The Hallwyl Professorship – collaboration over the centuries

Photo: Maria Groth/Mostphotos

The Hallwyl Professorship was created by a donation to Nordiska museet in 1918. According to the donation letter, the holder was to conduct research in Nordic and comparative folklore with a clear link to the museum's collections and, to the extent possible, teach the subject personally or with the help of an assistant.  When folklore studies (ethnology) gained the status of an academic degree subject, the teaching took place at Stockholm University College, later Stockholm University. The holder of the Hallwyl Chair was an employee of the Museum but at the same time a full member of the academic college.

In 2015, a new form of collaboration was initiated on the museum's initiative: an experimental co-financing of a three-year visiting professorship with a thematic focus. The first theme, which became the only one of its kind, was 'The Arctic in the light of climate change'. The visiting professor was recruited for the period 2016-2019, with the task of highlighting the theme from a multidisciplinary perspective, initiating new research dialogues and working with a broad spectrum of communication, not least outside academia.  The collaboration resulted in the exhibition "The Arctic—While the Ice Is Melting" at Nordiska museet.

As of 2021, a new agreement between the Nordic Museum and Stockholm University ensures a long-term and thematically independent collaboration on museological and collection-related research, teaching and public outreach. The current holder of the Hallwyl Chair at the Nordic Museum is Lotten Gustafsson Reinius, who is also Professor of Ethnology at Stockholm University.