The Nordic network has been established to exchange experiences and develop collaborations across the three countries and locations where the participating art institutions and actors, in various ways, explore the potential of art in relation to the transformation and urban development of former psychiatric hospitals. In addition to ongoin internal dialogue about shared experiences and the development of future collaborations, the network’s goal is to organize three public seminars in Roskilde, Asker (Oslo), and Uppsala. This seminar is the first in the series.

Kunsthall Dikemark has for several years been working at Dikemark Hospital, located outside Asker in Oslo. In June this year, they opened a new art hall in a former laundry building and maintain close collaborations with both the Dikemark Hospital Museum, Asker Municipality, and Akershus County.

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Public Art Uppsala is a department within Uppsala Municipality that works specifically with public art in the city, often in connection with the development of new urban areas. Art has played a central role in shaping the former psychiatric hospital area Ulleråker, through a series of public art projects between the buildings and artist studios located in the hospital’s old facilities. Public Art Uppsala was the initiator of the network.

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The Museum of Contemporary Art Roskilde was established in 1991 and is a state-recognized museum with a particular focus on time-based art forms such as performance, video, and sound. In 2021, the museum left its permanent exhibition building and has since operated as a nomadic institution. Since 2023, the museum has realized four exhibitions at Sankt Hans, each engaging in different ways with the site’s history, present, and future — with psychiatry, nature, and our care for those who are mentally ill or otherwise positioned outside society’s norms.