Open today 10-18
PR Photo: The Shadow Archive

The Shadow Archive

In the exhibition, the Round Tower’s Library Hall is staged as nine individual narratives, inviting visitors to create their own stories about the forgotten, the unforeseen, and the shadowless.

With political, astrophysical and universal issues as an artistic starting point, the exhibition seeks to shed light on what is yet to be told—and thus, yet to be archived.

The exhibition is curated by Marie Bancks, Stine Ljungdalh and Tomas Lagermand Lundme.

Participating artists: Al Masson, Barbara Amalie Skovmand Thomsen, Honey Biba Beckerlee, Kristoffer Ørum, Marie Bancks, Pulsk Ravn, Stine Ljungdalh, Sonja Strange and Tomas Lagermand Lundme.

The exhibition is supported by:
Statens Kunstfond

Crystallized amino acid. Photo: Claus Spangsberg

Crystalline Memories of Deep Time

What are the oldest materials we know of? With a palette of crystallized sulfur, DNA, and meteorites, the exhibition explores the time before Earth’s formation and traces the earliest signs of life.

The journey begins before the solar system formed, when stardust from dying stars clumped together, later falling to Earth as meteorites. Crystalline Memories of Deep Time examines various meteorites and components from the primordial soup’s biochemical processes. Materials like sulfur, DNA, and amino acids are transformed into images and presented on custom-built screens. The exhibition also delves into LUCA (Last Universal Common Ancestor)—the concept of a single-celled organism as the last common ancestor—through 3-billion-year-old fossilized structures that testify to the earliest stages of life and the interconnectedness of all living things through deep time.

Claus Spangsberg creates captivating works at the intersection of art and science. In recent years, he has specialized in microscopy and crystallization, producing images with chemical substances, DNA, and amino acids.

PR Photo: Nanna Gro Henningsen

TIME*SOIL*STAR

Eight contemporary artists explore how art can enhance our perception and respect for all living things on the planet with artworks ranging from depictions of the microcosmos of soil to radical botany, terraforming, techno fossils, and dystopian sci-fi.

This exhibition is based on the realization that we belong to the world – rather than the world belongs to us. The climate crisis is understood as a profound aesthetic crisis, triggered by planet-transforming forces set in motion by the Industrial Revolution.

Time unfolds from biological and historical time through Earth’s geological layers to the aeons of the Universe – a dizzying journey linked to the long history of the Round Tower as an astronomical observatory and a window to the mysteries of the cosmos.

Participating artists: Jeanette Land Schou, Nina Maria Kleivan, Karen Gabel Madsen, Bodil Brems, Henriette C Hansen, Vicky Steptoe, Pernelle Maegaard og Nanna Gro Henningsen.

The exhibition is supported by 
Statens Kunstfond
Rådet for Visuel Kunst, Københavns Kommune

PR Photo: Nina Fjordbak Nielsen / Kaellingstenen

The Lost Runestones

Nine contemporary artists interpret the nine runestones that were lost in the Great Fire of Copenhagen in 1728.

In the mid-1600s, King Frederik III ordered runestones to be brought from across all of Denmark at the request of the antiquarian Ole Worm. The runestones, Denmark’s oldest form of literature, were to be gathered at the foot of the Round Tower—perhaps to keep them close to the books in the University Library housed in the Round Tower’s Library Hall. About 12 runestones reached the capital, but nine of them were lost in the Great Fire of Copenhagen in 1728. What stories vanished with those stones? What narratives and perspectives deserve to be heard in our contemporary era?

Now, nine contemporary artists bring the lost runestones back to life, each interpreting one of the nine runestones as a new artwork. Through their individual artistic practices, they give the stones a new voice and a place in the present, recontextualizing them as important testimonies.

“The Lost Runestones” presents a unique intersection of contemporary art, research, and cultural history. Symbolically, the stones return to the Round Tower as originally envisioned in the mid-1600s, when they are exhibited in the Library Hall.

