of the art historic context that influence many artists today working within residencies and institutional frameworks. This panel ultimately asks proposals to consider: Can an artist operate critically within systemic structures without dismantling the institution itself? 

Session chairs:

Dr. Wylie Schwartz
Assistant Professor, Department of Art and Art History
State University of New York at Cortland, wylie.schwartz@cortland.edu 
Dr. Katherine Jackson
Assistant Professor, Department of Art History, 
Utah Valley University, kjackson@uvu.edu 

Please submit your proposal to session chairs by 28th of February 2025. 

Keywords: Nordic art—artist collectives—experimental pedagogy—collaborative and socially engaged art and its theoretical contexts—protest art—modern and contemporary art history and critical theory—systems of power—art as resistance strategy—art barricades—activist art—institutional critique 

How the styles, themes, and images spread in-between the Nordic countries in the 19th century art and visual culture. And how “Nordic” were they indeed?

This session broadly explores themes such as the migration and survival of images, (inter)cultural artistic and visual influence, the networks of artists including artists’ colonies, exchanging letters and postcards, even postage stamps.

The network and spread of images have greatly to do with the rise of mass production in the 19th century. For the first time in history, the rapid advances in mass printing techniques, most of all lithography, made it more effortless to distribute visual imagery, such as pictures of artworks, across Europe, and even the world. Moreover, in the latter part of the 19th century a new medium, photography, emerged. Postcards with pictures also became popular and a wider set of people got familiar with a wider range of visual imagery than ever before. At the same period, it became more common for the artists to study abroad, travel to artists’ communities and thus exchange ideas, interact, and paint together.

For example, the popular international religious imagery had a great effect on the themes and visual composition of the Finnish altar paintings in the late 19th century. The publication of Christian images as prints was a successful business. Reproductions of religious art by famous artists, such as Carl Bloch, Heinrich Hofmann, and Ary Scheffer were sold in large numbers and several formats from pictured Bibles to postcards. This undoubtedly had an effect in the popularity of certain motifs and even unifying the visual preferences.

The art and cultural historian Aby Warburg (1866–1929) talked about the survival of “archetypal” images, Pathosformel, their vital force and power. What were the qualities and themes of the pictures that spread most effectively? Were there differences between Nordic countries or between artist’s preferences?

Session chair:

Ringa Takanen, Post doc, Art History, University of Turku, rimata@utu.fi.

Please submit your proposal to session chair by 28th of February 2025. 

Keywords: 19th century—art—visual culture—artistic networks—mass production—lithography—artists’ colonies—style—survival of images

Artists have always travelled and therefore contributed to the circulation and development of art. The circulation movement may be understood as an educational process with the intention of contributing to the enlightenment of the public as well as of the individual. For some of the artists it has been a question of exploring the new continents, finding inspiration or education, while others have been driven from their homes due to wars, famine, or lack of work. Whatever the reasons might have been, artists have always been circulating around the World. While women artists have had a more disguised position compared to their male colleagues, they have yet developed, contributed to, and been a part of, “the Nordic Art”. In the session we define “Nordic art” as art made by artists from the Nordic countries, but the art itself does not necessarily have to be created there.

This session welcomes submissions highlighting the questions regarding the artistry of women artists, to discuss how their artistry contributed to the circulations and development of “the Nordic Art” at the turn of the 20th century. At the same time, those decisions on the artistry could become a step further in the progress of the artist’s own development and social mobility. Which individual or collective forces, such as institutions or patrons, had an impact on art’s circulation and development towards the concept of “a Nordic Art”? Was the artist given certain options to a personal development and mobility through working for and promoting “a Nordic Art” within or outside the geographic Nordic? Did the geographical borders around the countries even have an impact, or not, on how the art and artists circulated?

Session chairs:

Kerstin Lind, PhD TemaQ, Linköping University
Karin Ström Lehander, Researcher, PhD-student, Åbo Akademi University

Please submit your proposal to session chair Kerstin Lind (kerstin.lind@liu.se) by 28th of February 2025. 

