Kunsten Museum of Modern Art hires a new Chief Curator

Kunsten is pleased to announce the appointment of Claire Gould. She brings a wealth of experience to her role from a career spanning over 20 years including from HAM Helsinki Art Museum and Helsinki Biennial, Nationalgalerie im Hamburger Bahnhof/Museum der Gegenwart, CHART Art Fair, British Council, and Sotheby’s.

From February 1, 2022, she starts in the position at Kunsten Art Museum of Modern Art.

– We have appointed Claire for several reasons. First and foremost, she has an international profile with a strong artistic profile and experience with major, international exhibitions and a network that can lift the museum into the future together with the rest of the management. She is the right fit in relation to lifting our strategy of both being locally based, but at the same time having a national and international outlook, which she especially endows, says Lasse Andersson, Director at Kunsten.

Speaks five languages

During her career, British/Finnish Gould has curated art projects in several countries, and she speaks five languages ​​fluently; English, Finnish, German, French, and Danish. Now she gets a permanent desk in Aalborg, and there are several reasons why she accepted the job.

– Firstly, the museum and its collection are utterly unique. As a Finn perhaps this Alvar Aalto building has a special meaning to me, but I think most people would agree that it is iconic. It has its own charm, preserved superbly in its architectural details, and offers a distinct museum experience. This is strengthened by its captivating relationship to the park, which will play an even more dynamic role in our museum programming in the future.

She continues:
– This is an exciting time to join the outstanding and passionate team at Kunsten, in particular during this year when the museum (and Alvar Aalto building) celebrates its 50-year jubileum. Whilst celebrating the museum’s legacy, building and collection, Kunsten is in the midst of framing a new exciting future, including for its programming and collaborations. Together with my new colleagues, I very much look forward to shaping a collaborative vision, to both tap into its collection as well as create a wider strategy for the future. An excellent foundation has been built by existing staff and predecessors, and my main foci will be to create quality programming that is relevant and embraces the needs and possibilities of the local audiences, as well as increasing Kunsten’s visibility both in the Nordics as well as internationally. In future years the already-established collaboration with Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, and other collections, will continue, creating even more opportunities to offer our local audience in Aalborg inspiring exhibition content. Not only complementing many aspects of Kunsten’s modern and contemporary collections for display to our public, such collaborations also create important and unprecedented exchanges that not only offer more for our respective audiences, but also serve to strengthen both knowledge and research between our collections.

Claire Gould comes to Kunsten with over 20 years experience working in the arts. From 2005-2019, she was Curator at Helsinki Art Museum (HAM), curating group and solo exhibitions of Finnish and international artists, the most recent was a monographic exhibition by Gilbert & George (2018). Previously employment has included the British Council, Helsinki, Hamburger Bahnhof/Museum der Gegenwart, Berlin, CHART Art Fair, Copenhagen. She grew up in the UK where she studied a BA (Hons) in Fine Art at Newcastle University. For the last two decades she has been working and studying in Germany and Finland, completing a Master diploma in Economics from the Technische Universität, Hamburg, and a Master in Arts Management from the Sibelius Academy, Helsinki, and is currently enrolled on the MA in Curating programme at Aarhus University.

Kunsten Museum of Modern Art Aalborg Kunsten houses a unique collection comprising over 4000 works of art, mostly post-1900, by Danish and foreign artists. The exhibition area consists of five galleries providing visitors with ample opportunity to experience the permanent collection as well as a number of special exhibitions. Kunsten also hosts a variety of events including lectures, film screenings, concerts, family workshops, guided tours, and other activities suitable for all age groups.

The museum building, completed in 1972, is an attraction in its own right. Designed by the world-famous Finnish architect Alvar Aalto, assisted by Elissa Aalto and Jean-Jacques Baruël, it is the only museum building outside Finland designed by Aalto. The museum is built of striking white marble, a style that is continued inside with stunning marble flooring and copper lamps, also designed by Aalto.