Museums Corner | Where art meets reality

Aug 23, 2012

Museums Corner this week is going a little off track to bring you a sneak preview of the Copenhagen Art Festival (24 August-2 September), which this year promises to be one of the largest manifestations of contemporary art in Denmark.

CAF – Copenhagen Art Festival, which is also known as CAF, is this year presenting an extensive programme featuring works by both upcoming and established artists from Denmark and abroad. You can experience contemporary art in public spaces, at seminars and discussion forums and at exhibitions at Copenhagen’s five art centres: Kunsthal Charlottenborg, Nikolaj Kunsthal, Den Frie Udstillingsbygning, Kunstforeningen GL STRAND, and Overgaden – Institute of Contemporary Art.

Contemporary art right now! – The opening programme takes place between 24 August and 2 September. One of the projects you can experience is ILOVIT. Here 20 artists under Jeppe Hein’s artistic direction will transform the Højbro Plads square in Copenhagen into a vibrant and unpredictable space. Inspired by Copenhagen’s Tivoli and historic fairgrounds, the audience is invited to meet and socialise through artistic entertainment and architectural experimentation. ILOVIT offers loads of fun and celebration, with elements of magic and distortion, in a daily programme filled with performances, concerts, movies, yoga classes, juggling and acrobatics.

Joachim Koester's solo exhibition 'If One Thing Moves, Everything Moves' is said to be his largest and most comprehensive project to date in Denmark Charlottenborg – Charlottenborg is presenting two exhibitions: one by Danish artist Joachim Koester and the other by Scottish artist Ruth Ewan. The solo exhibition If One Thing Moves, Everything Moves is Joachim Koester’s largest and most comprehensive project to date in his homeland. It includes a dramatic orchestration created in collaboration with the artist that transforms Charlottenborg’s magnificent exhibition halls into a dark and immersive space. Ruth Ewan’s project, meanwhile, examines music’s utopian force. One of its main features is a unique archive of contemporary musical instruments, which the artist has collected by inviting the audience to donate old instruments. Both exhibitions will continue from 24 August until 30 December.

GL STRAND's exhibition 'Unfinished Journeys' will explore the festivalÂ’s theme in relation to globalisation in local and global communities Kunstforeningen GL STRAND – With the exhibition Unfinished Journeys, GL STRAND focuses on the festival’s theme in relation to globalisation in local and global communities and their interaction. The nine participating artists examine how the modern individual navigates in a world that is characterised by enormous contrasts between the infinite and the limited. Unfinished Journeys highlights the journey, not only as a concrete move from one place to another, but also as a mental state. The participating artists are: Kimsooja (South Korea), Damián Ortega (Mexico), Pascale Marthine Tayou (Cameroon), Vladimir Tomic (Bosnia and Herzegovina), Sofie Hesselholdt & Vibeke Mejlvang (Denmark), Song Dong (China), Yto Barrada (Morocco/France) and Isaac Julien (UK). The exhibition continues from 24 August until 11 November.

Den Frie Udstillingsbygning – Den Frie Udstillingsbygning yields a multifaceted look at the understanding of communities – which, incidentally, is CAF’s theme. The exhibition Beyond good and evil shows how communities depend on each individual as well as our collective memories. Communities are also dependent on the individual’s temporal and geographical location. The participating artists are: Jananne Al-ani (Iraq), Rejane Cantoni and Leonardo Crescenti (Brazi), Latifa Echakhch (France / Morocco), Søren Thilo Funder (Denmark), Ann Lislegaard (Denmark), Carsten Nicolai (Germany), Lea Porsager (Denmark) and Arturas Reila (Lithuania). Beyond good and evil continues from 24 August until 30 September.

Nikolaj Kunsthal is going to be this year's international platform for artists from across the globe Nikolaj Kunsthal – The exhibition at Nikolaj Kunsthal takes place both inside and outside the art hall: among other places, in the church’s tower, on the street and in the digital realm via smartphones. The participating artists are: Superflex (Denmark), Lise Harlev (Denmark), Otto Karvonen (Finland), Manifest.AR (various), Dias & Riedweg (Brazil/China), Rafael Lozano-Hemmer (Mexico/Canada), Katarzyna Kozyra (Poland), Mohamed Bourouissa (France) and Kutlug Ataman (Turkey). The exhibition will continue from 24 August to 21 October.

Overgaden will present solo exhibitions with a focus on heritage and history Overgaden – Institute of Contemporary Art – Overgaden presents solo exhibitions by Yorgos Sapountzis (Greece) and Hito Steyerl (Germany). Based respectively in heritage and history, the two exhibitions address issues related to reality such as construction, collective memory and objects as potent cultural and political tools. The exhibitions continue from 24 August to 21 October.