Keywords: “The Nordic Art”—women artists—circulation—the shift of the 20th century—crossing borders

This session explores the 1990s as a period of heightened international interest in contemporary art from the Nordic countries. Since this time, a vibrant young art scene emerged on the global stage, with several cities in the North being designated as European Capitals of Culture. Art critics enthusiastically described this phenomenon as a “Nordic miracle” (Bossé/Obrist 1998) and referred to it as a “Scandinavian wave”. However, alongside increasing global interconnectedness, regional labels began to face issues of legitimacy. Many artists responded by critically engaging with regional attributions and the legacy of National Romanticism in their work.  

This raises several questions: How have Nordic artists presented and continue to present their work during this period of growing international attention? How do their practices engage with the construction of “Nordicness”? What concepts and ideas have been employed to present and contextualise contemporary Nordic art in exhibitions? What strategies did curators use to position Nordic art within the global art scene? Moreover, the “Nordic” has become a potent label in place branding and the promotion of cultural production in various forms, including film (Nordic noir) and food (Nordic cuisine). How do these branding strategies differ from the contexts of the visual arts?  

We welcome proposals on the following topics: 

• Exhibitions and artistic works from the 1990s and beyond that reflect on the notion of the “Nordic”  
• Critiques of hierarchical relationships between centre and periphery  
• Cultural policy funding programmes and institutions supporting Nordic art (e.g. NIFCA) 
• Place branding strategies in/and the art world  
• Comparative perspectives in Nordic and non-Nordic contexts  

Session chairs:

Katharina Alsen, Research Associate, Hamburg University of Music and Theatre, katharina.alsen@hfmt-hamburg.de 
Maike Teubner, PhD, Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU), maike@teubner.art 

Please submit your proposal to session chairs by 28th of February 2025. 

Keywords: contemporary art—curation of art exhibitions—art criticism—place branding—comparative analysis 

Since the 19th century, the Nordic countries have had a large-scale manufacturing of prefabricated housing, aimed at a global market. Significant quantities of wooden houses were exchanged in between the Nordic countries and exported to destinations globally. From the beginning, the buildings were shipped as humanitarian aid after natural disasters and used within contexts of colonization. This mobility continues into present day, when questions regarding sustainable crisis shelters and affordable housing are as pressing as ever.  

This session explores wider connections between producers and receivers of Nordic prefabricated housing through questions on history, ideologies, production, reception, and planning. Due to their temporary nature as well as destinations abroad, the houses have generally not been given much place in national canons on art history, and research in the prefabricated Nordic houses have mainly been discussed within national contexts.  

This session welcomes papers discussing: 

• The history of prefabricated housing production in the Nordic countries and the history of trade and export of housing, both within the Nordic countries and globally. 
• Methodological questions related to research and data collection concerning Nordic housing prefabrication and export, as handling and accessibility of material in archives, fragmentary documentation, questions on cultural heritage and cultural diplomacy. How can the houses be understood in a perspective of shared Nordic histories and heritages? 
• The impact of the Nordic prefabricated houses in urban planning and landscapes. 
• Learning from the past—what can the history of prefabricated Nordic housing bring into the contemporary discourse of affordable housing or crisis reconstruction?  

Session chairs: 

Mia Åkerfelt, PhD, University Lecturer in Art History, Åbo Akademi University 
Tzafrir Fainholtz, PhD, Åbo Akademi University 
Martti Veldi, PhD, Estonian University of Life Sciences, Landscape Architecture 

Please submit your proposal to session chair Mia Åkerfelt (mia.akerfelt@abo.fi) by 28th of February 2025. 

Keywords: prefabricated housing—export—mobility—cultural heritage—reconstruction 

This session meets the overreaching heading “Why so Nordic?”, with a critical reflection on the rural geographies typical for large parts of the Nordic countries. One of the myths in art history is that modernity is an urban phenomenon and that the rural exist outside of modernity. Even though the twentieth-century city was important to modernist artists, many also lived and worked in the modern countryside, either temporary or long term, for retreat and relief, solitary or in artist colonies or as part of other kinds of collective creative communities. The tendency to characterize or represent the rural as empty and untouched, reflects an idea of the rural as a site to observe and visit, not as a place to live. To idealize the countryside as a timeless and harmonious pastoral scene can lead to ideas of rural purity, which is a traditional component in nationalism. In recent interdisciplinary research, the rural is considered more as an active and complex site of modernity. Rural modernity is however not simply about the visualization of the impact of industry in the countryside, even though infrastructure, communication, and transport services, were crucial for artists residing in non-urban areas with long distances. It is also about people and their modern way of life; networks, collaboration, and knowledge about the particular everyday life and culture of a place. This session welcomes contributions that address the complexities and characteristics of rural modernism in Nordic art.

