Research

The museum carries out research in contemporary art with starting points in the museum's collection, archives, and exhibitions. The primary field and focus of our research is performative and conceptual practices reflected in the collection and mediation of sound art, performance art, and social practices, among others.

On one hand, research regarding specific works that deal with temporality and transience is carried out and here the scholarly distinction between the artwork and its documentation is vital. On the other hand, our research is tied up with the curatorial research in which the processes of research precedes the exhibition’s conception. When developing research-based exhibitions, the museum often collaborates with researchers from the university. Furthermore, research of art and its meaning is continuously carried out.

In this page you can stay informed on the Museum of Contemporary Art's recent research activity.

Critical curating:

The museum is in the steering committee of the research project "Critical curating" that in the moment is in its initial phase with a small amount of money from the Ministry of Culture's research foundation and with a goal to gain further funds for a larger research project. The project takes its starting point in the museum's publication "Kuratering af samtidskunst" (Curating of contemporary art) and is an examination of curating as research based practice. The project is being lead by senior lecturer Malene Vest Hansen (Department of Arts and Cultural Studies (IKK) at the University of Copenhagen), Malene Ratcliffe (MA, Head of Development at Den Frie Udstillingsbygning), Flemming Friborg (Museum director, Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek), and Birgitte Kirkhoff Eriksen (Museum director at the Museum of Contemporary Art).