"We try to change challenges into opportunities"
Art lover Marie Nipper (MA '09) made it to Chief Curator of ARoS only three years after her graduation from Aarhus University. She started her career at Aarhus Kunstmuseum ten years ago, left the art institute temporarily for job opportunities in Copenhagen, but returned home when ARoS asked her to come back.
Marie realizes she has a wonderful job, that many aspire. None of her working days look the same. Next to the unavoidable work that has to be done behind the computer, Marie is very active in setting up exhibitions and traveling around the world to see the latest art works. All to offer ARoS' visitors the state-of-the-art. "We do not do exhibitions or acquire pieces for our own sake", Marie says. The art ARoS purchases has to be relevant to the audience.
It is the visitor that supports the museum in a time of economical challenges. Remarkably, there has been an increase in visiting numbers during the crisis. Marie: "We have come to realize with everything that has been happening in society, arts and that more existential dimension, that art can provide or give a base of discussion for is becoming more and more important for people." This is an encouraging observation for the work of Marie and her curatorial team.
Nevertheless, the financing of new exhibitions and permanent pieces require the Chief Curator's creative and innovative thinking: "We try to change challenges into opportunities", Marie says.
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By Lotte Kamphuis
loka@asb.dk
Press photos by ARoS