Session chairs:

PhD Kesia E. Halvorsrud, kesia.halvorsrud@kodebergen.no
PhD Tove Haugsbø, tove.haugsbo@kodebergen.no

Please submit your proposal to session chairs by 28th of February 2025. 

Keywords: rural modernism—rural geographies—landscape—everyday life and visual culture

This session is connected to an ongoing research and exhibition project at the Ateneum Art Museum. The project’s aim is to shed light on northern women’s interest in esoteric movements such as magic, theosophy, spiritualism, and anthroposophy, and their significant role in the heterogenic fields of occulture and modern art. The project adopts approaches from art history, study of religion, and gender studies. The topic is examined, for instance, from the perspective of various esoteric movements, communities, and networks, as well as by shedding light on mythical conceptions of the North. The purpose of this project is also to explore how notions of “northernness”, Nordic identity, and nationalism are interconnected with esotericism and occulture. Previously, this issue has typically been associated with a masculine ideal and has primarily been explored in relation to art created by men. Introducing women’s art into this discussion will, therefore, provide a fresh outlook. We invite papers that discuss the role of esotericism in the work of both well-known and previously unknown Nordic women artists. We are particularly interested in exploring previously neglected networks of women artists in the Nordic countries and internationally.  

Session chairs:

Marja Lahelma, marja.lahelma@ateneum.fi
Nina Kokkinen, nina.kokkinen@stiftelsenabo.fi 

Please submit your proposal to session chairs by 28th of February 2025. 

Keywords: esotericism—occulture—Nordic identity—modernism—women artists

This session addresses the work of Nordic-born artists who embedded themselves outside Scandinavia at significant moments in their artistic careers as new, modernist modes of

expression emerged across across the world. Norwegian artist Edvard Munch, for example, took residence in France and Germany, absorbing novel ideas about light, color, and expression from his foreign counterparts, yet remained famously “Norwegian”. Decades later, Swedish painter Carl Oscar Borg immersed himself among California impressionists and was eventually adopted into a Native American tribe before returning home to Sweden, where he continued his adherence to Swedenborgian philosophy.

A transcultural theoretical approach, first defined by Cuban scholar Fernando Ortiz (1940), offers a means to advance an understanding of the complex—and often ambiguous—intercultural exchanges taking place among artists in an increasingly mobile world, exchanges made visible through the art objects themselves as artifacts of those processes. In what ways did Scandinavian artists incorporate non-Nordic artistic practices while still retaining a decidedly Nordic sensibility? To what extent did they, in turn, exert influence on artists in the host countries they frequented? What evidence might be found in the objects they produced? 

Taking a cue from the title of the 2008 Smithsonian exhibition Indian/Not Indian*, this panel, Nordic/Not Nordic, welcomes papers that explore the work of Scandinavian artists who have grappled with the complex questions of Nordic identity while immersed in modernist aesthetic spheres outside their homelands.

*Indian/Not Indian examined the work of Fritz Scholder, a painter of mixed European and Native American ancestry. Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian, Washington, D.C.

Session chair:

Mary Peterson Zundo, Ph.D., ABD, MA, MFA University of Illinois, petersonzundo@icloud.com

Please submit your proposal to session chair by 28th of February 2025. 

Keywords: travel—expatriate—transcultural—modernism

The tradition of writing national art histories is a contested legacy that continues to shape as well as limit our knowledge of pre-modern periods. While ideas of hierarchies of center and periphery still dominate Nordic art historical surveys, we now know that cultural heterogeneity and the migration of images, people, objects, and ideas are constant features of our visual and material culture.  

To give just a few examples, the training of pre-modern artists and craftsmen was based on geographical mobility and global influences. The courts of Stockholm and Copenhagen were centers of artistic production that celebrated expressions from all over Europe. Artists and craftsmen from other backgrounds were particularly valued (Noldus 2005). At the same time, Denmark and Sweden were also part of the European colonial project, both in their ambitions to conquer and rule geographical areas within and outside Europe to be turned into provinces and colonies, as well as in the plundering of, for example, Sámi objects to be collected in cabinets of curiosities (Snickare 2022). Furthermore, the printing revolution and global trade allowed popular images to “go viral” and to be used as models by local painters, so that the same religious motifs were copied and translated for paintings in churches from the Low Countries to Norway and Latin America (Hyman 2021; Porras 2023). Nevertheless, many histories of migration and exchange remain to be researched. 

