Hasselblad Foundation supports Konstnärliga with 9.2 million SEK

In the Faculty's new building, Konstnärliga, for the first time all of its disciplines will be gathered under one roof. Given the broad range of subjects and the many specialized environments the Faculty offers, this creates extraordinary demands on the building’s functionality, flexibility, and performance.
"For world-class education and research, world-class environments are required," says Henric Benesch.

The Hasselblad Foundation's donation of 9.2 million SEK will enable the construction of an XR studio and a photo studio, which together will form a unique environment—a laboratory where students and researchers at the Artistic Faculty will be able to experiment with visual possibilities from many different disciplinary perspectives. A special focus will be placed on interdisciplinarity, which paves the way for establishing a photo lab with an interdisciplinary and cross-disciplinary approach for innovative experimental photography and development within the image medium. This will create a dynamic and experimental platform where creativity, technology, and research meet to develop new expressions and methods.

Special Requirements for Environments

Among the environments currently being developed, several are focused on photography, visual arts, and moving images. A photo lab with an interdisciplinary approach for experimental photographic art is being planned, and the only photography program in the Nordic countries, offering education from bachelor’s to doctoral level, is available at the Artistic Faculty. This brings special requirements for our photographic environments.

At Konstnärliga, a workshop environment focused on digital working methods will also be established. Additionally, an XR studio is planned, where various art forms can be connected through technology. The XR studio will function as a think tank for collaboration around technology, critical thinking, and visual expertise, within the Faculty, the University, and with external partners.

Students and Researchers from Multiple Disciplines Explore, Experiment, and Shape the Photographic Field

The Artistic Faculty has a long-shared history with the Hasselblad Foundation. Previous collaborations have led to initiatives such as GPS400: Center for Collaborative Visual Research, a center aimed at analyzing and presenting how visual source material has been used historically, as well as how it is used today and could be used in the future.

The Hasselblad Foundation, through its donations, has contributed to the development of both the XR studio and the photo studio. To enable the construction of the XR studio, the foundation has donated 4.2 million SEK, while the photo studio has received financial support of 5 million SEK.

"The Artistic Faculty and the vision of interdisciplinary collaborations align perfectly with our mission to support photography through research and education. We eagerly look forward to following the development where students and researchers from multiple disciplines explore, experiment, and shape the photographic field in the workshops and environments we help finance," says Kalle Sanner, CEO of the Hasselblad Foundation.