Call for Papers: The 14th triennial NORDIK Conference of Art History in the Nordic Countries (FI)
The Nordic Association for Art Historians (NORDIK), together with the University of Helsinki’s Faculty of Arts, Department of Cultures and Art History invites paper proposals for the 14th triennial NORDIK Conference of Art History, titled “Why so Nordic? The ‘Nordic’ as Fact and Fiction in Art History.” The conference will be held in Helsinki, Finland, from October 20-22, 2025. The deadline for paper submissions is February 28, 2025.
The NORDIK 2025 conference “Why so Nordic? The ‘Nordic’ as fact and fiction in art history” is organized by the Nordic Association for Art Historians NORDIK in collaboration with the University of Helsinki, Faculty of Arts, Department of Cultures, Art History. Scholars and interested parties are welcome to submit papers in English.
The Nordic seems a powerful concept, equal parts liberating and oppressive. It has been a concept of exclusion—of colonized subjects, of the have-nots, of women—but it has also been a concept of radical alternatives to hegemony, whether in politics or art. Nordicness is defined as much from outside of the region. Romantic and racist frames of reference intermingle in fantasies of the North. Even the most powerful concepts and slogans erode with time, and the political and social structure of the Nordic welfare state with its strong cultural ambitions seems replaced by superficial branding. How has art, design and architecture contributed to the various concepts of Nordicness expressed through history? And how do we deal with the multiplicity of identities and interpretations connected to this term, today?
Confirmed keynote speakers are Mathias Danbolt (Professor of Art History, University of Copenhagen), Merike Kurisoo (Director of the Niguliste Museum and Adamson-Eric Museum), Anna Ripatti (University Lecturer in Art History, University of Helsinki).
Read more about the conference, sessions of the conference, and how to apply here: University of Helsinki