f.eks. is
a roaming exhibition platform for contemporary art that seeks to generate
critical and speculative dialogues between audiences, artists, and broader
publics. f.eks. produces temporary art events that are
located in and around the urban spaces of Aalborg and the Northern Jutland region – activating architecture,
infrastructure, ecological sites, and public spaces through a series of live
art engagements. These include
performances, talks, workshops, readings, pop-ups, social installations,
screenings, and many other forms of interactive and ephemeral art making.
f.eks. is an award-winning, non-profit organization supported by the Danish Arts Foundation, Den Jyske Kunstfond, Augustinus Fonden, Det Obelske Familiefond, Ny Carlsbergfondet, Region Nordjyllands Kulturpulje, 15. Juni Fonden, Aalborg Kommune Kulturpulje, UMMK, Himmerland Boligforening, and Aalborg Kommunes Kunstfond as part of an ongoing artist-initiated program.
f.eks. is an award-winning, non-profit organization supported by the Danish Arts Foundation, Den Jyske Kunstfond, Augustinus Fonden, Det Obelske Familiefond, Ny Carlsbergfondet, Region Nordjyllands Kulturpulje, 15. Juni Fonden, Aalborg Kommune Kulturpulje, UMMK, Himmerland Boligforening, and Aalborg Kommunes Kunstfond as part of an ongoing artist-initiated program.
Bodies of Waves is a new site-specific sound project along Aalborg’s waterfront by Razan Sabbagh.
Bodies of Waves uses sound as an artistic tool to delve into the complex interplay between language devices in mass media and the profound issues of migration, colonialism, and climate change. Bodies of Waves appropriates, collages, and examines audio from media outlet’s use of water as a linguistic metaphor to frame refugees and migrants. Terms such as “flood” and “wave” not only evoke images of overwhelming natural forces, but also subtly perpetuate colonial attitudes, reducing individuals to faceless masses and perpetuating notions of “otherness”. Subsequently, as the project narrative unfolds, Bodies of Waves also confronts a modern form of colonialism: climate change.
By linking these linguistic descriptors of water to the physical spaces of Aalborg’s waterfront areas that face climate crises, new localized spatial, social, and phenomenological linkages become present. The industrial aspirations of the developed world have created a global crisis, with rising sea levels and water scarcity potentially becoming major drivers of future migration. The questions remain: how will Western media continue to frame and address the impending waves of climate refugees? How can we understand waterfront cities (like Aalborg) and their implication within these global crises? By activating a sound installation and performative walk in Aalborg unfolding water media metaphors in relation to endangered seaside spaces in the city, Bodies of Waves seeks to evoke dialogues, connections, and discussion in relation to these interrelated and unresolved socio-ecological questions.
Instructions on how to access Bodies of Waves here
Download Arloopa App here
Additional information on Bodies of Waves here
A special thanks to Khaled Barakeh, Nikolaj Skjold, Thomas Birket-Smith, and Huset i Hasserisgade.
Bodies of Waves uses sound as an artistic tool to delve into the complex interplay between language devices in mass media and the profound issues of migration, colonialism, and climate change. Bodies of Waves appropriates, collages, and examines audio from media outlet’s use of water as a linguistic metaphor to frame refugees and migrants. Terms such as “flood” and “wave” not only evoke images of overwhelming natural forces, but also subtly perpetuate colonial attitudes, reducing individuals to faceless masses and perpetuating notions of “otherness”. Subsequently, as the project narrative unfolds, Bodies of Waves also confronts a modern form of colonialism: climate change.
By linking these linguistic descriptors of water to the physical spaces of Aalborg’s waterfront areas that face climate crises, new localized spatial, social, and phenomenological linkages become present. The industrial aspirations of the developed world have created a global crisis, with rising sea levels and water scarcity potentially becoming major drivers of future migration. The questions remain: how will Western media continue to frame and address the impending waves of climate refugees? How can we understand waterfront cities (like Aalborg) and their implication within these global crises? By activating a sound installation and performative walk in Aalborg unfolding water media metaphors in relation to endangered seaside spaces in the city, Bodies of Waves seeks to evoke dialogues, connections, and discussion in relation to these interrelated and unresolved socio-ecological questions.
