Maria Hlavajova is appointed honorary doctor at the Artistic Faculty
At the Conferment of Doctoral Degrees on October 25, the Artistic Faculty’s two honorary doctors of the year were promoted. One of them was Maria Hlavajova.
“It's moving, it's that kind of moment that it takes your breath away."
Maria Hlavajova is an organizer, researcher, educator, curator, and, since 2000, founding General and Artistic Director of BAK, basis voor actuele kunst, Utrecht. BAK is a leading international platform for theoretically-informed, politically-driven art and experimental research. Maria Hlavajova describes how she, in Utrecht 25 years ago, was searching for connections between the field of art and the fields of politics and theory. BAK has, since then, become something that interfuses these fields.
“You could call it advocacy or activism, but these are imperfect words. I refer to it as the connection between art, knowledge production and social action.”
Since its founding, BAK has become somewhat of a life project for Maria Hlavajova and has stayed in continuous development.
“It was founded around the question “what kind of institution do we need”. We deal with a lot of key political issues and every political circumstance requires a different kind, so BAK’s been changing with the political circumstances around us to be able to address them”.
So, can you shape the world around those imaginaries?
“It is a space for art where you can think about how the world is, then imagine how things could be otherwise. But you cannot just stay imagining. You also need to figure out how to live those imaginaries. So, can you shape the world around those imaginaries?”
Over the years, Maria Hlavajova has had a strong impact on the educational and research culture of HDK-Valand, and as a contributor to courses on art and the political imaginary. On October 23 she was a part of the launch of The Center for Art and the Political Imaginary (CAPIm), the first Swedish centre of excellence in the field of artistic research, where she is a member of the advisory board.
“On the one hand, the advisory board will debate the policy of the centre. On the other hand, we will be looking at who the fellows at CAPIm will be.”
An honor and a resposibility
“An important aspect is connection the centre to other places where similar work is being done. It is vital to understand that very important work is being done in places like BAK and CAPIm but that we sometimes lack a crucial interconnection. The connection between universities, academies and contemporary art spaces is really exciting.”
Maria Hlavajova sees being named an Honorary Doctor as an honor and a responsibility.
“It’s extraordinary moving. It means that someone really looked at your work and recognized your contribution. It comes with an enormous responsibility because it also connects you to the university, and to the faculty and I hope to live up to those standards.”
Text: Joacim Schmidt De Laval