Based in the centre of the port city of Gothenburg, Sweden, HDK-Valand is closely integrated into the city’s cultural life with many collaborations in education and research, including long-term partnerships with Göteborgs Konsthall, Hasselblad Center, Röda Sten Konsthall, Gothenburg International Biennial for Contemporary Art (GIBCA), Literature House, and many other public arts agencies. The academy is extensively networked internationally with partners all over the world. HDK-Valand has a history of providing courses in diverse geopolitical sites including collaborative courses and research projects across Eastern, Central and Western Europe, Western and South East Asia, and South Africa.
The academy’s professors were among the first in Sweden to introduce the doctorate through art practices, and have been working systematically with research education for almost two decades. The academy hosts a lively research community, including several prestigious nationally and internationally funded research projects, past and present, in the areas of feminist publishing practices, artist-led culture, social practice, public art, queer cinema, contemporary poetry, and photographic archives/imaging practices in environmental and climate sciences. An associate partner of L’Internationale within the framework of the EU project Our Many Europes, HDK-Valand is currently managing the research platform L’Internationale Online. The academy is also an active partner in the PARSE research platform, in the EARN network, and in several other international networks.
The academy is characterised by small class sizes and highly competitive recruitment. The emphasis is on peer learning, and the pedagogical approach is based on co-production. This means that knowledge and practice are developed within a community of learners and researchers comprising students and professors operating in an intense and sustained dialogue with each other. The student body is an active participant in the planning and development of the academy’s education, research and collaboration with the wider world.
HDK-Valand is committed to sustainable development. This includes social, economic and environmental sustainability, working with respect and consideration for each other, creating an equal workplace where diversity prevails. It also works strategically to reduce its impact on the environment, in line with the University of Gothenburg’s environmental goals.
