What Is Nordic Design? Program Series

This generative five-part series considered the idea of a pan-Nordic design against national histories of design in each of the five Nordic countries. The format for each program in the series included a 20-to 30-minute talk by an executive director or curator at a design-focused museum in the Nordic countries, or the artistic director of a major design company, followed by a conversation with a curator of design at a US museum. It was supported by Nordisk Kulturfond and ArtsFund.

Finland
Sunday, October 1, 2023, 2pm
Susanna Thiel, Head of Collections at Design Museum in Helsinki, joined by Shelley Selim, Curator of Design and Decorative Arts at the Indianapolis Museum of Art at Newfields

Denmark
Friday, October 27, 2023, 6pm
Architect Marie-Louise Høstbo, who is Head of Design at Fritz Hansen, in conversation with Monica Obinski, Curator of Decorative Arts and Design, High Museum of Art, Atlanta, and co-organizer of the exhibition "Scandinavian Design and the United States, 1890 – 1980"

Iceland
Saturday, October 28, 2023, 11am
Sigríður Sigurjónsdóttir, Director, Museum of Design and Applied Art, Iceland, in conversation with Michelle Millar Fisher, The Ronald C. and Anita L. Wornick Curator of Contemporary Decorative Arts, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

Sweden
Sunday, October 29, 2023, 2pm
Nina Due, Director, Röhsska, Museum of Design and Craft, Gothenburg, in conversation with Sarah Holian, Curator, Frank Lloyd Wright Trust, Chicago

Norway
Saturday, September 28, 2024, 2pm
Morten Spjøtvold, curator at Kode Bergen art museum, in conversation with Leslie Anne Anderson, Chief Curator, National Nordic Museum