Kristian Handberg is an art historian and assistant professor at the Department of Arts and Cultural Studies, University of Copenhagen. His research focuses on art and exhibition history in the 20th century, cultural diplomacy, and the different art systems in Eastern and Western Europe during the Cold War, as well as how these are portrayed today in art histories and exhibitions. Currently, Handberg is researching Danish artists' exhibitions in the state socialist countries during the Cold War in the research project “Exhibiting Across the Iron Curtain: The forgotten trail of Danish artists exhibiting in the context of state socialism, 1955-1985” (Novo Nordisk Foundation Investigator Grant in Art History).
In 2025, Handberg will begin the project “1989: Changing Europe? Contemporary History as Cultural Heritage Task for the Art Museums” (University of Copenhagen and Malmö Art Museum) focusing on visual art around 1989 and the lessons we can learn from cultural exchange during historical changes.
Kristian Handberg is educated at Aarhus University and holds a PhD from the University of Copenhagen with the dissertation “There’s no time like the past: Retro as memory and materiality in contemporary culture” (2014).
For publications, etc., see: https://researchprofiles.ku.dk/da/persons/kristian-handberg
