The winter of 2025 in Copenhagen Cultural District offer a range of exciting exhibitions for the whole family. Whether you’re into art, architecture, or history, there’s something for everyone to enjoy. Visit exhibitions like “The Local II” at the Museum of Copenhagen, “Breaking Darkness” at Nikolaj Kunsthal, “Just Kids” at Gammel Strand, or “Might & Magic” in the ruins beneath Christiansborg Palace, and share the experience with your loved ones. Explore and be captivated by the many cultural experiences of the season in the heart of Copenhagen!
Nanna Ditzel: Breaking Free
Photo: Rasmus Hjortshøj
Nanna Ditzel (1923-2005) was a pioneer of Danish design, known for her innovative approach by which she created furniture to liberate the body. This exhibition presents some of Ditzel’s most iconic designs. Designs that challenge our ideas of traditional furniture and let us discover new ways of experiencing the body and spending time together.
Where: Danish Architecture Center, Bryghusgade 10, 1473 København
When: 24. Janurary- 11. May 2025
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Just Kids
Photo: David Stjernholm
Children are more present than ever—within families, in public debates, and in discussions between generations. However, our perception of children and their role in society has changed significantly over the past few decades. The contrast is striking between the free-spirited “flower children” of the hippie era, the troubled youth of the 1980s exemplified by Christiane F., and Greta Thunberg’s climate strike movement. Under the title Just Kids, Gammel Strand kicks off its exhibition year with an experimental, generational perspective on children in visual art. Focusing on children as both subject and theme, Just Kids explores how our view of childhood has evolved over time and highlights how innocence, creativity, and innovation have been closely linked to the very myth of the artist.
Where: Gammel Strand, Gammel Strand 48, 1202 København V
When: 30. Janurary- 4. May 2025
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Breaking Darkness
Foto: Mads Holm
This exhibition, is a tribute to Lars von Trier’s significant artistic contributions and presents his distinctive universe in a new light. It offers both hardcore fans and curious newcomers the chance to engage with his works in an alternative context. Breaking Darkness unfolds Lars von Trier’s universe through five site-specific installations spread across all of the kunsthal’s galleries, including the iconic Nikolaj Tower. By integrating the historic church spaces, with stylistic nods to Gothic and Baroque architecture, von Trier’s works are placed in a distinctive artistic context that provides a physical and tactile encounter with the filmmaker’s aesthetics and imagery.
Where: Nikolaj Kunsthal, Nikolaj Plads 10, 1067 København K
When: 8. Februrary – 27. July 2025
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Lene Adler Petersen – Space and Things
Portrait work/Photo: Lene Adler Petersen
Lene Adler Petersen has been one of the most significant figures in Danish contemporary art since the late 1960s. Her multi-stranded artistry spans actions, painting, drawing, sound, graphics, ceramics, text, books, film and photography. Space and Things provide an unprecedented look into Adler Petersen’s impressive work and dive into her pioneering career from the late 1960s onwards, focusing on her experimental work with photography, film and text and highlighting key works such as Diary from Eks-skolen’s print shop (1974), Opsatser (1980) and the iconic collaboration with Bjørn Nørgaard on The Female Christ (1969).
Where: The Black Diamond – The Royal Library, Søren Kierkegaards Plads 1, 1221 København K
Hvornår: 21. Februrary – 10. May 2025
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Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow (small-scale photo exhibition)
Photo: Peter Funch & V1 Gallery
You probably know the feeling of sitting in the city, watching people pass by. Maybe you make up stories, imagining who they are and where they’re going. From 2004 to 2017, artist Peter Funch lived in New York City. Every day, he spent hours capturing the daily rhythms and random encounters of thousands of people in the city. This effort resulted in two photo series, Babel Tales and 42nd and Vanderbilt, which you can experience in the weekend exhibition Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow. Each series, in its own way, reveals how we, as individuals, become part of a larger, collective presence in public spaces.
The exhibition is on show in The Hall and is open during weekends and weekdays when The Hall is not in use for events etc.
Where: Danish Architecture Center, Bryghusgade 10, 1473 København
When: 28. Februrary 2025 – 28. Februrary 2026
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Might & Magic
Photo: Karoline Lieberkind
The history of Danish witchcraft is a tangle of myths and mysteries. Three women acused of witchcraft, Maren Splids, Christenze Kruckow and Maren Ringsbjerg, will finally be given a voice in this exhibition. Leading female actors lend their voices to a captivating audio track relating the fates of the three women in interactions with stunning set design.
