معرفی
Erika Larsson is an Associate Professor and Programme Coordinator in the Division of Art History and Visual Studies at Lund University's Department of Arts and Cultural Sciences within the Faculty of Humanities and Theology. She serves as program director for the master's programme in visual culture and conducts research at the intersection of photography theory and contemporary visual practices. Her work emphasizes embodied, situated, and affective dimensions of how images operate in the world, challenging traditional representational approaches to visual culture.
Dr. Larsson's research focuses on photography theory, contemporary visual practices, cultural identity, and belonging. Her scholarly approach examines how contemporary photographers depict shifting understandings of cultural identity through what she terms "engaging" theoretical perspectives. She explores historical periods through contemporary lenses, with particular attention to the interwar period and its reinterpretation through artistic strategies. Her work frequently engages with archives, examining how contemporary artists reinterpret historical materials through affective and embodied approaches.
Her publication record demonstrates consistent scholarly output across multiple venues, with recent work (2022-2024) focusing on topics such as erotic resistance in art, the relationship between artistic processes and healing, and the re-enlivening of historical textile industries. Her research shows a clear trajectory from early work on globalization and photography to more recent explorations of affect, care, and healing through visual practices, with particular emphasis on decolonization, historical trauma, and processing difficult histories through contemporary visual culture.
- Swedish Research Institute in Istanbul's Big Stipend (2011)
Dr. Larsson has secured research funding for projects including "Visual Engagements; Belonging and Affective Encounters in Contemporary Photography" (2010-2016) and participation in "The research node for aesthetic studies" (2018-present). She maintains an active presence in academic discourse through numerous international conference presentations across Europe, with particularly active participation from 2019-2024 on topics including affect, care, belonging, and historical reinterpretation through visual practices.
Dr. Larsson conducts her research in close collaboration with cultural institutions, particularly the Museum of Sketches (Skissernas Museum), where she is partly based for her current project investigating the relationship between artistic processes and healing. She is an active member of Lund University's research community, participating regularly in the Higher Seminar in Art History and Visual Studies and teaching courses including KOVN14 (Visual Culture: Body and Image) and KOVN16 (Methodology in Visual Culture Studies and Aesthetic Disciplines).
