Through a long collaboration with Public Art Agency Sweden, Akademiska Hus has one of the largest collections of public art in Sweden. Currently, there are almost 800 permanent works placed on campuses around the country in the everyday environments of students and researchers. And there will be more when a new agreement has now been signed between the parties.
"Together with Public Art Agency Sweden, we share the vision that art is an important part of the development of the campus and that art should be something that is included in the early stages of our planning and construction processes. By involving artists and curators from an early stage, we open up for unexpected approaches and solutions to how the environments can be designed. With art on campus, we want to inspire new perspectives and thoughts to create vibrant and experiential knowledge environments where students, researchers and visitors thrive and want to be," says Marcus Rancken, Head of Art at Akademiska Hus.
New art for up to SEK 60 million
The new agreement runs for five years and means that new art for up to SEK 60 million will take place on campuses around the country. It can be both permanent and temporary works of art. The art is produced in close collaboration between the artist, Public Art Agency Sweden, Akademiska Hus and the university in question.
"Through the collaboration with Akademiska Hus, we make it possible for 100,000 people to encounter art in their everyday lives and for artists to bring new perspectives to the design of campus areas around Sweden," says Lotta Mossum. Art Unit Manager at Public Art Agency Sweden.
Previous art initiatives on campus
The new agreement is a continuation of the agreement signed between Akademiska Hus and Public Art Agency Sweden in 2019 and made Akademiska Hus the first state-owned real estate company to realise the new policy area Designed Living Environment for increased focus on art when the state builds. Since 2019, around twenty new art projects in nine cities have been implemented or are ongoing, some of the works are:
- Ylva Snöfrid's Cosmos and Vanitas in the Light of Conscience in Forum Medicum in Lund (the work can be seen in the picture above)
- OOZE (Eva Pfannes and Sylvain Hartenberg) and Marjetica Potrč's Future Island at the Albano campus in Stockholm
- Allora & Calzadillas Graft in Sodium at Medicinareberget in Gothenburg
Read more here about how Akademiska Hus works with art and culture on campus.
