Past and Future Nordic Design History Reassessed

sketch of exhibition design — Marco Magni, Guicciardini & Magni Architetti, sketch for room 21, the collection display at the National Museum
Photo: Mario Ciampi

The National Museum – The Grand Hall
26–27 October, 09.00–16.45
In English

Welcome to The Nordic Forum for Design History’s 40th Anniversary Symposium at the National Museum of Art, Architecture and Design!

This symposium presents new international research and current concepts of Nordic design histories. We look forward to meeting in person to discuss and debate an ever-changing field. You are cordially welcome to this event whether you are a layperson interested in design, an academic or a practitioner.

Keynote speakers are Prof. Penny Sparke, Kingston University, London, Dr Sarah A. Lichtman, Pratt Institute, New York and Prof. Kjetil Fallan, University of Oslo; all leading scholars within the field. The other speakers, from all the Nordic countries, will contribute with talks grouped according to the following themes: Material Approaches, 'Early Modern' Perspectives, Design and Mediation Processes, Fashion Histories and Modernism Inside Out. These presentations are the result of an earlier Open Call for Papers.

For keynote speaker presentations, please see here

For keynote speaker abstracts, please see here

For paper abstracts and bios, please see here

This symposium is organised by the National Museum of Art, Architecture and Design in collaboration with the Nordic Forum for Design History. This year’s event marks the forum’s 40th Anniversary and is part of a series of symposia that have taken place in the Nordic countries since 1983.

Symposium Schedule:

25 October 16.00–19.00: Registration at Conference Desk, Museum Lobby

Pre-conference event: Guided tour of new design collection display, conducted by Senior Curator Dr Denise Hagströmer. Meet in the museum Lobby. Please select one of the following times: 17.00–18.00 or 18.30–19.30

Please note that on 25 October the museum closes at 20.00, but on 26 and 27 October the museum closes at 17.00.
26 October 08.45–09.30: Registration and coffee at the Conference Desk in the Museum Lobby. Please enter via the museum side entrance in Dronning Mauds gate.

Programme:

26 October

09.30–09.50: Welcome Addresses and Introductions
Director Ingrid Røynesdal, the National Museum of Art, Architecture and Design
Prof. Anders V. Munch, University of Southern Denmark, on behalf of the Nordic Forum for Design History, and Symposium Convener, Dr Denise Hagströmer, Senior Curator, the National Museum of Art, Architecture and Design

09.50–10.35: Keynote lecture
Dr Sarah Lichtman, Pratt Institute, New York
Thinking through Nordic Design: Reflections, Themes and Pedagogical Practices
Moderators: Dr Denise Hagströmer and Dr Leena Svinhufvud
10.35–10.50: Discussion

Theme 1: Material Approaches.
Moderator: Dr Leena Svinhufvud

10.50–11.10: Joachim Allouche, PhD Candidate, University of Southern Denmark, Kolding
Designing a Production: An Inquiry into how Holmegaard Glasswork’s Designs Impacted its Production
11.10-11.20: Discussion

11.20–11.40: Break

11.40–12.00: Dr Malin Graesse, University of Stavanger and Prof. Mads Nygaard Folkmann, University of Southern Denmark, Kolding
Liquid Forms: Water as a Foundational Element of Design

12.00–12.10: Discussion

12.10–12.30: Dr Helena Kåberg, Nationalmuseum, Stockholm
Diversity in Display. Ceramics at the Nationalmuseum, Sweden's Museum of Art and Design

12.30–12.40: Discussion

12.40–14.00: Lunch
Opportunity to visit the National Museum’s new historical, modern and contemporary design, crafts and fashion collection displays (Rooms 1–31), and the newly opened Årsutstillingen – The Annual Exhibition 2023 of contemporary Norwegian crafts (Rooms: Temporary 1 and 2), all on the ground floor.

14.00–14.45: Keynote lecture
Prof Penny Sparke, Kingston University, London
Scandinavian Design' Revisited: A UK Perspective on its Development, Mediation and Historiography
Moderators Dr Denise Hagströmer and Prof. Anders V.Munch
14.45–15.00: Discussion

Theme 2: ‘Early Modern’ Perspectives
Moderator: Prof. Anders V. Munch

15.00–15.20: Dr Bente Solbakken, National Museum of Art, Architecture and Design, Oslo
Textiles and Architecture: Women Designers in Kristiania around 1900
15.20–15.30: Discussion

15.30–15.50: Break for refreshments

15.50–16.10: Dr Cilla Robach
Nationalmuseum Stockholm: Swedish Grace – Reinterpreting Modernity in 1920s Sweden
16.10–16.20: Discussion

16.20–16.40: Daniele Burlando, PhD Candidate, University of Helsinki
Standard Homes with Handsewn Tea Cosies – Artek Model Interiors on Display within the Modern Dwelling Debate of 1936 Finland
16.40–16.50: Discussion

The museum closes at 17.00.

17.00–18.00: 40th Anniversary Drinks Reception and Address by Dr Mirjam Gelfer-Jørgensen, co-founder of the Nordic Forum for Design History, in Salongen, 1st floor.