For this session, we invite papers with transnational, regional, and non-hierarchical perspectives on the production, uses, and meanings of art, visual and material culture in periods up to the early nineteenth century. 

Session chairs:

Ylva Haidenthaller, Division of Art History and Visual Studies, Lund University, ylva.haidenthaller@kultur.lu.se 
Charlotta Krispinsson, The Department of Culture and Media Studies, Umeå University, charlotta.krispinsson@umu.se 
Clara Strömberg, Department of Culture and Aesthetics, Stockholm University, clara.stromberg@arthistory.su.se 

Please submit your proposal to session chairs by 28th of February 2025. 

Keywords: pre-modern periods—destabilizing hierarchies between center and periphery —questioning national art history writing—migration—exchange 

This session explores public art policies and their relationship to contemporary forms of governance in the Nordic countries and their outcomes. It welcomes papers that address public art in relation to changing political ideals, using both historical and contemporary examples.

The session will examine how public art policies have changed since the beginning of the 21st century, in light of the “post-welfare” phase: i.e., deregulation and a governance approach aligned with the private market. It will address how policy decisions affect the artistic outcome and how public art is treated in relation to its physical context. Is it mere placed into an environment, or has it already played a role in the decision-making process? In Sweden there is a political will to increase collaboration between artists, architects, real estate companies and urban planners under the umbrella of “designed lived environment”. While integration of art in society responds to historical demands, there are concerns about the instrumentalisation of art under an “environmental mode of governance” (Hörl 2017), prioritising management of spaces and behaviours with economic and political interests.

Historically, public art in the Nordic countries has been seen as a manifestation of the welfare state’s commitment to ensuring equal access to culture and encouraging citizen participation in the development of democratic culture. Today, both governance and cultural policy have changed, as have the ways art is conceived. How has this affected public art? Do we find the same pattern in all Nordic countries? Have the previous similarities in public art policy changed since the decline of the Nordic cultural model?

Session chairs:

Håkan Nilsson, Professor of Art History, Södertörn university, hakan.nilsson@sh.se
Oscar Svanelid, Postdoc researcher in Art History, Swedish Research Council International Postdoc Grant, Södertörn University/Oslo University, oscar.svanelid@sh.se 

Please submit your proposal to session chairs by 28th of February 2025. 

Keywords: public art—deregulation—designed lived environment—integration of the arts—post-welfare state

Exhibitions are an important medium of international cultural exchange and diplomacy. When exhibitions are sent abroad or received as representatives of nations or related to geopolitics, they are often associated with definitions such as “the Nordic” which can be both a fact and fiction. This was significant towards the end of the Cold War when cultural diplomacy had become an established element of the conflict, as the Nordic-Baltic region held strategic importance. After 1989, the situation underwent radical changes with the establishment of new nations, alliances, and practices. Across the Nordic countries, the former socialist states and the new Baltic republics, many kinds of exhibitions and related activities (artist meetings, festivals, cultural programs etc.) were undertaken; some still active, some forgotten today—in a time of new threats in the region.

The panel invites presentations of new research on cultural diplomacy in the field of the arts. We are seeking original academic papers that address topics related but not limited to the following areas: foreign art and design exhibitions in the Nordic Countries, Nordic exhibitions in other countries as well as international events and networks. The focus is on the later phase of the Cold War, the transition phase of “1989” and the post-cold-war era of the 1990s. Presentations dealing with cultural diplomacy and the Nordic in today’s context are also welcome. Geographically, the panel is aimed at both the Nordic countries and their relations, and activities to and from Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Russia, Poland, and Germany. Presentations dealing with other geographical contexts are also welcome. Presentations can focus on the role of exhibitions, funding bodies, economic structures, political organizations, NGOs, art institutions (museums, art centres, NIFCA), and artists as diplomatic actors.