Instructions on how to access Bodies of Waves here
Download Arloopa App here
Additional information on Bodies of Waves here
A special thanks to Khaled Barakeh, Nikolaj Skjold, Thomas Birket-Smith, and Huset i Hasserisgade.
Saturday, October 21st:
Performative Sound Walk and Group Conversation from 2:00 - 5:30 pm
Starting point: Aalborg’s Waterfront (near Musikkens Hus), Musikkens Pl. 1, 9000 Aalborg
Ending point: Huset i Hasserisgade, Hasserisgade 10, 9000 Aalborg
Note: the primary language of the event will be in English. Please be kind to bring headphones, your smart phone, and download the Arloopa App to access the sound walk. The event is free of admission and we will serve drinks and snacks.
Performative Sound Walk and Group Conversation from 2:00 - 5:30 pm
Starting point: Aalborg’s Waterfront (near Musikkens Hus), Musikkens Pl. 1, 9000 Aalborg
Ending point: Huset i Hasserisgade, Hasserisgade 10, 9000 Aalborg
Note: the primary language of the event will be in English. Please be kind to bring headphones, your smart phone, and download the Arloopa App to access the sound walk. The event is free of admission and we will serve drinks and snacks.
Razan Sabbagh's work explores identity, socio-political issues, and questions oppressive power structures, such as investigating the political infrastructure of prisons. Sabbagh often collects oral narratives and stories or takes existing texts, interviews, and testimonies as a starting point for her work. Her minimal installations, videos, and performances often explore the relationship between art, activism, aesthetics, and power. She has participated in numerous global exhibitions, including at the Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe, Kampnagel, and Thalia Theater, Hamburg (DE), the Sharjah Art Museum (AE), the Goethe Institute, Paris (FR), and Casino Display in Luxembourg (LU).
Workers’ Retreat is a series of public artistic engagements in Aalborg by the Social Sensibility R & D Department (a.k.a. Social Sensibility).
The project utilizes and subverts the idea of the “workers’ retreat” typically used to boost productivity as a framing device for Social Sensibility to propose and collectively re-imagine future possibilities for socially engaged artistic practices. By activating Aalborg’s unique post-industrial context as a former 19th century manufacturing hub, the local history will facilitate an international, multi-linguistic group of artists and workers from Social Sensibility to come together through different events and reflect on their interrelated positions along with Danish audiences. Through creating different informal transcultural storytelling, leisure, educational moments, and communal interactions across the city, Social Sensibility will (in)directly activate different cultural and economic conversations on art and work - from the often missing perspective of artists and workers themselves.
Bernard Controls (Karaoke Propaganda)
SSR&D (actions/interventions 2010-2017)
The project is kindly supported by S.C. Van Fonden and Bernard Controls. Special thanks to Kunsthal Spritten and Huset i Hasserisgade.
The project utilizes and subverts the idea of the “workers’ retreat” typically used to boost productivity as a framing device for Social Sensibility to propose and collectively re-imagine future possibilities for socially engaged artistic practices. By activating Aalborg’s unique post-industrial context as a former 19th century manufacturing hub, the local history will facilitate an international, multi-linguistic group of artists and workers from Social Sensibility to come together through different events and reflect on their interrelated positions along with Danish audiences. Through creating different informal transcultural storytelling, leisure, educational moments, and communal interactions across the city, Social Sensibility will (in)directly activate different cultural and economic conversations on art and work - from the often missing perspective of artists and workers themselves.
Bernard Controls (Karaoke Propaganda)
SSR&D (actions/interventions 2010-2017)
The project is kindly supported by S.C. Van Fonden and Bernard Controls. Special thanks to Kunsthal Spritten and Huset i Hasserisgade.
Friday, April 14th:
Working Histories Tour with Artists and Workers* from 5:30 - 7:30 pm
Starting point: Kunsthal Spritten, C. A. Olesens Gade 1, 9000 Aalborg
Ending Point: Fjordbyen, 9000 Aalborg
*Note limited space - please RSVP. Primary language will be in English with some French and Danish.
Saturday, April 15th:
Work / Live 干活 from Beijing to Aalborg* from 4 - 6 pm
Husets Café, Huset i Hasserisgade, Hasserisgade 10, 9000 Aalborg
Program:
4:00 pm Introduction
4:15 pm Artist Presentation by Social Sensibility R & D Department, Blandine De La Taille (FR), Alessandro Rolandi (IT), Tianji Zhao (CN), and worker participants Antoine Agudze (TG), Gilbert William Honoray (IN/FR), and others.
