Free Art? Artistic education at the University College of Arts, Craft and Design; the Royal Institute of Art and Valand School of Fine Arts, from the 1960s until today

Wednesday, November 23, 18:00–20:00 hrs.

The Auditorium of Konstakademien (The Royal Swedish Academy of Fine Arts), Fredsgatan 12 in Stockholm.

Since 1977, artistic education is part of the university system. How did practical and strongly individualized art schooling fit into an academically oriented organization? How has the distinctive character been maintained and what are the implications of the introduction of academic master’s and PhD degrees? Art life has changed and the traditional ways of teaching have been renewed. For a long time, the schools were also dominated by men, both as students and as teachers; what did the power structures look like and how have they changed?

The seminar will illustrate Swedish artistic education from the 1960s up until today. The evening will open with Marta Edling, senior fellow in art history at Uppsala University, presenting her book Fri konst? Bildkonstnärlig utbildning vid Konsthögskolan Valand, Konstfackskolan och Kungl. Konsthögskolan 1960-1995 (Free Art? Artistic education at Valand School of Fine Arts, the University College of Arts, Craft and Design and the Royal Institute of Art 1960–1995). Then Annika Öhrner, scholar at Uppsala University and head of Valand School of Fine Arts 1996–2000 and Johan Widén, professor at KKH 2000–2010 will talk with Marta Edling about some of the themes in the book, and the evening will end with an open debate with the audience. Moderator: Niclas Östlind, curator and arts faculty doctoral student at the University of Gothenburg.

Free admission

The Swedish Art Critics Association in collaboration with the Royal Swedish Academy of Fine Arts

The talk will be held in Swedish.