18.00–20.30: 40th Anniversary Dinner at the Museum Café on the ground floor.

27 October

9.00–9.30: Coffee
Conference Desk, Museum Lobby. Please enter via the museum side entrance in Dronning Mauds gate.

9.30–10.15: Keynote lecture
Prof. Kjetil Fallan, University of Oslo
…Dust to Dust: Material Ecologies and the Future of Design History
Moderators: Dr Denise Hagströmer and Prof. Sara Kristoffersson
10.15-10.30: Discussion

Theme 3: Design and Mediation Processes
Moderator: Prof. Sara Kristoffersson

10.30–10-50: Dr Maria Göransdotter, Umeå University
Prototypes and Probes: Towards a History of Designing
10.50–11.00: Discussion

11.00–11.20: Dr Kaisu Savola, Aalto University
The Nokia Design Archive - Exploring the Design of Technological and Digital Realities 
11.20–11.30: Discussion

11.30–11.50: Break

11.50–12.10: Dr Maija Mäkikalli, University of Turku
Photographs without Chairs: Finnish Design at the Triennale di Milano, 1951, Revisited
12.10–12.20: Discussion

Theme 4: Fashion Histories
Moderator Prof. Anders V. Munch

12.20–12.40: Dr Trond Klevgaard and Dr Synne Skjulstad, Kristiania University College
Norwegian Fashion Design History: Themes, Approaches and Possibilities
12.40-12.50: Discussion

12.50–13.35: Lunch

13.35–13.55: Anna Parviainen, PhD Candidate, University of Helsinki
The True Stripes of Scandinavian Unisex: Retracing Similarities and Differences of three Striped Collections
13.55–14.05: Discussion

14.05–14.25: Dr Kirsten Toftegaard, Design Museum Denmark
Dane Raps ‘Dollar’ Dress
14.25–14.35: Discussion

Theme 5: Modernism Inside Out
Moderator: Dr Denise Hagströmer

14.35–14.55: Dr Hans-Christian Jensen, University of Southern Denmark, Kolding
Pragmatism of the Province – A Home Show in the Periphery of Danish Design in 1953
14.55-15.05: Discussion

15.05–15.25: Break for refreshments

15.25–15.45: Dr Halldóra Arnardóttir, independent scholar
Skarphéðinn Jóhannsson, 1914–1970: an Anthropological Architect
15.45–15.55: Discussion

15.55–16.15: Prof. Espen Johnsen, University of Oslo
PAGON´s Living Rooms: Spaces for Art, ´Enrichment´ and Silence
16.15–16.25: Discussion

16.25–16.40: Concluding remarks
Dr Denise Hagströmer, Prof. Anders V. Munch, Prof. Sara Kristoffersson and Dr Leena Svinhufvud

The museum closes at 17.00

19.00: Informal farewell dinner at a pizzeria nearby the museum.

The symposium will be recorded but not streamed.

Tickets

Conference fee: 800 NOK
Concessions: 400 NOK

Get your tickets here

The ticket includes:

Two full days, 9.00–16.45, with three keynote lectures and fifteen talks
Lunch, coffee and refreshments, both days
Pre-conference tour 25 October of the new design collection display, at 17.00 or 18.30.
Entrance to the National Museum of Art, Architecture and Design
40th Anniversary Drinks Reception 26 October 17.00–18.00 in the Salongen, first floor.

On 26 October at 18.00 there will be a 40th Anniversary Dinner at the Museum Café.

On 27 October there will be an informal farewell dinner at a pizzeria nearby the museum.

About the Nordic Forum for Design History

The Nordic Forum for Design History was founded in 1983 by Norwegian design historian Fredrik Wildhagen in collaboration with Dane Mirjam Gelfer-Jørgensen and Swede Lars Stackell. It is an open forum for scholars working within the field, a network which in recent years has expanded beyond the Nordic region. The Nordic countries take turns in hosting this event: the forum’s last conference in 2018 was hosted by the by the Museum of Design and Applied Art, Iceland.

The Nordic Forum for Design History’s Working Group

The forum is informally organised with a board that is also the working group: Prof. Anders V. Munch, University of Southern Denmark, Kolding; Head of Learning, Dr Leena Svinhufvud, Design Museum, Helsinki; Director Sigríður Sigurjónsdóttir, Museum of Design and Applied Art, Reykjavik; Prof. Sara Kristoffersson, Konstfack University of Arts, Crafts and Design, Stockholm; and Senior Curator, Dr Denise Hagströmer, National Museum of Art, Architecture and Design, Oslo. The forum’s network base is at the University of Southern Denmark Kolding.

The forum’s network base is at the University of Southern Denmark Kolding.

To join the forum’s email list, please contact:
Pernille Dahl Kragh: pdk@sdu.dk

Conference Conveners

Convener: Senior Curator, Dr Denise Hagströmer, Co-convener: Curator Education, Ole Gaudernack, the National Museum of Art, Architecture and Design, Oslo.