Trevor Davies is educated in Urban Planning (Nottingham 1972), and relocated to Denmark in 1978. After establishing it in 1980, he now co-directs Copenhagen International Theatre (CIT), which has produced 55 international festivals and programmes. CIT is currently focusing on the urban programme “Metropolis” — a platform for site-specific artistic projects in Copenhagen. Davies has also set up and/or managed seven large scale projects and cultural initiatives including Copenhagen European Capital of Culture 1996 (1992–97) and Aarhus European Capital of Culture 2017 (2008–2013), Norwich City of Literature (UNESCO City of Literature) and DCCD Danish Centre for Culture and Development 1998…
Jesper Christiansen is Head of Strategy & Development of Innovation Skills at Nesta, an innovation charity helping people and organisations improve how they innovate for the public and social good. At Nesta, Jesper is developing and leading States of Change, a new global learning platform aimed at dramatically accelerating the embedding of innovation mindsets, habits, and behaviours into government practices across the world. Over the past decade, Jesper has been working with and advising government organisations and international institutions around the world to support their strategic innovation work and build better capacity for dealing with complex problems. This work has…
Carla Camilla Hjort, co-founder and director of SPACE10, is a creative and cultural entrepreneur based in Copenhagen, Denmark. Driven by her passion for people, the planet, society and culture, she develops concepts, projects, and communities that help deliver positive change. Carla is the founder of ArtRebels, a creative design studio; Trailerpark Festival, a music, art and tech festival; Made in Space, a hybrid conference exploring alternative future scenarios; and SPACE10, a future-living lab on a mission to create better and more sustainable ways of living.
What do you consider to be the most important issues to address within your field?
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In the world of brand identity and a wild proliferation of brands, handling the relationship between brands is a strategic area of its own. When it comes to brand hierarchies and how to construct them, the difference between theory and practice is as big as the difference between reading a soufflé recipe and actually making one. The chance of collapse is real! This is why we treat cases regarding the merger or split of existing brands with the utmost diligence — the stakes are high and we have to get it right.
All brands come with emotional ties. But some more than others. We have had the pleasure of developing a brand strategy for two brands that embody dedication and passion — albeit in two entirely different ways: The refined furniture of Danish design legend Finn Juhl, and the legendary Copenhagen music venue, Jazzhouse. In both cases, the brands were extremely well-known and carried a heavy legacy. And emotions were running high!
Dominic Leong is founding partner together with Christopher Leong of Leong Leong, an award-winning architecture and design firm based in New York that focuses on projects that envision new relationships between culture and commerce, public and private, and the domestic and monumental. Dominic received his Master of Science in Advanced Architectural Design from Columbia University, graduating with Honors, and his Bachelor of Architecture from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo. He has lived and worked in Shanghai, Paris, and New York. In 2007, he was awarded the Architecture League Prize by The Architectural League of New York. …
“Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.” Those are the famous first words of Leo Tolstoy’s seminal novel Anna Karenina. It has since lent its name to a model for system dynamics — the Anna Karenina Principle — describing the idea that for a system to succeed, a large number of factors have to succeed, whereas failure instantly occurs merely by failure of one key factor. Such is the world of the apex animal of cultural institutions: the museum. On top of the cultural food chain only by appearance, the successful life of a museum depends on a large number of factors to succeed — externally, internally and structurally.
We are not sure when or how working with museums became a niche for us but somehow we have managed to engage with a handful of the most popular museums in Denmark — thereby consolidating a reputation as the go-to agency for re-branding museums. We like to think that it has something to do with our company makeup as a cross-disciplinary agency with a highly cultural profile — and everything to do with our capacity to embrace the Anna Karenina Principle of cultural institutions.
There’s no place like home
In 2015, we were contacted by Kunsten, Museum of Modern Art in Aalborg. They found themselves…
Martin Gran: Partner, Snøhetta
Bio: Martin Gran is a partner in Snøhetta and leads the design division. With degrees in management, psychology, sociology and 20 years’ experience within brand-driven communication and design environments and projects, Martin is a versatile and professional advisor. His deep interest in the human mind combined with commercial understanding and ability make him a strategic asset to design projects. His professional career spans from being Scandinavian Design Group’s New Business Director and Strategic Advisor, to strategic lead for McCann Erickson New York. Other positions include strategic planner at Leo Burnett, Head of Advertising at Rimi (ICA…
Rane Willerslev is 45 years old and director of the Danish National Museum, and Professor of Social Anthropology at Aarhus University. He received a Ph.D. in 2003 from the University of Cambridge and in 1996, a master’s degree in visual anthropology from the University of Manchester. Rane Willerslev has been Director of the Cultural History Museum at the University of Oslo from 2011–2013 and from 2008–2011 the head of the Ethnographic Collections at the Moesgaard Museum. From 2013 until today he has led the Arctic research focus at Aarhus University.
What do you consider to be the most important issues…
Sinus Lynge is founder of EFFEKT Architects with partner Tue Foged. The company is located in Copenhagen, Denmark, and employs 35 dedicated architects and urban planners operating in the fields of architecture, urbanism and research. Since EFFEKT was founded in 2007, Sinus has managed over 100 national and international projects — all centred around social coherence and vibrant city life as well as intelligent solutions to energy consumption and sustainability. Having developed an expertise through a broad range of projects, Sinus excels in the management of interdisciplinary teams to create innovative solutions. Sinus represents an empathic and responsive approach to…
Søren Kaare-Andersen: Director, Bikubenfonden
Bio: Søren Kaare-Andersen has been the CEO of the Bikubenfonden since 2011. He initiated a transformation focusing on the creation of new opportunities, development and transparency. Søren Kaare-Andersen graduated as an economist from the University of Copenhagen and studied at INSEAD. Afterwards, he started a career in the banking world where he spent most of his time as CEO of three different banks. Søren is also the chair of the Nasdaq OMX advisory board and a member of several business boards of directors in Danish companies and pension funds. Besides his experience in strategy and business…
