Major recruitment process finalised at the Academy of Fine Art

“Part of KHiO’s social mission is to educate artists at a high, international level. It has therefore been very inspiring to follow the painstaking recruitment process at the Academy of Fine Art", says Rector Marianne Skjulhaug. 

These are the seven candidates who will fill the vacant positions at the Academy of Fine Art

Irena Haiduk is an internationally recognised artist whose work has been presented at the Istanbul Biennial, Whitney Biennial, documenta 14 and the Swiss Institute in New York, among other venues. She joins us from Barnard College, Columbia University, in New York. This summer, Haiduk completed a year-long guest professorship at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts. She will assume a permanent position at KHiO in August 2026, as a professor specialising in hybrid approaches.

Pedro Gómez-Egaña is an acclaimed artist who lives in Oslo. His wide-ranging practice has been presented at prestigious art institutions and biennials, such as the Lyon Biennale, the Istanbul Biennial, the Oslo Sculpture Biennale, the Kochi Muziris Biennale, Colomboscope, Performa Biennial, LIAF and Bergen Assembly. His most recent solo exhibition was held at the MIT List Visual Arts Center. Gómez-Egaña has worked as an educator for many years and has served as a professor of sculpture and installation at the Academy of Fine Art since 2019. He will now assume a permanent position in the same field in August 2025.

Dora García is an artist, teacher and researcher. She is recognised as a leading figure within contemporary art, and her works have been shown at institutions and biennials all over the world. García has extensive teaching experience, including stints as a professor at Geneva’s Haute école d’art et de design, as a supervisor at Amsterdam’s Rijksakademie voor Beeldende Kunsten and as a member of the educational staff at the independent study programme PEI at MACBA (the Barcelona Museum of Contemporary Art). She lives in Oslo and has a staff member at the Academy of Fine Art since 2014. In August 2025, she will take up a permanent position as professor with a focus on performative strategies.

Liv Bugge has her roots in Oslo and is a practitioner with a unique artistic and educational approach. She has exhibited her works at major regional and international contemporary art institutions, such as Kunsthall Trondheim, Marabouparken Kunsthall in Stockholm and the 59th Venice Biennale. She lives in Oslo and has been employed at the Academy of Fine Art since 2019, and in August 2025 she will take up a permanent position as professor with a focus on material-based practices.

Anton Kats has an idiosyncratic approach to listening practices in both his art and his teaching. His works have been shown at Tate Modern in London, documenta 14, the 10th Berlin Biennale and Bergen Kunsthall, among other venues. Coming from a teaching position at Weißensee Kunsthochschule in Berlin, he will take up a fixed-term position in January 2026 as associate professor with a focus on sound and listening practices.

Steinar Haga Kristensen has developed his own unique style within painting and drawing. He is widely acclaimed in Norway, as evinced by a string of prestigious awards, such as the Lorck Schive Art Prize. Haga Kristensen recently presented his works in a solo exhibition at Kunstnernes Hus in Oslo – one of the largest such events during his career. He will take up a fixed-term position as associate professor in painting and drawing in August 2025.

Oscar Lara is known for his entirely distinct voice within performance art and social interventions. He has become widely acclaimed as an artist, especially in Scandinavia, with works that focus in particular on the inequitable power relations between the West and the global South. Lara has been showcased at venues such as the Gothenburg International Biennial for Contemporary Art (GIBCA) and Tensta Konsthall in Stockholm, and he has taught at institutions such as the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Stockholm and the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts in Copenhagen. He will assume his fixed-term position as associate professor in August 2025.

Tremendous interest

 A total of 207 candidates applied for the advertised positions, and of these, 73% met the required qualifications. Recruitment to the seven positions has taken place simultaneously. Four of the positions in question are permanent, while three are fixed-term positions of six years each. All of the positions are part-time (50% / 0.5 FTE).

“This has been a thorough and time-consuming process,” notes the dean of the Academy of Fine Art, Antonio Cataldo. “The process was led by three independent committees consisting of both internal and external members, and in-depth interviews were conducted, some of which were open to students and staff. The committees took particular note of the applicants’ artistic and educational approaches, as well as the diversity of their geographical and cultural backgrounds, research interests and gender distribution.”

“The Academy of Fine Art offers an experimental and non-hierarchical art education, where the goal is to educate socially aware artists,” he adds. “This means that the students control their own artistic direction, and with the support of the academic staff they can develop their individual, critical voices.” Cataldo is enthusiastic about the outcome of the hiring process. “We are very pleased indeed that these highly qualified professionals have accepted the positions,” he says. “They represent a diversity that will set the tone for the further development of KHiO and the Academy of Fine Art as a leading institution. 

"I’m simply overwhelmed by how many highly qualified applicants from all over the world expressed their interest", says Skjulhaug, who looks forward to following the new team of educators at the Academy of Fine Art in the upcoming years: "They are most welcome!”