Birgit Hopfener

Birgit Hopfener is an Associate Professor of Art History at Carleton University, cross-appointed with the Institute for Comparative Studies in Literature, Art and Culture (ICSLAC), where she holds the Ruth and Mark Phillips Professorship. She specializes in critical global art history with expertise in Chinese art, examining transcultural entanglements of historiographies and epistemologies. Her work bridges Euro-American and East Asian art history, cultural theory, and Sinology through multilingual and transnational academic engagement.

Education: M.A. and Dr. phil (Freie Universität Berlin). Former teaching roles include institutions in Germany, Switzerland, and Canada. Research focuses on temporal frameworks in contemporary art, global historiographies, and decolonizing universalized art narratives. She leads collaborative initiatives like the TrACE network and co-directs Carleton’s Centre for Transnational Analysis (CTCA).

Key Projects:

• Current SSHRC-funded book project analyzing contemporary Chinese artists’ historiographies
• Co-editing special issue Towards a multi-temporal pluriverse of art for 21: Inquiries
• Initiated Worlding Public Cultures project

Awards & Grants: Ruth and Mark Phillips Professorship (Carleton), Social Innovation Grant (Trans-Atlantic Platform).

Editorial roles: Art Journal, 21: Inquiries into Art, History and the Visual, Journal of Contemporary Chinese Art, and ASAP Journal advisory board.