Publications
Vibe Nielsen has published the findings of her research in English, French and Danish, in academic, peer-reviewed journals and anthologies for academic and broader audiences alike. Her first monograph, Palms and Prestige: Reproducing the Tropics in the Glasshouses of Copenhagen, is underway and will soon be published by the Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek and Yale University Press. Its Danish version, Palmer og Prestige: Tropiske Reproduktioner i Københavns Glashuse, will soon be published by the Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek and Aarhus University Press.
In 2023, Vibe Nielsen co-edited and contributed to the Routledge-anthology Global Art in Local Art Worlds: Changing Hierarchies of Value, which is available to download Open Access. Praised for its ‘deeply researched case studies with reflections by some of the most eminent ethnographers and theorists working today’ (Thomas 2023), the anthology now also exists in a paperback version. Another co-edited anthology, Museums in the Age of Empire: Collecting and Classifying in the Late-Nineteenth Century, is underway and will be published by Routledge in their prestigious book series Research in Museum Studies in 2027.
Other highlights include the peer-reviewed journal articles Reproducing the Tropics: British Influences on the Glasshouses of Copenhagen, which has been accepted for publication in the Journal of the History of Collections published by Oxford University Press, Public Presentations of Plants: Colonial Legacies and Indigenous Perspectives in the Botanical Gardens of the Huntington, published by the Wiley-journal Museum Anthropology in 2025, and The Colonial Roots of Botany - Legacies of Empire in the Botanic Gardens of Oxford and Kew, which was published by Taylor & Francis in the Museum Management and Curatorship journal in 2023. In a little more than two years, the latter became one of the journal's most read articles of all times and has currently gathered more than 10,000 views.
Books
Palms and Prestige: Reproducing the Tropics in the Glasshouses of Copenhagen
Monograph by V. Nielsen (forthcoming), Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek and Yale University Press,
Palmer og Prestige: Tropiske Reproduktioner i Københavns Glashuse
Monograph by V. Nielsen (forthcoming), Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek and Aarhus University Press.
Museums in the Age of Empire: Collecting and Classifying in the Late-Nineteenth Century
Anthology ed. by V. Nielsen and L. Vosding (forthcoming), Routledge.
Global Art in Local Art Worlds: Changing Hierarchies of Value
Anthology ed. by O. Salemink, A.S. Corrêa, J. Sejrup and V. Nielsen (2023), Routledge.
Journal Articles
Reproducing the Tropics: British Influences on the Glasshouses of Copenhagen
Single-authored peer-reviewed journal article by V. Nielsen (forthcoming) in the Journal of the History of Collections, published by Oxford University Press.
Public Presentations of Plants: Colonial Legacies and Indigenous Perspectives in the Botanical Gardens of The Huntington
Single-authored peer-reviewed journal article by V. Nielsen (2025) in Museum Anthropology vol. 48 issue 2: 1-13.
"Offentligheden er vendt tilbage" – Kunstudstillinger til debat på Sydafrikas nationalgalleri
Single-authored peer-reviewed journal article by V. Nielsen (2024) in Tidsskriftet Antropologi: Ytringer 89 ed. by L.C. Anbert, C. Hasse and G.B. Nielsen: 129-152.
The Colonial Roots of Botany – Legacies of Empire in the Botanic Gardens of Oxford and Kew
Single-authored peer-reviewed journal article by V. Nielsen (2023) in Museum Management and Curatorship vol. 38 issue 6: 696-712.
’What’s in a name?’ Gentænkning af genstandstekster på Pitt Rivers Museum
Peer-reviewed journal article written by V. Nielsen (2022) in conversation with M. Thompson-Odlum in special issue of the Danish journal Jordens Folk: Samling på Verden 57 no. 2 ed. by K.M. Bach, M. Gabriel, U.H. Johnsen, V. Nielsen and C.M.S. Pallesen: 83-93.
Nye roller for gamle ting: Etnografiske samlingers samtidsrelevans i en verden i forandring
Co-authored peer-reviewed introduction by K.M. Bach, M. Gabriel, U.H. Johnsen, V. Nielsen and C.M.S. Pallesen (2022) in special issue of the Danish anthropological journal Jordens Folk: Samling på Verden 57 no. 2 ed. by K.M. Bach, M. Gabriel, U.H. Johnsen, V. Nielsen and C.M.S. Pallesen: 2-10.
Botanikkens Koloniale Rødder – Kulturhistorisk formidling af plantesamlinger i Storbritanniens botaniske haver
Single-authored peer-reviewed journal article by V. Nielsen (2022) in special issue of the Danish journal Kulturstudier 13 (2): 161-184.
How to Practice Decoloniality in Museums: A review of Practicing Decoloniality in Museums – A Guide with Global Examples by Csilla E. Ariese and Magdalena Wróblewska
Single-authored peer-reviewed book review essay by V. Nielsen (2022) in tenth year anniversary edition of Museum Worlds: Advances in Research no. 10: 230-234.