5:15 pm Public Discussion - Moderated by Scott William Raby
*Free of admission - everyone is welcome. The primary language is English (along with French, Mandarin, Italian, and Danish). Free snacks and drinks.
Sunday, April 16th:
Informal Leisure Interactions Across Aalborg
(by appointment only - please contact f.eks.contact@gmail.com)
Working Histories Tour with Artists and Workers* from 5:30 - 7:30 pm
Starting point: Kunsthal Spritten, C. A. Olesens Gade 1, 9000 Aalborg
Ending Point: Fjordbyen, 9000 Aalborg
*Note limited space - please RSVP. Primary language will be in English with some French and Danish.
Saturday, April 15th:
Work / Live 干活 from Beijing to Aalborg* from 4 - 6 pm
Husets Café, Huset i Hasserisgade, Hasserisgade 10, 9000 Aalborg
Program:
4:00 pm Introduction
4:15 pm Artist Presentation by Social Sensibility R & D Department, Blandine De La Taille (FR), Alessandro Rolandi (IT), Tianji Zhao (CN), and worker participants Antoine Agudze (TG), Gilbert William Honoray (IN/FR), and others.
5:15 pm Public Discussion - Moderated by Scott William Raby
*Free of admission - everyone is welcome. The primary language is English (along with French, Mandarin, Italian, and Danish). Free snacks and drinks.
Sunday, April 16th:
Informal Leisure Interactions Across Aalborg
(by appointment only - please contact f.eks.contact@gmail.com)
The Social Sensibility R & D Department began in Beijing in 2010 with an encounter between artist Alessandro Rolandi and Guillaume Bernard (CEO of Bernard Controls Group) and was later joined by artists Tianji Zhao and Blandine de La Taille (in Paris). Social Sensibility is an internal function of Bernard Controls - not an external consultancy - and thus has a unique economic model and ongoing staying presence within the company. Social Sensibility aims to develop artist-run departments within institutions in which the artist becomes a constant creative presence within working life - to act using relationships as a material and artistic practice as a tool to impact their surroundings. Social Sensibility’s research & practice have been developed at factories in Beijing/Daxing, Paris/Gonesse, and recently Milan/Rho. They aim to promote their methodology to other institutions and entities as well as produce artworks, artworks made by artists in collaboration with employees, and artworks made by employees accompanied by the artists who run the department.
“Sangutitsinerit / Reroutings / Omdirigeringer”
Sirí Paulsen, Aqqalu Berthelsen / Uyarakq, Julie Edel Hardenberg, New Red Order / Adam Khalil & Katrine Dirckinck-Holmfeld
Sirí Paulsen, Aqqalu Berthelsen / Uyarakq, Julie Edel Hardenberg, New Red Order / Adam Khalil & Katrine Dirckinck-Holmfeld
Sangutitsinerit / Reroutings / Omdirigeringer is a collaborative artistic workshop, community dinner, film screening, performance, and DJ program featuring Sirí Paulsen, Uyarakq /Aqqalu Berthelsen, Julie Edel Hardenberg, New Red Order/ Adam Khalil, and Katrine Dirckinck-Holmfeld.
Reroutings is an invitation to conjure a gathering that explores the material traces of Danish colonialism in Kalaallit Nunaat (Greenland) in the urban environment of Aalborg. Reroutings mimics the actual rerouting of the Port of Greenland in Aalborg (which will close in 2022 and redirect to Aarhus) to ask the question: how do artists create reroutings and interventions to confront colonial structures? Through a workshop that takes place in the "Greenlandic Quarter", Reroutings will explore alternative (hi)stories of people and places not honored in the public space. Afterwards, there will be a community dinner followed by a conversation with the artists, film screenings, performance, and a DJ set.
The project is co-organized by Katrine Dirckinck-Holmfeld, f.eks. and Arctic Street Food in collaboration with Lim Collective and Aalborg Artist’s Association as part of The Department of CCCC, and it is supported by The Danish Arts Foundation, Arctic Streetfood, The Greenlandic House, Lim Collective, Aalborg Artist’s Association, and Huset i Hasserisgade.