Session chairs:

Kristian Handberg, University of Copenhagen
Maija Koskinen, University of Helsinki
Camilla Larsson, Södertörn University

Please submit your proposal to session chair Camilla Larsson (camilla.larsson@sh.se) by 28th of February 2025. 

Keywords: cultural diplomacy—art and design exhibitions—Nordic-Baltic area—exhibition histories/studies—contemporary art—cultural activities—Cold War—“the long 1989”

What constitutes “the Nordic”, and how does it engage our senses within the realms of art and art history? This session seeks to explore the implications of a multisensory approach for the understanding of Nordic art, defined here as art that is inspired by or problematises themes of nature, cultural history, or contemporary life and culture in the Nordic region. Can a sensory perspective enable us to experience the Nordic in art and exhibitions in novel ways?

The emphasis on visual culture has significantly broadened the field of art history, fostering a less hierarchical and more empirical outlook on what constitutes compelling objects of study. However, in this process, we may have overlooked the sensory dimensions of experiencing art. Art history transcends the visual: our encounters with artworks engage all our senses. As W.J.T. Mitchell (2005) states: “There are no visual media”, indicating that all visual experiences simultaneously evoke other sensory reactions and memories. Over the past two decades, there has been a burgeoning interest in the multisensory aspects of art. Investigations into olfactory, auditory, gustatory, and tactile dimensions reveal that sensory communication holds significant potential for enriching our understanding of both historical and contemporary art.

This session aims to examine how non-visual aspects are employed in artworks or exhibitions within a Nordic context. We invite papers addressing olfactory, gustatory, auditory, tactile, or multisensory artworks and exhibitions where “the Nordic” can be interpreted as a framework encompassing location, heritage, culture, or, more broadly, as a source of inspiration.

Session chair:

Dr Viveka Kjellmer, Associate Professor of Art History and Visual Studies, Department of Cultural Sciences, University of Gothenburg, viveka.kjellmer@arthist.gu.se

Please submit your proposal to session chair by 28th of February 2025. 

Keywords: multisensory art—sensory activation—olfactory art—gustatory art—haptic art—auditory art

The Nordic countries are often celebrated for their high levels of gender equality and are recognized globally as leaders in this area. The Søsterskap session aims to critically examine the concept of the welfare state while spotlighting the significant contributions of contemporary Nordic women photographers. This session will explore how these artists interrogate and subvert normative constructs of gender through an intersectional lens. Additionally, the session will amplify marginalized voices that have historically been overlooked in both art and societal discussions. We will specifically focus on the exhibition Søsterskap—Contemporary Nordic Photography, which took place in 2023 at the Rencontres de la Photographie in Arles. 

In this context, the artists will be recognized as key agents of social change who navigate and articulate critical issues related to gender roles, labor dynamics, migration, and social structures. Through this lens, we can thoroughly investigate the diverse experiences of women photographers, illuminating their vital role in creating culturally and politically charged dialogues within the Nordic welfare state. Situating their work within broader theoretical frameworks will allow the session to engage in transversal conversations drawing on insights from scholars such as Judith Butler, Abigail Solomon-Godeau, and Kimberlé Crenshaw, alongside more recent Indigenous voices like Rauna Kuokkanen. Participants will be invited to delve into the complexities of representation within the welfare state and to reflect on how these dynamics challenge existing power hierarchies. 

Session chairs:

Æsa Sigurjónsdóttir, PhD, Professor, University of Iceland, Reykjavik, aesas@hi.is 
Anna Tellgren, PhD, Curator of Photography and Head of Research, Moderna Museet, Stockholm, a.tellgren@modernamuseet.se 

Please submit your proposal to session chairs by 28th of February 2025. 

Keywords: photography—gender—history of photography—intersectionality—welfare state—photo theory—contemporary art—contemporary photography 

The session focuses on artist collectives and collective artmaking in the Nordic countries, especially in the 1970s. The decade is often associated with a polarized atmosphere, radical political positions versus reactionary attitudes. The collectivity that set in, was a counterforce that tested the unity of Modernism, and sought to actively reform art and society.

The 1970s served as a divider, after which society and the economy emphasized human-centered, individualistic ideals of growth, consumption, conformity, and neoliberal market economy. By looking at the activities of the artist collectives of the 1970s and the artistic and social aspirations that motivated them, it is possible to build an understanding of alternative futures.