Join us on a journey back to the Renaissance, deep into in the dark ruins beneath Christiansborg Castle, where we’ll tell you what really happened, in the place where it happened. You’ll meet three women from some of Denmark’s most famous witch trials. Sense the lingering echoes of that bygone era, palpable in the very air around you. Trace the fates of these women as their threads of fate weave their way through the scenography, criss-crossing the ruins and spinning a gripping visualisation of their lives. Have a go at performing magic with engaging interactive elements. Try predicting the future in lead, measuring with threads of fate, using crystals to strengthen the mind and body, and get inspiration on how to make and use a wax child – the Nordic answer to voodoo dolls.
Where: The Ruins beneath Christiansborg Palace, Indre Slotsgård, Christiansborg Slot, 1218 København K
When: 27. September 2024 – 27. April 2025
Read more here.
Water is coming
Photo: Anders Sune Berg
This sensuous and poetic exhibition explores the relationship between water, people and nature in a rapidly changing world where, despite the seemingly bleak outlook, there is also hope and opportunity. Water is one of the greatest challenges of our time. Rising sea levels and more frequent cloudbursts demand radical change in urban design and organization. Cities like Copenhagen, Venice and Jakarta are already dealing with the inevitable question: How can we adapt to the water instead of fighting it? In the Water is Coming exhibition, DAC is seeking to create a deeper understanding of our dependence on water and the challenges it poses to our cities. The exhibition also presents different solutions for how we can live with water in the future.
Where: Danish Architecture Center, Bryghusgade 10, 1473 København
When: 7. October 2024 – 23. March 2025
Read more here.
Travelling
Photo: Thorvaldsens Museum
In the exhibition Travelling, we focus on both the outer and inner journey. Through Thorvaldsen’s many adventures and travels, we provide insight into the practicalities, obligations, pleasures, and dangers associated with travelling. The romanticised image we have of travel today was not necessarily the reality of Thorvaldsen’s time. Through the motifs of Golden Age painters, especially from Italy, the exhibition offers a visual journey back in time, revealing the inspiring landscapes and cultural encounters that shaped Thorvaldsen’s life. The exhibition is a celebration of Thorvaldsen’s life and career, and a tribute to the artistic connections and friendships that influenced his work.
Where: Thorvaldsens Museum, Bertel Thorvaldsens Plads 2, 1213 København K
When: 9. October 2024 – 26. February 2025
Read more here.
The Viking Sorceress
Photo: The National Museum of Denmark
In this sensory exhibition, you enter the complex world of the Vikings and meet the Viking Sorceress, the powerful fortune teller who was the mastermind behind the Vikings’ attempts to understand both the present and the future. Delve into the Viking philosophy of existence and destiny and feel for yourself… Perhaps the end-of-the-world omens of the time can teach you something important about your own life and our time.
Where: The National Museum of Denmark, Frederiksholms Kanal 12, 1220 København K
Hvornår: The exhibition is open until 2027.
Read more here.
Learn about drones and and their impact on modern warfare
Photo: Danish War Museum
Discover the role of drones and their impact on modern warfare in this new spotlight exhibition at the Danish War Museum. Dive into the history of drones and explore how they are shaping current and future conflicts. While drones or unmanned vehicles might seem like a modern innovation, they have been used since the 1800s in various forms to surprise and intimidate enemies. Today, drones are an invaluable part of warfare in hotspots like Ukraine, where they are extensively employed by both sides.
Where: Danish War Museum, Tøjhusgade 3, 1220 København K
When: 19. November 2024 – 19. November 2025
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So Danish!
Photo: Rasmus Hjortshøj
With this exhibition, you will experience how architecture has always played a central role in our formation, our understanding of culture and our common future. In addition to all the highlights of Danish architectural history, there will also be an opportunity to dive into the individual style periods, meet the architects, and discover completely new projects with great impact on the architecture we are surrounded by today and in the future.
The exhibition contains architecture at all levels of scale, from buildings and urban spaces to infrastructure and landscape architecture, and it will accommodate a multitude of different ways of experiencing the architecture. Iconic buildings are resurrected i.a. to life in small, enveloping, cinematic experiences that give you a fantastic and present experience of Danish architecture – it’s almost like standing in the physical building.
Where: Danish Architecture Center, Bryghusgade 10, 1473 København
Hvornår: Permanent exhibition.
Read more here.