Experience new works by
Frida Retz
Camilla Brogaard
Georg Jagunov
Louis André Jørgensen
Ida Kvetny
Kristoffer Ørum
Sidsel Bonde
Olivia Rode Hvass
Louise Vind Nielsen 

Behind the exhibition is the curatorial group Kaellingstenen, consisting of Ida Hørlyck, Nina Fjordbak Nielsen, and Emma Raun. The group works with contemporary art in a space where nature, culture, and experimental media converge. Their curatorial practice often revolves around ancient folklore and the speculative. Kaellingstenen’s mission is to create innovative and accessible art experiences and exhibitions that give voice to what has been forgotten or lost, transcending time and space.

The exhibition is supported by
Københavns Kommune – Rådet for Visuel Kunst
Københavns Kommune – Kultur- og Fritidsudvalgets disponible midler – Støtte til kulturelle aktiviteter.

Photo: Jakob Arthur Andersen / clearskyastro.dk

Exhibition with Astrophotographer Jakob Arthur Andersen

Embark on a journey thousands of light-years into space as one of Denmark’s best astrophotographers presents his spectacular images in the Library Hall. Experience Jakob Arthur Andersen’s fascinating shots of the night sky and deep space – the Universe like you’ve never seen it before.

With a telescope and camera, Jakob Arthur Andersen has spent countless hours capturing our fantastic Universe, Solar System, and the landscapes of the night. The exhibition in the Library Hall showcases his finest images – from the Milky Way to distant galaxies.

Jakob Arthur Andersen’s works are a central part of the Round Tower’s astro festival “COSMOS”, which also features scientific talks, astronomy for children, and other stellar experiences – all with the cosmos in focus.

Science Meets Art

Astrophotography demands patience and precision. The process relies not only on technical skill but also on the clarity of the sky and the whims of the weather. Denmark’s climate often poses a challenge, which means that photos are frequently created over multiple nights. When the weather is favorable, you must act quickly—sometimes conditions are optimal for only a few hours at a time. On other nights, the sky can be cloudless and starry all night long.

Jakob’s images require long exposure times and are composed of many individual shots that enhance each other. He views digital editing as his palette and the camera as his brush—astrophotography, to him, is a unique fusion of science and art.

About Jakob Arthur Andersen

Astrophotographer and lecturer Jakob Arthur Andersen opens a window to infinity with his telescope and camera—a visual time machine reaching deep into the vast cosmos.

Jakob is a self-taught astrophotographer and internationally recognized; he has won several awards, including first place in the prestigious International Photography Awards for two consecutive years.

When he’s not observing the universe from his backyard on the island of Falster, he wanders through the quiet nighttime landscapes with his camera and tripod, always in search of new subjects under the night sky that stretches majestically over the dark Danish plains.

This event is part of the program for the Round Tower’s astro festival “COSMOS”.

Tower Talk: Meet Artists Christoph & Sebastian Mügge

Meet the German-Swedish artist duo behind the current exhibition “Lost Library Legends” in the Library Hall.

“Lost Library Legends” blurs the lines between truth and fiction as the artists humorously tackle themes such as our physical and digital remains, death and value systems or how storytelling and factual truths can be distorted.

Join the artist talk to hear the thoughts behind the exhibition and their distinct style as Christoph and Sebastian Mügge show around the site-specific installation on the opening.

The conversation takes place in English and is moderated by the Round Tower’s Head of History and Dissemination, Rasmus Agertoft.

About the artists

The brothers Christoph (b. 1983) and Sebastian Mügge (b. 1981) were born in Germany, but currently live in Sweden.

They are both trained visual artists and have collaborated as an artist duo since 2017. They often exhibit internationally – previous exhibition spaces include galleries and other art venues in the Faroe Islands, England, Greece, Austria and the Netherlands.

As a duo, they create large-scale site-specific projects based on a combination of found materials and their own styles and techniques, e.g. painting, drawing, installation and digital works. In a humorous way, their installations take on existential themes such as life, death, what we value and our physical and digital footprint on the world, and how factual truths and storytelling can be distorted.

“Lost Library Legends” takes place in the Library Hall from 22 June to 11 August.
Read more about the exhibition here.

Press Image. Digital collage: Filip Vest. Original photo: National Museeum of Denmark

The Tryouts

“The Tryouts” is an exhibition and performance by Filip Vest exploring themes of crisis, hope, identity, and work. It delves into the narratives we tell about ourselves, each other, and the world we live in—and considers what other stories might be possible.

