Director of the Niguliste Museum, Merike Kurisoo, was a keynote speaker at NORDIK 2025 – the largest conference for Nordic art historians

Merike Kurisoo, Director of the Niguliste Museum and the Adamson-Eric Museum, was the invited keynote speaker at NORDIK 2025, held in Helsinki from 20–22 October. The event is the largest scholarly forum for art historians in the Nordic countries, organised by NORDIK – The Nordic Association for Art Historians, this year in collaboration with the University of Helsinki.

The theme of this year’s conference was “Why so Nordic? The ‘Nordic’ as Fact and Fiction in Art History.” The event brought together more than 230 art historians, curators, and researchers from 17 countries to explore the meanings, boundaries, and transformations of the concept of “Nordic” in art, architecture, and visual culture.

Kurisoo delivered a keynote address titled “Nordic, Baltic, or Hanseatic? Reframing Perspectives on Medieval and Early Modern Art in the Baltic Sea Region from the Viewpoint of Estonian Art History.” In her lecture, she examined the position of Estonian medieval and early modern art within the broader Nordic and Baltic context, highlighting the hybridity and complexity of regional and cultural boundaries and their shifting interpretations.

Kurisoo has for many years maintained close collaborations with Nordic art historians and curators, carrying out joint projects and exhibitions, and fostering connections between Estonian and Nordic museums.

The three-day conference featured more than thirty thematic sessions addressing subjects such as the formation of “Nordic” identity, the relationship between artists and institutions, the boundaries of medieval and early modern art, the interconnections between art, design, and nature, the work of women artists and photographers, cultural diplomacy and exhibition histories, architectural practices in Sápmi, and the movement of artistic ideas and objects across the Baltic and Nordic regions. For the first time, the NORDIK conference featured a notably strong Estonian presence, with Estonian art historians participating in four thematic sessions.

Alongside Kurisoo, keynote lectures were also delivered by Anna Ripatti (University of Helsinki) and Professor Mathias Danbolt (University of Copenhagen).

The NORDIK conference is held every three years, rotating between the Nordic countries, and is regarded as one of the most important collaborative platforms for art historians in Northern Europe. The 2025 conference was organized by NORDIK in cooperation with the University of Helsinki and the Ateneum Art Museum.

Further information:

NORDIK 2025 Conference – https://www.helsinki.fi/en/conferences/nordik-2025
NORDIK – The Nordic Association for Art Historians – https://nordikassociation.com
Niguliste Museum – https://nigulistemuuseum.ekm.ee