The Local II – The Last Pubs in the Kingdom
Photo: Valdemar Ren
This is where you can meet Danes you won’t find in many other places enjoying a beer in dimly lit pubs with rustic chairs and yellowing posters and plaques from times long past on the walls. The pubs here are like those in England, but then again not. The only thing you can get to eat are peanuts and crisps, and if you take your children along most people would think you should be reported to child welfare.
Many old-style pubs are closing, but the exhibition at the Museum of Copenhagen gives voice to their bartenders and regulars. New photos show how people keep their spirits up and their glasses raised high despite the onslaught of property speculation and café lattes. The photo exhibition The Local II at the Museum of Copenhagen takes you on a tour of Denmark, but also all the way to the Faroe Islands and Greenland to experience the nooks and crannies of pubs everywhere in the kingdom.
Where: Museum of Copenhagen, Stormgade 18, 1555 København V
When: 29. November 2024 – 28. March 2025
Read more here.
I’m Sorry, This Space Is Reserved (CLOSED)
Photo: Mads Holm
The group exhibition “I’m Sorry, This Space Is Reserved” will present a number of works by Danish and international visual artists representing different bodies and identities. The exhibition is a kick-start in the debate about the normative vs. the non-normative in a society which is organised according to the majority and has very little focus on accessibility and acceptance of people and bodies which are different from most.
The exhibition opens up a space for debate, reflection and perception regarding a very current but under-examined topic. In the exhibition “I”m Sorry, This Space Is Reserved”, the majority of the artists have a disability which is either congenital or came later in life.
Where: Nikolaj Kunsthal, Nikolaj Plads 10, 1067 København K
When: 30. August 2024 – 19. January 2025
Read more here.
A Cloud Is a Girl Is a Boy Is a Cat (CLOSED)
Photo: Mads Holm
The exhibition “A Cloud Is a Girl Is a Boy Is a Cat” consists of Kathrine Ærtebjerg’s new surrealist works created from Ovartaci’s existing oevre, which are on loan from the newly opened Museum Ovartaci in Aarhus, Denmark. The works create both a poetic and dramatic dialogue which unfolds in a total installation consisting of sound, objects and large canvases created by Ærtebjerg. Ovartaci is represented with, among other works, his puppet installations and paperworks of figures that dissolve the boundary between gender and animal and human.
The exhibition is an important contribution to this theme in establishing a meeting between two Danish artists in dialogue about the normal and the abnormal. Although Ærtebjerg and Ovartici are from different generations, they have many elements in common in terms of fluid boundaries between gender, body and the normative, which is highlighted in the exhibition.
Where: Nikolaj Kunsthal, Nikolaj Plads 10, 1067 København K
When: 30. August 2024 – 19. January 2025
Read more here.
After the Sun (CLOSED)
Photo: David Stjernholm
The ambitious group exhibition After the Sun portrays a groundbreaking depiction of a younger generation of Nordic artists, all born after 1980, for whom artistic practice and the climate crisis are inseparably connected. After the Sun takes its title from Jonas Eika’s award-winning short story collection Efter Solen, which won the Nordic Council Literature Prize in 2019. The exhibition showcases a wide range of works, spanning from the analytical to the speculative, from the poetic to the political, including painting, sculpture, video, installation, and performance. In a time when the climate crisis is omnipresent, the exhibition offers an existential insight into how we, as humans, relate to nature.
Where: Gammel Strand, Gammel Strand 48, 1202 København V
When: 26. September 2024 – 12. January 2025
Read more here.
Ukranian Diary (CLOSED)
Photo: Daniel Buchwald
Ukrainian Boris Mikhailov is one of Eastern Europe’s most influential photographers, who has documented life in his homeland for half a century. The result is a poetic, beautiful, harsh, ugly and frightening contemporary look into life before, during and after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Now you can experience his award-winning art in the exhibition Ukrainian Diary in The Black Diamond.
Ukrainian Diary is the first retrospective exhibition of Boris Mikhailov in Denmark. With over 500 works, the exhibition is not just a merciless look into Ukraine’s tumultuous history over more than half a century. It also presents an artist’s impressive life’s work, spanning vastly different artistic methods and aesthetic expressions. He is known for his documentary, conceptual and performative works. With Russia’s war on Ukraine since 2022, Mikhailov’s work has taken on a new and urgently important dimension.
Where: The Black Diamond – The Royal Library, Søren Kierkegaards Plads 1, 1221 København K
When: 20. September 2024 – 11. January 2025
Read more here.