Kristin Danielsen appointed new Director of the Nordic Culture Fund

“With Kristin Danielsen, the Fund will have a strong, ambitious and vision-driven leader who can build on the Fund’s positive development, which, amongst other things, has brought about a more proactive approach to grant-making and increased engagement in the international agenda. She possesses extensive experience of the arts and culture sector as well as in cultural policy, both in the Nordic region and internationally, and is in every way the right person to head the Nordic Culture Fund at a time when the importance of Nordic and international cultural cooperation is becoming increasingly clear”

– Sigmundur Ernir Rúnarsson, Chairperson of the Board of the Nordic Culture Fund.

As Director of the Nordic Culture Fund, Kristin Danielsen will be in charge of strengthening the Fund’s proactive efforts to develop cultural cooperation in the Nordic countries. She will be head of the Fund’s secretariat in Copenhagen, and will play a central role in shaping the Fund’s strategic direction and its work in the coming period. 

Kristin Danielsen comments:

“The Nordic cooperation is a unique and globally recognised partnership built on shared values such as democracy, freedom of expression, and equality. Culture has been at the heart of this community from the very beginning, and I look forward to contributing to strengthening and developing Nordic cooperation both within the region and internationally. In a world marked by geopolitical turmoil and increasing polarisation, cultural collaboration across borders is more important than ever. I see great potential in developing the Nordic Culture Fund’s role as a catalyst for initiatives that position the Nordic region as a role model for cooperation and creative problem-solving.”

Kristin Danielsen has been Chief Executive Director of Arts and Culture Norway since 2016. In 2023 she was also appointed as chair of IFACCA (the International Federation of Arts Councils and Culture Agencies). Prior to this, she was Director of the Deichman Library in Oslo, and has held leading positions in a number of organisations for music and the performing arts in Norway. She originally trained as a dancer at the Norwegian Ballet School and at the Broadway Dance Center in New York, and she also holds an MA in Arts Management from the University of London. 

Until Kristin Danielsen takes up her post in September, the Fund’s day-to-day management and operations will be handled by Acting Director Søren Merrild Staun.