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Maj Hasager elected as new Rector at Malmö Art Academy

Maj Hasager
Maj Hasager

Maj Hasager is herself educated at Malmö Art Academy and has for the past nine years been teaching at the Master's Program. From January 1, she will take on the role as Rector.

What are your feelings about your new assignment?

-I feel great joy, recognition and trust being elected as Rector, and I look forward to entering the role. Trust is key when it comes to conducting artistic education. The foundation is, and must be, trust in the students, teachers and employees – not to mention trust in the artistic processes. My responsibility is to facilitate that the many processes can take place without having to be squeezed into specific and defined categories.

What will your strategy as “new employee” be?

-It is a bit unusual to have experienced first the students, then teachers perspective and now take on full responsibility in collaboration with my fantastic colleagues. Although I have been part of this institution in various roles since 2003, it is important for me to continue my work with curiosity, receptiveness and clarity. We are in a revolutionary time, with many ongoing changes, and I see it as a significant strength to know the academy history while we develop in relation to our time.

-Between 2011 and 2019, I have been responsible for the MFA program Critical and Pedagogical Studies, and by taking part in a self-evaluation during the past year, I am rather thoroughly acquainted with the Academy. I have had the opportunity to talk to all my colleagues about our teaching methods and strong educational fundament and feel well equipped.

-We are also facing the co-location of the faculty's institutions and I will continue the dialogue about how we can coexist, recognising our strong individual identities, which is an exciting and challenging process.

How will one notice that you are the new Rector?

-It is undeniably a shift to go from being a colleague to becoming a Rector and my strategy is to keep in touch with everyone who works at the institution and set up a platform where me and the students can continue the good dialogue we already started. This way, I hope to be able to connect the different perspectives in a new way.

You have been a teacher for many years, but what have the students taught you?

- I learn something in every teaching situation. It is a great privilege to be involved in the students' processes for a long amount of time and enable for them to develop freely. For me, teaching is an exchange of different experiences and perspectives, and the multi-facetted practice of artistic education is something I want to highlight and create space for.

-I am happy about the great commitment I see among the students, which I learn a lot from. It is the students who know how the education function, they are at the center of it.

 

More info:
Maj Hasager will take over as Rector at Malmö Art Academy from January 1 2021. She will continue to practice as an artist. Former Rector Gertrud Sandquist will continue as second-in-command.

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