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
The Hjermind Stone II // Creature in My Belly
Is motherhood a machine? What society views as mass-produced merchandise is, to a mother, a legacy of culture. Frida and Tófa are united across millennia in a timeless bond. Motherhood.
Listen to the complete story of the Hjermind Stone II and the work her.
Camilla Brogaard
The Gummarp Stone // ALMOST, THE WEST, GROWTH, THE REST
A stone at the end of a word. A final weight that pulls the words to the ground.
Stones have turned into potatoes, and comfort leaves its mark.
What marks are left in you?
Listen to the complete story of the Gummarp Stone and the work her.
Georg Jagunov
The Ålebæk Stone // The Wild Runes
The runes we humans have neither carved nor can comprehend are the wild runes.
The stones have been here for ages, silent witnesses to the passage of time. Perhaps they guard the universe’s forgotten language?
Listen to the complete story of the Ålebæk Stone and the work her.
Louis André Jørgensen
The Aunslev Stone // The Stone Mist
Have the runes on the Aunslev Stone been carved anew — born from a stone mist that drifted with the clouds and settled in a birch tree? As hidden signs and branching patterns that continue to grow within the trees.
Listen to the complete story of the Aunslev Stone and the work her.
Ida Kvetny
The Landerupense Stone II
How can a stone suddenly transform into a runestone? Did King Christian IV attempt to inscribe himself into the history books? Perhaps the stones hold the answer, speaking to one another in a secret language we have yet to understand.
Listen to the complete story of the Landerupense Stone II and the work her.
Kristoffer Ørum
The Lee Stone // The Good, the Lost, and the Beautiful
Can lost cultural heritage be 3D printed? Can reality be distorted to the point where fact and fiction are indistinguishable?
The stone has returned as an avatar — and it has brought postcards from the Viking Age.
But the Vikings didn’t live like that… did they?
Listen to the complete story of the Lee Stone and the work her.
Sidsel Bonde
The Langå Stone I // Borne off, Bygone, Bound
What happens when a stone is taken out of its context—removed from its landscape? When it shifts from being connected to nature to being relocated and losing its ties. Is it a burial or a homecoming?
Listen to the complete story of the Vamdrup Stone I and the work her.
Olivia Rode Hvass
The Vamdrup Stone I // Path of Desire (Here lies Ebbi’s son)
Why is Ebbi’s son unnamed? Was he not what his family hoped for? He lost his gravestone. Perhaps he still longs to be far away. Is he lying now among kindred spirits?
Listen to the complete story of the Vamdrup Stone I and the work her.
Louise Vind Nielsen
The Torup Stone // Big Cow
What happens when warmth meets cold? Is that where the cosmos begins? Life itself? How can a refrigerator be the modern guardian of the Torup Stone? A humming primal mother? Can you smell the milk of Audhumla?
Listen to the complete story of the Torup Stone and the work her.
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.
Ny Carlsbergfondet
5. Juni Fonden
Knud Højgaard Fonden
A.P. Møller Fonden
Lizzie og Mogens Staal Fonden
William Demant Fonden
Gangstedfonden
The exhibition is accompanied by an event program featuring, among other things, talks and workshops.
- June 20/ 5 p.m.
TOWER TALK: What can art tell us about history? (in Danish)
Read more and buy your ticket - June 21 / 12-4 p.m. (drop-in)
WORKSHOP: Make your own runestone
Read more and buy your ticket - 19. July / 12-4 p.m. (drop-in)
WORKSHOP: Make your own runestone
Read more and buy your ticket - August 3 / 12-4 p.m. (drop-in)
WORKSHOP: Make your own runestone
Read more and buy your ticket - August 17 / 12-4 p.m. (drop-in)
WORKSHOP: Make your own runestone
Read more and buy your ticket
Listen to the stories of the runestones
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.
Place your bid
All the works in the exhibition are for sale, but as something special, you can bid on the five largest photographs, with the full amount going directly to Folkekirkens Nødhjælp (DanChurchAid). The auction is already underway and runs until March 21, when the exhibition’s finissage will take place.
Bids are anonymous and must be sent directly via message to Jakob Arthur Andersen on his Instagram account, @clearskyastrofoto.
At the finissage on March 21 from 4–7 PM, it will be possible to continue bidding, after which the winners of the five photographs will be announced. The highest bids secure the artworks.
The sale of other works takes place by contacting Jakob Arthur Andersen via email.
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.
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
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.
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.
“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 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
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:
- October 24th at 19:30
TALK: “Art and Science in Symbiosis” with artist Maja Friis and researcher Elena Bollati.
Get tickets. - October 31st at 17:00
GUIDED TOUR: Walk through the exhibition with artist Maja Friis.
Read more. - November 2nd from 10:00 to 16:00
DROP-IN FAMILY WORKSHOP: Clay Corals
Read more. - November 3rd at 16:00
GUIDED TOUR: Walk through the exhibition with artist Maja Friis.
Read more.
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.
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.
Lost Library Legends
In the Round Tower’s former library, where books and shelves have long disappeared, you find yourself piecing together the fragments of a forgotten legacy. Step into a library of tangible collections, trash and treasures that weave together past, present and twisted tales that span centuries.
What truly endures as we depart this world? What is kept, what is lost and what fragments live on once we die? These timeless questions are at the center of “Lost Library Legends”. The exhibition by German-born artist duo Christoph and Sebastian Mügge is set in the historical Library Hall that was home to the University of Copenhagen’s book collection for two centuries.
