CraftWorks Symposium
The Art Museum as Space of Hope: Affective, Useful, and Collaborative Action in Times of Uncertainty
CraftWorks symposium 2-4 June 2025
Trapholt Museum, Kolding, Denmark
How can museums find openings in times of uncertainty and be(come) spaces of hope? Within our current political and planetary circumstances – with the darkest, everyday news about wars and climate emergency, and with inequality, polarization and fascism on the rise – insisting on hope in museums may seem naïve and out of touch with the world. However, this is exactly what we do in this symposium, where we want to explore how museums can enable conditions of hope and action today.
The symposium is organised by CraftWorks (2021-25), a collaborative research and action project by Trapholt Museum and Aarhus University (https://trapholt.dk/blog/craftworks/). Through two large-scale collaborative art projects, CraftWorks investigates the creative, institutional and social potentials of new forms of craft-based participation at the art museum. At the symposium, we will present the artistic and academic results of CraftWorks and, based on this, unfold what kind of future action we now will hope and work for. In line with this, we invite all participants at the symposium to do something similar, presenting where they stand and will go from here.
In short, the question we ask is: What are the most important hopes and potentials for the next 5-10 years, and what possible projects (research and/or action-based) would you (propose to) initiate?
In more detail, find the full description of the symposium
The CraftWorks Symposium Organizing Team
- Birgit Eriksson, Professor, Aarhus University
- Karen Grøn, Museum Director, Trapholt
- Tina Hove Sørensen, Postdoc, Aarhus University / Trapholt
- Nina Rise Schrøder, Assistant, Trapholt
Contact: nisch@trapholt.dk
The CraftWorks research project and symposium are funded by the Velux Foundation