The project draws inspiration from a period when the Library Hall served as the workshop of theater painter Carl Lund between 1905 and 1927. Props and set designs are based on details from Lund’s romantic stage designs, which are here reimagined and repurposed to tell new stories.

Amid stacks of storage boxes, various props and scenic elements lie hidden somewhere between dream and reality. Plexiglass smoke fills the room, a wig has turned into a bonfire, and some aluminum plants have bent out of shape in the heat. A large scenic wall displays an art film that circles around the same themes as the performance.

From November 20-30, the performance “The Tryouts” can be experienced in the Library Hall (Language: Danish). The performance enters into dialogue with classic frame stories like Boccaccio’s Decameron and the tales of One Thousand and One Nights, examining storytelling as a way to pass time, survive, or critique society. The script is polyphonic and created in collaboration with visual artist and writer Sidsel Ana Welden and writer Jihaan Yussuf.

We follow three interns assigned to clear out a theater storage room after a fire. While working, they accidentally get locked inside. To pass the time, they begin sharing stories from their lives, spinning tales from the charred remains of scenery. As they do, they navigate their own tangled identities, both small and large crises, and art’s role in society.

When there is no performance, the installation can be visited in the Library Hall throughout the remainder of the exhibition period. It plays with the theater’s front and backstage, illusion and reality, in a total installation made of MDF, aluminum, plexiglass, plastic, and electronics.

Concept/Direction/Set Design: Filip Vest
Script: Filip Vest, Sidsel Ana Welden, and Jihaan Yussuf
Music: Joakim Wei Bernild
Lighting: Rosa Birkedal
Producer: Maja Holtze Bonde

About the Artist

Exhibition Video and Interview with Filip Vest about “The Tryouts”

Filip Vest (b. 1995, DK, they/them) holds an MFA from Malmö Art Academy. Through performances, installations, films, and texts, they explore queer love, loneliness, and desire in the 21st century. By using rehearsal scenarios from the performing arts, Vest tests the relationship between body and script, examining the myriad ways we perform our identities and relationships.

Vest’s works are populated by both minor and major interactions: climate crisis and relationship crises, role-playing, apocalyptic karaoke, and reenacted kisses. A bird falls in love with a statue. A frog has a breakdown in the middle of a striptease. Characters communicate—and miscommunicate—across species and time through cell phones, walls, and windows, as they attempt to make themselves readable to each other and the world.

Filip Vest has previously exhibited works at the National Gallery of Denmark, Arken, Copenhagen Contemporary, Møstings, Nikolaj Kunsthal, Den Frie, Kunsthal Charlottenborg, Roskilde Festival, Tallinn Art Hall, Manifesta13, and the Gwangju Biennale.

The Tryouts is co-produced by Rundetaarn and Toaster and is supported by the Danish Arts Foundation, Ny Carlsberg Foundation, Augustinus Foundation, Knud Højgaard Foundation, Wilhelm Hansen Foundation, and Copenhagen Municipality’s Performing Arts Committee.

Ida Siebke: "Oppstandelse", 2021. Foto: Ann-Sissel Holthe / ByAsh studio

Generation WHY

A generation of Scandinavian voices is expressed in the traveling exhibition “Generation WHY,” where Nordic designers from Generation Y (born between 1977 and 1994) focus on various aspects of their existence.

Three curators from each Nordic country have selected a number of artists and designers from a generation of creators who address significant themes, taking life, their practices, and the planet seriously and personally. The chosen artists from Denmark, Norway, Sweden, and Iceland convey the emotions, experiences, and perspectives of their generation through powerful, moving works.

They explore existential themes such as trauma, grief, physical ailments, gender and climate issues using textiles, glass, ceramics, metal, wood, pigments, dust, and fungal mycelium as materials.

From Denmark, exhibitors include

Maria Koshenkova, Morten Klitgaard, Astrid Skibsted, Jonas Edvard, Stine Bidstrup, Anne Brandhøj, Alexandru Murar, Carl Emil Jacobsen, Stine Mikkelsen, Maria Viftrup and Wang & Söderström. 