Rubbish, Relics and Alternate Realities
The site-specific installation guides you through the corridors of time where undocumented history is reconstructed, and the lines between fact and fiction blur. The exhibition playfully contemplates profound questions about life and death, the true meaning of legacy, and what holds value across generations. It whimsically addresses the challenge of dealing with a treasure trove of eccentric collections, piecing together scattered items and narratives in a melange of rubbish and riches, wisdom and whimsy, facts, confusion and misinformation.
Various art forms, including drawings and digital prints, are showcased alongside extensive collections of everyday items such as grocery lists, tin cans, toilet paper collections and cigarette packs. With humorous anecdotes, the Mügge brothers also stir up the history and characters related to the Round Tower, unveiling intriguing misrepresentations of iconic figures such as King Christian IV and Tycho Brahe.
As you navigate this immersive, evocative experience, be guided towards fresh insights into your own legacy – an amalgamation of the deeply personal and seemingly trivial, the sacred and even the blushingly embarrassing; facets that are often concealed from the public eye.
About the artists
Sebastian and Christoph Mügge are German-born artists who now reside in Sweden. As a duo they realise large-scale site-specific projects based on a combination of found material and their own distinct styles in a variety of techniques.
Their exhibitions explore themes such as how conflict affects our everyday lives, the remnants we imprint on the physical and digital realms upon our passing, the challenge of storytelling and distortions that can befall historical truths. Factual narratives are interwoven with humor and alternative realities, blurring the lines that demarcate truth from fiction.
The exhibition is on display at the Round Tower until August 11th at 16.00.
Past exhibitions
Gizmos and Thingamabobs
What is a thingamabob? And what are gizmos used for? Discover a whimsical family exhibition, where a purple landscape with sensory, interactive gizmos and thingamabobs invites children to play, dress up, move, and explore.
A mysterious, purple world has emerged in the Library Hall. With purple grass, striped stones, and soft, fuzzy tree trunks. In this realm live peculiar thingamabobs, whose true nature is a mystery. Embark on a quest to discover them among amusing hat thingies that sprout from a green thicket. Or hide away in the glowing orange cave-like structure.
”Gizmos and Thingamabobs” is a humorous, playful, and colorful exhibition created by artist Lærke Bang Barfod. Here, children and their adults are invited into an abstract world of shapes, colors, textures, sounds, and movement where it is perfectly okay to interact with the art – to play, feel, try on and experiment!
Lærke is inspired by the inner world of children and their amazing ability to imagine, play, and invent. Through sensory activities and imaginative staging, children are encouraged to experience and explore the art with both their bodies and their mind.
So take your adults by the hand and journey through the purple landscape together, and invent your own stories about the gizmos and thingamabobs that live here and what they might be used for.
Kids should be accompanied by adults in the exhibition. Please wear the blue shoe covers provided by the Round Tower.
Please note, that the exhibition may be closed for shorter periods on certain days due to special events or concerts in the Library Hall. Check the website before your visit.
On days with many visitors, queuing for the exhibition may occur.
About the Artist
Artist Lærke Bang Barfod works at the intersection of costume and accessory design, scenography, and installation. She draws inspiration particularly from the world of children, her own childhood memories, and nature as an endless source of inspiration for colors, shapes, textures, and compositions.
She creates multi-sensory works primarily in fabric, yarn, foam, and metal, with a background as a clothing craftsman, accessory, and costume designer. This is also evident in the exhibition, where you can experience various imaginative accessories such as gloves, necklaces, and socks.
Other Contributors
Compositions of sounds and music in the exhibition William Kjeldsberg
Dancer Fie Dam Mygind
Dancer Marlene Bonnesen
Choreographer Ida Cathrin Utvik
Production Assistant Alberte Hummelshøj Andersen
Costume Productions Assistant Frida Bang Barfod
The exhibition is generously supported by Statens Kunstfond, Beckett-fonden, Statens Værksteder for Kunst and Den Ingwersenske Fond.
Please Note that the exhibition might be closed due to special events in the Library Hall for shorter periods of time. Check the website before your visit.
Danes with Wolves
Why do wolves evoke such powerful emotions in us? Do we have room for wolves in Denmark? Do we even have room for wild nature? These and many other questions are put into perspective in our upcoming exhibition “Danes with Wolves” – Denmark’s first large exhibition about the relationship between humans and wolves.
“Danes with Wolves” is based on cultural and historical myths, current debates about wolves, rumors about wolf killings and research on the movement of wolves in Denmark. The exhibition inspires the audience to reflect on their own views on nature and offering insights into why the wolf splits the opinion among the population of Denmark.
The wolf’s close biological relationship with dogs is also brought into focus through an exhibition of wolves and dogs. In the meeting between wolves and Danes, the exhibition will provide insight into why the predators have come to Denmark, and most importantly, how they affect us.
“Danes With Wolves” is presented in collaboration with the Natural History Museum of Aarhus, and is generously supported by A.P. Møller og Hustru Chastine Mc-Kinney Møllers Fond til almene Formaal, Aage V. Jensen Naturfond, Region Midtjylland, 15. Juni Fonden, Beckett-Fonden and Toyota-Fonden.
The exhibition has previously been shown at both the Natural History Museum of Aarhus and Holstebro Museum.
Please note!
The exhibition is aimed at all ages – children, however, should be accompanied by adults, as it features both dramatic scenes and sound effects as well as authentically preserved, taxidermied wolves and dogs.
The exhibition will be closed early or briefly on certain days due to special events in the Library Hall:
- On December 6 the exhibition closes at 18.30
- On December 7 the exhibition closes at 17
- On December 8 the exhibition closes at 16.30