Kunstbegrebets Koloniale Klassifikationer til Forhandling på Museer i Sydafrika
Single-authored peer-reviewed journal article by V. Nielsen (2021) in the Danish journal Kulturstudier no. 1: 89-112.
In the absence of Rhodes: decolonizing South African universities
Single-authored peer-reviewed journal article by V. Nielsen (2021) in Ethnic and Racial Studies vol. 43 issue 3: 396-414.
Museale formidlinger af fortiden som kolonimagt på danske og britiske museer
Single-authored peer-reviewed journal article by V. Nielsen (2017) in the Danish journal Slagmark no. 75: 81-94.
Book Chapters
Tropical Dreams: Collecting Plants in the Age of Empire
Single-authored peer-reviewed book chapter by V. Nielsen (forthcoming) in the anthology Museums in the Age of Empire: Collecting and Classifying in the Late-Nineteenth Century ed. by V. Nielsen and L. Vosding, Routledge.
Kunsten at Mingle
Single-authored peer-reviewed book chapter by V. Nielsen (2026) in the Danish anthology Veje Ind i Akademia - Essays fra Det Unge Akademi ed. by T. Arbøll, C. Bjerre, A. Jønsson, E. Li, S. Pultz, S. Rønholt og T. Thomsen, The Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters.
Antropologisk Feltarbejde: Deltagerobservation som metode til at forstå kunstfaglige problematikker
Single-authored peer-reviewed book chapter by V. Nielsen (2026) in the Danish anthology Kulturhistorisk Metode ed. by D.M. Brink, C. Dahl, M. Eigtved, M.F. Hansen and M. Sandbye, Samfundslitteratur: 153-168.
Diversifying Public Commemorations in Cape Town and Copenhagen
Single-authored peer-reviewed book chapter by V. Nielsen (2024) in the anthology De-Commemoration: Removing Statues and Renaming Places ed. by S. Gensburger and J. Wüstenberg, Berghahn Books.
Ajouter et soustraire : décoloniser les espaces urbains au Cap et à Copenhague
Single-authored peer-reviewed book chapter by V. Nielsen (2023) in the French anthology Dé-commémoration : Quand le monde déboulonne des statues et renomme des rues ed. by S. Gensburger and J. Wüstenberg, Fayard.
Ambivalent Art at the Tip of a Continent: The Zeitz MOCAA and its quest for global recognition
Single-authored peer-reviewed book chapter by V. Nielsen (2023) in the anthology Global Art in Local Art Worlds: Changing Hierarchies of Value ed. by O. Salemink, A.S. Corrêa, J. Sejrup and V. Nielsen. Routledge: 77-99.
Er kvinder særlig skikkede til lovgivningsvirksomhed? 100-året for kvinders valgret
Co-authored peer-reviewed book chapter by M. Byriel-Thygesen, V. Nielsen and R. Tjørnehøj (2016) in Nationalmuseets Arbejdsmark published by the National Museum of Denmark: 274-287.
Magazine Articles
Tropiske Reproduktioner i Glyptotekets Vinterhave
Single-authored article by V. Nielsen (2026) in the annual magazine of the Young Academy, published by the Young Academy at the Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters: 8-11.
Communicating Culture - New Horizons for Museums
Co-authored article by A. Coutu, T. Ghigo and V. Nielsen (2025) in the annual Linacre News magazine, published by Linacre College, University of Oxford: 24-25.
Kolonitiden til forhandling - Gentænkning af Pitt Rivers Museums etnografiske samlinger
Single-authored journal article by V. Nielsen (2024) in Magasinet MUSEUM: National Identitet: 26-29.
Public Presentations of Plants - Communicating Collection Histories at the Huntington Botanical Gardens
Single-authored article by V. Nielsen (2024) in the annual Linacre News magazine, published by Linacre College, University of Oxford: 30-31.
Exploring Oxford: Linacre Junior Research Fellows on Tour
Co-authored article by T. Ghigo, V. Nielsen and E. Panciroli (2023) in the termly Linacre Lines magazine, published by Linacre College, University of Oxford: 20-22.
Hvis Stemmer? Da Kolonitiden for alvor kom på museum
Single-authored journal article by V. Nielsen (2020) in Baggrund.
En fortid som kolonimagt
Single-authored article by V. Nielsen (2016) in Danske Museer: 6-9.
Theses
Demanding Recognition: Curatorial Challenges in the Exhibition of Art from South Africa
PhD thesis by V. Nielsen (2019), Department of Anthropology, University of Copenhagen.
Museale Formidlinger af Fortiden som Kolonimagt: En komparativ analyse af, hvordan danske og britiske museer formidler den internationale kolonihandel og dens nutidige konsekvenser
MA thesis by V. Nielsen (2015), Department of Arts and Cultural Studies, University of Copenhagen.
Dealing with a Difficult Past – British Disseminations of the Transatlantic Slave Trade
MA thesis by V. Nielsen (2012), Institute of Archaeology, University College London.
Fattigdom – naturens orden eller en vej til revolution?
BA thesis by V. Nielsen (2010), SAXO Institute, University of Copenhagen.