From Norway, exhibitors include

Ina Vang, Håvard Kranstad, Renate Desiree Dahl, Ida Siebke, Ask Bjørlo, Steffen Andre Nilsen, Elin Hedberg, Lissette Escobar, Cato Løland, Marsil Andjelov Al-Mohamid and Marthe Minde. 

From Sweden, exhibitors include

Karin Roy Andersson, Anna Nordström, Matilda Kästel, Maja Michaeldotter, Lisa Juntunen Roos, Milja Morset, Emilia Olofdotter Sundqvist, Fadhel Mourali, Maja Stjärna and Lotta Snijder.

From Iceland

Ýr Jóhannsdóttir.

The exhibition was initiated by the association behind the Norwegian Villvin Crafts Market in connection with the 300th anniversary of Risør city in 2023 and curated by Charlotte Jul, Marcia Harvey Isaksson og Vidar Koksvik.

Curators Marcia Harvey Isaksson, Vidar Koksvik and Charlotte Jul.

“Generation WHY” opened in July 2023 at Risør Kunstpark in Norway. In 2024, the exhibition opens at the Round Tower before it moves on to Rian Designmuseum in Sweden, 2025.

The Danish curator Charlotte Jul presents the exhibition and selected works.

The exhibition is open until April 28th at 16. The Library Hall will remain closed until May 4th when the next exhibition opens.

The exibition is supported by:
Augustinus Fonden
Statens Kunstfond
Knud Højgaards Fond
Ellen og Knud Dalhoff Larsens Fond
Konsul George Jorck og hustru Emma Jorck’s Fond
Aage og Johanne Louis-Hansens Fond

♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️ – Politiken

Lobophyllia. Photo: Anders Nydam.

Being Coral

Dive beneath the ocean’s surface as documentarian and video artist Maja Friis creates an intimate, moving and aesthetic encounter with the planet’s vanishing coral. 

Using macro-optics and collaborating with coral researchers from the University of Copenhagen, Friis showcases these tiny creatures on a grand scale through individual video portraits. The beauty of the corals is captured in close connection with their quiet decay, offering a sensory experience that highlights the gravity of climate change.

“Being Coral” opens October 23th at 19:00.

The exhibition is accompanied by a series of events including talks, guided tours with artist Maja Friis and creative coral workshops:

About the artist

Maja Friis is a documentary filmmaker and video artist. Her artistic practice explores the sensitivity, transformations, life, and non-life of nature with the vision of making research tangible and awakening climate awareness in the audience.

Other contributors

The research team that has contributed to the development of the project is led by professor of Marine Biology at the University of Copenhagen, Michael Kühl.

The creative team behind the exhibition is composed of Maja Friis as well as Audio-visual Installation Designer Nikolaj Dinesen and Project Coordinator Sofie Mønster.

The exhibition is supported by Statens Kunstfond.

Press Image: JAC Studios. Original photo: Des Moines Register.

From Science to Society

Through 200 years the Society for the Dissemination of Natural Science (SNU) has been a driver for scientists disseminating natural science and technology to the Danish public. The exhibition marks the 200th anniversary of SNU and demonstrates how scientific research has affected tangible change in our everyday lives – from H.C. Ørsted’s discovery of electromagnetism, which brought electricity everywhere in society and now enables efficient wind turbines and electric cars, to Niels Bohr’s atomic model, leading to new diagnostic methods in the medical world, nuclear power, and the modern electronics that surround us.

The Society for the Dissemination of Natural Science (SNU) was founded by H.C. Ørsted in 1824 with the ambition of giving everyone the opportunity to learn about the latest advancements in physics and chemistry. Several famous scientists and disseminators have led SNU over time – first H.C. Ørsted himself, who discovered electromagnetism, later oceanographer Martin Knudsen followed by Nobel Prize winner Niels Bohr, and today astrophysicist Anja C. Andersen, who is currently the president of the society.

Explore the exhibition virtually here:

The exhibition is supported by
Novo Nordisk Fonden, Otto Mønsteds Fond, William Demant Fonden, Augustinus Fonden, Thomas B. Thriges Fond, Ellehammerfonden, Aage og Johanne Louis-Hansens Fond, Knud Højgaards Fond and Torkil Holms Fond.

“From Science to Society” closes on Sunday October 20th at 4PM.

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