Enjoy more than 4,000 works of art in the privacy of your own living room
To celebrate the 50th anniversary of Kunsten, the museum is launching Kunsten Collection. It will provide members of the public with online access to all the works in the museum’s collection.
Who hasn’t dreamt of enjoying the company of a Picasso, Jorn, Lundstrøm, Lynn Chadwick or Max Ernst in the privacy of their own living room? From 23 September, they can! This is when Kunsten will be launching a new online universe: Kunsten Collection.
Kunsten Collection will enable art lovers to search the museum’s collection of around 4,000 works of art. You can scrutinise the artworks in detail, invite friends to ‘attend’ your own online exhibition or save your favourites in ‘My Collections’. You can also search for works based on different themes: for example, female artists, self-portraits, CoBrA – or even horses, football, hands or jazz musician.
Overall, it will enable more people to discover art and enter into discussion on the subject.
“As Minister for Culture, I believe it is vital for all Danes to have access to art and culture – wherever in the country they live. Encountering art helps us learn more about ourselves and the world in which we live. I hope that many Danes will seize the opportunity to explore one of the most striking collections of modern art in Denmark,” says Ane Halsboe-Jørgensen, Minister for Culture and Ecclesiastical Affairs.
The democratisation of art
Lasse Andersson, Director of Kunsten Museum of Modern Art also stresses the huge potential of Kunsten Collection in terms of reaching a broad public.
“Kunsten Collection represents a democratisation of Kunsten’s collection, making it accessible to as many people as possible and animating it in innovative ways on the basis of the curiosity and engagement of the museum’s users. People need to experience art in reality. Fortunately, today ‘reality’ is both physical - at the museum - and digital - everywhere else. It is an encounter between one of the most beautiful museums in the Nordic region and 4,000 works in one of the most interesting, modern collections in Denmark. Kunsten Collection is your personal path into Kunsten’s collection. Maybe your goal is to explore specific works by Asger Jorn or Niki de Saint-Phalle or to find inspiration in the collections of other users. For example, you can search for how many percent of the works are created by women, or find out that we have more than 60 works by Asger Jorn. In other words, it is an amazing tool for discussion and encounters with our visitors, online users and schools - not to mention collaboration with other museums around the world,” says Lasse Andersson, Director of Kunsten.
Linen walls and high-tech
Kunsten Collection will go online on the very day the museum opens the exhibition Kunsten Retro. This is an anniversary exhibition featuring selected works from Kunsten’s collection. The design of the exhibition is almost the same as in 1972, when Alvar Aalto’s unique building opened in the original setup with linen walls, marble and the most wonderful light. To mark the occasion, Kunsten is publishing an anniversary newspaper featuring highlights from the collection, the favourite works of Bertel Haarder and Ane Halsboe-Jørgensen (a past and the present Minister for Culture respectively) and lots more besides.
Kunsten Retro is supported by Sydbank, and Gudrun og Palle Mørchs Mindefond. Kunsten Collection is supported by Sydbank and Samsung.
Visit Kunsten Collection at https://collection.kunsten.dk