Cecilie Ullerup Schmidt

Cecilie Ullerup Schmidt is an Associate Professor at the Department of Arts and Cultural Studies, Faculty of Humanities, University of Copenhagen, examining how social, temporal, and economic conditions shape artistic work through feminist and materialist lenses. Her research centers on interdependencies in art production/reception with attention to domestic work, affective labor, and institutional infrastructures.

Education:

• MA in Modern Culture and Cultural Communication, Department of Arts and Cultural Studies (2009)
• BA in Comparative Literature, Department of Arts and Cultural Studies (2005)

Research Focus: Schmidt investigates artists' collectives across historical periods (1930s, 1970s, post-2011), analyzing how gendered, racializing, and classist infrastructures shape access to art institutions. Her work bridges performance theory, critical university studies, and diversity work, with current emphasis on strategic separatism among racialized artists in the Nordic region.

Publication Trends: Recent outputs (2024-2025) reveal consistent focus on infrastructure aesthetics, diversity policy critiques, and separatist communities. Her scholarship demonstrates interdisciplinary integration of feminist materialism, labor studies, and institutional analysis, particularly examining how concepts like 'the free artist' perpetuate exclusionary practices.

Scientific Awards:

• Work grant from the Danish Arts Foundation (2012)
• Work grant from the Danish Arts Foundation (2014)

Research Leadership: As Principal Investigator of 'Communities of Separatism' (2022-present), Schmidt directs a team studying self-organization among racialized cultural workers. Her external roles include Artistic Director of Works at Work (2014-2016) and Lecturer at Berlin University of the Arts (2011-2015), demonstrating sustained engagement with artistic labor conditions across institutional contexts.

Collaborative Networks: Schmidt co-edits The Nordic Journal of Aesthetics and co-founded the 'Art as Forum' research center. She organizes critical events like 'Quality Control: Legacies of Gatekeeping in the Arts' (2024), fostering dialogue on diversity, infrastructure, and institutional change within Nordic cultural policy frameworks.