History

NORDIK was founded as a network of scholars with an interest in Scandinavian art and art history. In 2015, the network was upgraded into a registered association.

Since the first Nordic Congress for Art Historians in 1984 the congress has taken place on a regular bases every third year:

1984 Nordic art around the turn of the century, Helsinki, Finland
1987 Nordic sponsors of the arts, Gotenborg, Sweden
1990 Influence and exchange, Ry, Danmark
1993 The identity of Art History, Geilo, Norway
1996 Art after 1945, Åbo/Turku, Finland
2000 The history of art history, Uppsala, Sweden
2003 Exhibitions, Århus, Danmark
2006 Tradition and visual culture, Bergen, Norway
2009 Mind and Matter, Jyväskylä, Finland
2012 Presentation/Representation/Repression, The Critical Production of Display and Interpretation in Art History, Stockholm, Sweden
2015 Mapping the uncharted territories, Reykjavik, Iceland
2018 [No title] Copenhagen, Denmark
2022 Collections, virtual conference
2025 Why so Nordic? The ‘Nordic’ as fact and fiction in art history, Helsinki, Finland

Photograph: Marisauna (1968) designed for Marimekko by Aarno Ruusuvuori, photograph taken by Simo Rista. Asuntosäätiö, Espoon kaupunginmuseo. The photograph has been cropped. Licence: CC BY-ND 4.0.

The NORDIK 2025 conference “Why so Nordic? The ‘Nordic’ as fact and fiction in art history” took place in Helsinki 20–22.10.2025. The conference was organized in collaboration with University of Helsinki (Faculty of Arts, Department of Cultures, Art History). See more information on the conference website: https://www.helsinki.fi/en/conferences/nordik-2025