A new centre at the University of Copenhagen will investigate the role of art in both current and historical perspectives. The ambition is to increase and improve the dialogue between researchers and practitioners who create new knowledge about art.
The Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Practice-based Art Studies aims to strengthen exchange and dialogue between actors in the art world who perform research or apply research in their work with art. The Center is being established with a grant of DKK 25 million from the Novo Nordisk Foundation and will be based at the Department of Arts and Cultural Studies of the University of Copenhagen.
The Center will be led by Mikkel Bogh, who will take up the new position on 1 June 2023 after 9 years as Director of the National Gallery of Denmark. Mikkel Bogh explains that the Center’s task will be to strengthen the role of art as an important resource in society:
“Research on art and art history makes us more aware of the various roles of art in society and throughout history. But research on and the development of knowledge of art is not limited to the universities. It also takes place in museums, in artists’ studios and in libraries – in general, in places where people study, develop and exchange new ideas about the organisation of society with art as a partner in the dialogue.”
Mikkel Bogh adds: “I am delighted and proud to have the opportunity to participate in establishing a Center that will build bridges and create dialogue between art history research at the universities and the knowledge produced in the field of art outside university settings. I am very much looking forward to being able to contribute to this in close collaboration with colleagues from the entire field of art practice.”
Strengthening art research
The Foundation also has high expectations for the new Center: “For more than 40 years, the Foundation has actively supported research on art and art history, and we are proud to contribute to establishing the new Center,” says Berith Bjørnholm, Senior Vice President for Education & Outreach and head of the arts area at the Foundation, who adds:
“The Center will create a framework for broad collaborations between important actors within the arts, and both young and established researchers will have the opportunity to meet and share knowledge across research fields. We expect that this will further strengthen art research and thus pave the way for new insight on the role of art in society.”
Bridge between art and research
The Center will be physically located at the Department of Art and Cultural Studies of the University of Copenhagen, and Head of Department Helle Munkholm Davidsen explains the need for the Center: “We have considerable competences in the form of young art history researchers who work based on practice in close collaboration with museums and art galleries. The new Center is a unique opportunity to show how scientific research on art and culture can be translated into and used in practice – and a new opportunity to enable practice-based work in art history and art to influence university research.”
About the Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Practice-based Art Studies
The Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Practice-based Art Studies will be launched on 1 June 2023. The Foundation is supporting the Center with a grant of DKK 25 million. The Center will be physically located at the Department of Art and Cultural Studies of the University of Copenhagen.
Mikkel Bogh, who will lead the Center, is Director of the National Gallery of Denmark until 30 April, a former Rector of the School of Visual Arts of the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts and former Head of the Department of Art and Cultural Studies of the University of Copenhagen.
The Foundation’s grants for art research
The Foundation regularly awards grants for research within art and art history, including for PhD and postdoctoral fellowships.
The support includes research on art history, practice-based art and curating and the interdisciplinary field between art and science.
Read more here.
