Skip to main content

LUP Student Papers

LUND UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES

Shaping the City: Public Art, Municipal Identity and Folkhemmet in Lund 1951-1956

Hein Olsson, Ida LU (2026) KOVM12 20261
Division of Art History and Visual Studies
Abstract
The aim of this thesis is to examine how the public artworks Fossil Composition (1955), Stone Flower (1955) and Tousle (1952), through their bureaucratic municipal processes, reflect the broader ideological ideas of the welfare state, or Folkhemmet, between 1951 and 1956. It also aims to examine what notions of intended municipal identity can be identified through the discourses surrounding the chosen artworks. In 1951 a local art board was created within the municipality of Lund, which also coincides with important years within the welfare state project in Sweden. The thesis uses archival research and a qualitative text- and visual analysis of the archival materials. It employs a critical discourse analysis informed by theories on... (More)
The aim of this thesis is to examine how the public artworks Fossil Composition (1955), Stone Flower (1955) and Tousle (1952), through their bureaucratic municipal processes, reflect the broader ideological ideas of the welfare state, or Folkhemmet, between 1951 and 1956. It also aims to examine what notions of intended municipal identity can be identified through the discourses surrounding the chosen artworks. In 1951 a local art board was created within the municipality of Lund, which also coincides with important years within the welfare state project in Sweden. The thesis uses archival research and a qualitative text- and visual analysis of the archival materials. It employs a critical discourse analysis informed by theories on cultural identity, representation and meaning as well as institutional critique. By examining both the discursive preconditions for public art as well as their materialisation in visual form, the thesis contributes to a deepened understanding of how visual culture is formed through institutional and political processes rather than only through aesthetical expression. This thesis also demonstrates how public art, through discourse, is shaped into tools that serve different functions within the cultural policy framework of specific historical periods. It positions the sculptures and their processes in a context of the welfare state where the authoritative and paternalistic tendencies of the state become highlighted. It also argues for notions of municipal identity detected through the sculptures and their processes reflecting a controlled professionalism and a desire for a higher cultural status through art. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
Hein Olsson, Ida LU
supervisor
organization
course
KOVM12 20261
year
type
H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
subject
keywords
Public art, cultural identity, cultural policy, welfare state, Lund
language
English
id
9234055
date added to LUP
2026-06-12 09:37:28
date last changed
2026-06-12 09:37:28
@misc{9234055,
  abstract     = {{The aim of this thesis is to examine how the public artworks Fossil Composition (1955), Stone Flower (1955) and Tousle (1952), through their bureaucratic municipal processes, reflect the broader ideological ideas of the welfare state, or Folkhemmet, between 1951 and 1956. It also aims to examine what notions of intended municipal identity can be identified through the discourses surrounding the chosen artworks. In 1951 a local art board was created within the municipality of Lund, which also coincides with important years within the welfare state project in Sweden. The thesis uses archival research and a qualitative text- and visual analysis of the archival materials. It employs a critical discourse analysis informed by theories on cultural identity, representation and meaning as well as institutional critique. By examining both the discursive preconditions for public art as well as their materialisation in visual form, the thesis contributes to a deepened understanding of how visual culture is formed through institutional and political processes rather than only through aesthetical expression. This thesis also demonstrates how public art, through discourse, is shaped into tools that serve different functions within the cultural policy framework of specific historical periods. It positions the sculptures and their processes in a context of the welfare state where the authoritative and paternalistic tendencies of the state become highlighted. It also argues for notions of municipal identity detected through the sculptures and their processes reflecting a controlled professionalism and a desire for a higher cultural status through art.}},
  author       = {{Hein Olsson, Ida}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{Shaping the City: Public Art, Municipal Identity and Folkhemmet in Lund 1951-1956}},
  year         = {{2026}},
}