Art and science in meeting – lectures and exhibition at Mid Sweden University
During the anniversary week in Sundsvall, art will have a prominent place at Mid Sweden University. On Friday 24 October, the public and members of the CER network are invited to a day filled with art, research and inspiration in Ismagasinet.
The day offers three exciting lectures that explore in different ways how art and science can meet and enrich each other – as well as the opportunity to experience the exhibition Creative Force Fields, where employees with artistic practice show their works.
Creative force fields
The exhibition Creative Force Fields brings together around 17 artists connected to the university, who use different techniques and expressions to interpret the driving forces of creativity. The bright and generous environment of the ice warehouse creates an inspiring setting for the meeting between art, education and academia.
Arts and Sciences
Friday's program runs between 11:00 and 15:00 and highlights the role of art as a driver of innovation, exploration and social understanding.
11.00 a.m. – Professor Roberto Verganti, Stockholm School of Economics
Roberto Verganti holds the newly established Josefsson Family Chair in Art and Innovation at the School of Business, Economics and Law and is leading the work to build a research centre on how art can contribute to innovation in a rapidly changing world.
He is also a guest lecturer at Harvard Business School, where he teaches Design Theory and Practice, and co-founder of Leadin'Lab – the laboratory for leadership, design and innovation at Politecnico di Milano.
Verganti is an Ambassador of the European Innovation Council at the European Commission and an Honorary Doctor at the University of Vaasa.
His research revolves around how leaders and organizations can create meaning – to develop visions and solutions that people love and experience as meaningful. In his lecture, he talks about how artistic processes can open up new perspectives in research, business and education – and why creativity is often the key to real renewal.
12.00 – Lunch break
13.00 – Artist Ida Rödén
The artist and editor of the art magazine Volym, Ida Rödén, talks about her participation in the research expedition ARTofMELT, which in 2023 crossed the Arctic Ocean starting from Svalbard. For 40 days, she participated in the expedition aboard the icebreaker Oden, invited by the Swedish Polar Research Secretariat, as the 37th artist in their art program.
Through her diary watercolours, Ida Rödén depicts life on board – from the endless expanses of ice to the interior of the engine rooms, from the galley to the bridge. The watercolours became not only pictures, but also a tool to become part of the community and find a place in the context of the expedition.
In her presentation, she reflects on the visionary possibilities that arise when art and science meet, and how new ways of thinking can emerge from these encounters. Daring to look beyond the obvious and rational, she believes, is crucial for finding new and unexpected solutions to the challenges of the future – both intellectually and practically.
Ida Rödén (born 1981 in Härnösand) holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the Umeå Academy of Fine Arts and a Master's degree in Fine Arts from California College of the Arts in San Francisco.
14.00 – Artist Tomas "Håkki" Eriksson
Tomas Håkki Eriksson is an artist and responsible for the art program at Ålsta Folk High School. He talks about his long-term artistic work, which moves between community engagement, inclusion and everyday poetry. His artistry creates a warm and human platform filled with encounters, stories and community – where art becomes a part of life itself.
Friday 24 October, 11:00–15:00
Ismagasinet, Sundsvall
Free admission – everyone is welcome!
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