Danish art exhibition reported to police for “encouraging terror”

Installation includes the back-stories of some of the Paris and Brussels bombers

An art exhibition slated to open this month in Copenhagen has been reported to police for encouraging terrorism. The show features two of the Brussels suicide bombers and one of the terrorists that attacked the Paris music venue Bataclan on November 14 last year.

A group of Danish artists plan to include images of the terrorists, replicas of their belongings, and plaques explaining who they were and what they did.

The terrorists will be featured alongside historical figures considered martyrs like Joan of Arc and Greek philosopher Socrates, said organiser Ida Grarup Nielsen.

“Our exhibition is really about describing the term ‘martyr’ from as many different angles as possible and through history,” Nielsen told Politiken.

Nielsen said the story would be told more from the suicide bombers’ “point of view”.

No strangers to controversy
The exhibition is scheduled to go on display from May 26 until June 10 at Teateret Sort/Hvid in Kødbyen, home to a theatre group whose artistic leader, Christian Lollike, created controversy in 2012 by staging a play based on the manifesto of Norwegian mass murderer Anders Behring Breivik.

Danish gunman Omar El-Hussein, who killed two people during attacks in Copenhagen in February 2015, will not be part of the exhibition since it remains unclear whether he was willing to die for his beliefs, noted Nielsen.

The last step
Diego Gugliotta, a local member of Venstre in Copenhagen, reported the event and its organisers to police yesterday for “encouraging terror”.

Gugliotta said on his Facebook page that portraying terrorists as heroes could incite people to “take the final step and join a terrorist organisation”.




  • Analysis shows that many students from Bangladesh are enrolled in Danish universities

    Analysis shows that many students from Bangladesh are enrolled in Danish universities

    Earlier this year, the Danish government changed the law on access for people from third world countries to the Danish labor market. Yet, there may still be a shortcut that goes through universities

  • Danish Flower company accused of labor abuse in Türkiye

    Danish Flower company accused of labor abuse in Türkiye

    Queen Company, a Denmark-origin flower producer with pristine sustainability credentials, is under fire for alleged labor rights violations at its Turkish operation, located in Dikili, İzmir. Workers in the large greenhouse facility have been calling decent work conditions for weeks. The Copenhagen Post gathered testimonies from the workers to better understand the situation

  • Advice for expats: Navigating Life as an International in Denmark

    Advice for expats: Navigating Life as an International in Denmark

    Beginning this month, Expat Counselling will be contributing a monthly article to The Copenhagen Post, offering guidance, tools, and reflections on the emotional and social aspects of international life in Denmark. The first column is about Strategies for emotional resilience

  • New agreement criticized for not attracting enough internationals

    New agreement criticized for not attracting enough internationals

    Several mayors and business leaders across Denmark are not satisfied with the agreement that the government, the trade union movement and employers made last week. More internationals are needed than the agreement provides for

  • Let’s not fear the global – let’s use it wisely

    Let’s not fear the global – let’s use it wisely

    Copenhagen’s international community is not just a demographic trend – it’s a lifeline. Our hospitals, kindergartens, construction sites, laboratories and restaurants rely on talent from all over the world. In fact, more than 40% of all job growth in the city over the past decade has come from international employees.

  • The Danish Connection: Roskilde gossip, a DNA scandal & why young Danes are having less sex

    The Danish Connection: Roskilde gossip, a DNA scandal & why young Danes are having less sex

    With half of the population of Copenhagen at Roskilde this week, Eva away in Aalborg and the weather being a bit of a joke , Melissa and Rachel bring you a chatty episode to cheer you up looking into three of the top stories in Denmark this week.

Connect Club is your gateway to a vibrant programme of events and an international community in Denmark.


  • “It’s possible to lead even though you don’t fit the traditional leadership mold”

    “It’s possible to lead even though you don’t fit the traditional leadership mold”

    Describing herself as a “DEI poster child,” being queer, neurodivergent and an international in Denmark didn’t stop Laurence Paquette from climbing the infamous corporate ladder to become Marketing Vice President (VP) at Vestas. Arrived in 2006 from Quebec, Laurence Paquette unpacks the implications of exposing your true self at work, in a country that lets little leeway for individuality

  • Deal reached to bring more foreign workers to Denmark

    Deal reached to bring more foreign workers to Denmark

    Agreement between unions and employers allows more foreign workers in Denmark under lower salary requirements, with new ID card rules and oversight to prevent social dumping and ensure fair conditions.

  • New association helps international nurses and doctors Denmark

    New association helps international nurses and doctors Denmark

    Kadre Darman was founded this year to support foreign-trained healthcare professionals facing challenges with difficult authorisation processes, visa procedures, and language barriers, aiming to help them find jobs and contribute to Denmark’s healthcare system