The currents of student radicalism, experimentalism, and interdisciplinary artistic collaboration of the early avantgarde were carried on in the communal efforts of the 1970s. We can assume that the ideas of collectivity continue in the 2020s, for example in the actions of Extinction Rebellion, artivism and DIY activism.

The session asks whether there is something particularly Nordic in the Nordic artists collectives’ activities that Nordic democracy and welfare state model made possible. We welcome both more theoretical presentations and case studies related to artist collectives of the global North in the 1970s and also presentations that discuss the notion forwards and backwards in time. We hope for presentations that study cross-sectoral collaborations related to technology and experimental ecological thinking, but also papers on the efforts to break the authorship and individualism of art through collective pedagogical, partly utopian approaches.

Session chairs:

Riikka Haapalainen, riikka.haapalainen@uniarts.fi
Hanna Johansson, hanna.johansson@uniarts.fi
Riikka Niemelä, rlniemela@gmail.com

Please submit your proposal to session chairs by 28th of February 2025.

Keywords: collectivity—collaboration—avantgarde—activism and art—democracy—welfare state

The ideas and artistic influences of the Renaissance movement reached the Nordic countries gradually from the late 15th century and onwards. An influx of artists, architects, and scholars brought work and knowledge to the North, and patrons who seeked new ways to communicate drew inspiration from their continental forerunners. The art and architecture of, what have been called the Nordic Renaissance, have in many ways been regarded as a regional or national phenomena, but the ideals and role models were always found abroad.

Research on Renaissance Scandinavia has recently increased, and the purpose of this session is to invite scholars to share new results regarding art and architecture with focus on space, cultural transfer, material culture, re-use, anachronic aspects, and shifted meanings. From the late 15th century until the mid-17th century the continental Renaissance inspired and influenced the art and architecture of the Church, the princely courts and the nobility in the Nordic countries. The Reformation gave rise to new interiors in both churches and private environments, from small chapels to cathedrals and in private domestic spaces, representative palaces, and ship cabins. In what way do the Nordic Renaissance differ from the continental role models and can we actually talk about a Nordic Renaissance?

We particularly welcome paper proposals on (but not limited to) the following topics regarding the Nordic Renaissance: space, cultural transfer, material culture, re-use, anachronic aspects and shifted meaning.

Session chairs:

Johan Eriksson, Uppsala University, johan.eriksson@konstvet.uu.se
Henrik Widmark, Uppsala University, henrik.widmark@konstvet.uu.se

Please submit your proposal to session chairs by 28th of February 2025.

Keywords: Nordic Renaissance—space—cultural transfer—material culture—re-use—anachronic aspects—shifted meaning

All the Nordic countries have their own art and photography histories based on methodological nationalism. These stories have contributed to establishing largely male dominated canons and media hierarchies. This session aims to present ongoing work that aims at challenging methodological nationalism and established canons by forefronting a specific, trans-Nordic photographic culture. More specifically we call for papers that may shed light on the exceptional early photographic studio culture in the Nordic countries (1870–1920) in which women took an active part. This was a period in which the medium was new, and canons not yet established. Around 1880 around one third of all registered photographers in the Nordic countries were women, who as studio photographers, produced the images desired by their audiences. Many of them owned their own studios, some hired only women assistants, some lived in lifelong relationships with female partners. We thus argue that photography as a profession became a specific Nordic female culture of independence and freedom. Some of these women photographers were not only engaged in aesthetic production, but also in political struggles, and in social work directed to improve women’s living conditions in general.  

We invite papers that will shed light on the following questions:  

What kind of photographs did early professional women photographers produce?  Are there any connections between politics and aesthetics in their photographic productions? How do we detect and address possible queer connections in their work? How can we “do Nordic art history” by putting the medium of photography and women in the forefront? And which new insights can be gained from replacing a national- with a trans-Nordic perspective? 

Session chairs:

Professor Mette Sandbye, University of Copenhagen, Denmark, sandbye@hum.ku.dk 
Professor Sigrid Lien, University of Bergen, Norway, sigrid.lien@uib.no 

Please submit your proposal to session chairs by 28th of February 2025.

Keywords: gender—politics—photography—1870–1920—canon-criticism—trans-Nordic