Valand School of Fine Arts

History

School of Design and Crafts

The School of Design and Crafts (Swedish: Högskolan för Design och Konsthantverk, abbreviated HDK) at the University of Gothenburg was a design school in the Faculty of Fine, Applied and Performing Arts. It was started in 1848 with the name Slöjdföreningens skola.

The main building is on Kristinelundsgatan in Gothenburg. The school also contained HDK Steneby in Dals Långed.

Gothenburg Drawing School

The Valand School of Fine Art was founded as the Gothenburg Drawing School (Swedish: Göteborgs Musei Ritskola) in 1865 and has been part of the University of Gothenburg since 1977. The school is situated in central Gothenburg, currently across Vasagatan from the original building. Valand was the name of the construction company formed in order to build the original building which is now occupied by a nightclub of the same name, as well as a fraternal order.

Valand Academy

In 2012, Valand Academy was formed through a merge of the Valand School of Fine Art and three other formerly independent institutions at the University of Gothenburg: the School of Film Directing, the School of Photography and the Department of Literary Composition.

HDK-Valand – Academy of Art and Design

In 2020, Valand Academy merged with another school within the same faculty, the School of Design and Crafts / HDK (in Swedish, Högskolan för Design och Konsthandverk). The merged school is now called HDK-Valand – Academy of Art and Design.

Notable alumni

Ester Almqvist

Ivar Arosenius

Ernst Billgren

Helene Billgren

Torsten Billman

Axel Boman

Gabo Camnitzer

Ann Edholm

Claes Hake

Einar Hákonarson

Snövit Hedstierna

Pål Hollender

Úlfur Karlsson

Dan Lissvik

Ruben Östlund

Gustaf Tenggren

Jim Thorell

For the School of Design and Crafts

Annika Ekdahl

Elsa Jernås

Jan Wilsgaard

Notable professors

Carl Larsson

Bruno Liljefors

Torsten Billman

Peter Dahl

Maria Lindberg

Tor Bjurström