Reroutings is an invitation to conjure a gathering that explores the material traces of Danish colonialism in Kalaallit Nunaat (Greenland) in the urban environment of Aalborg. Reroutings mimics the actual rerouting of the Port of Greenland in Aalborg (which will close in 2022 and redirect to Aarhus) to ask the question: how do artists create reroutings and interventions to confront colonial structures? Through a workshop that takes place in the "Greenlandic Quarter", Reroutings will explore alternative (hi)stories of people and places not honored in the public space. Afterwards, there will be a community dinner followed by a conversation with the artists, film screenings, performance, and a DJ set.
The project is co-organized by Katrine Dirckinck-Holmfeld, f.eks. and Arctic Street Food in collaboration with Lim Collective and Aalborg Artist’s Association as part of The Department of CCCC, and it is supported by The Danish Arts Foundation, Arctic Streetfood, The Greenlandic House, Lim Collective, Aalborg Artist’s Association, and Huset i Hasserisgade.
Friday, November 11th:
Workshop, Community Dinner, Film screening, Performance, and DJ* from 3 - 11 pm
Starting point: Hans Egede Church, Grønlands Torv 6, 9210 Aalborg
Ending point: Huset i Hasserisgade, Hasserisgade 10, 9000 Aalborg
Program:
2:30 pm Shuttle Service** from The Greenlandic House to Hans Egede Church
3:00 pm Workshop in the “Greenlandic Quarter” by Sirí Paulsen & Katrine Dirckinck-Holmfeld - Meeting point: Hans Egede Church
6:00 pm Community Dinner with Arctic Street Food and Huset’s Cafe - Location: Huset i Hasserisgade (The Department of CCCC)
7:00 pm Public Artist’s Conversation
8:00 pm Film Screening & Performance with Aqqalu Berthelsen / Uyarakq, Julie Edel Hardenberg, New Red Order / Adam Khalil, and Katrine Dirckinck-Holmfeld
9:00 pm Music / DJ with Aqqalu Berthelsen / Uyarakq
*All events in the program are free of admission and everyone is welcome, registration is not required (event language will be in Greenlandic, Danish, and English)
**Shuttle Service is provided for those who need it - seating is limited - please reserve at f.eks.contact@gmail.com
Workshop, Community Dinner, Film screening, Performance, and DJ* from 3 - 11 pm
Starting point: Hans Egede Church, Grønlands Torv 6, 9210 Aalborg
Ending point: Huset i Hasserisgade, Hasserisgade 10, 9000 Aalborg
Program:
2:30 pm Shuttle Service** from The Greenlandic House to Hans Egede Church
3:00 pm Workshop in the “Greenlandic Quarter” by Sirí Paulsen & Katrine Dirckinck-Holmfeld - Meeting point: Hans Egede Church
6:00 pm Community Dinner with Arctic Street Food and Huset’s Cafe - Location: Huset i Hasserisgade (The Department of CCCC)
7:00 pm Public Artist’s Conversation
8:00 pm Film Screening & Performance with Aqqalu Berthelsen / Uyarakq, Julie Edel Hardenberg, New Red Order / Adam Khalil, and Katrine Dirckinck-Holmfeld
9:00 pm Music / DJ with Aqqalu Berthelsen / Uyarakq
*All events in the program are free of admission and everyone is welcome, registration is not required (event language will be in Greenlandic, Danish, and English)
**Shuttle Service is provided for those who need it - seating is limited - please reserve at f.eks.contact@gmail.com
Sirí Paulsen creates audio walks and theater plays as a hybrid practice between research and creative writing. Her work is motivated by finding different points of view to histories that are poorly nuanced. Whether working on her own projects or other’s, the motto is “there is always a narrative and no analysis of facts is objective”. She was born and raised in Nuuk (GL), Tromsø (NO), and Ålsgårde (DK) in a mixed Inuit and Danish family.
Aqqalu Berthelsen, also known as Uyarakq, was born in Nuuk (GL) in the mid 80s. He is a self-taught music producer / composer and DJ with a background in metal music. Growing up in Uummannaq, Northern Greenland and Nuuk, the capital has played a large role in shaping him to be a versatile musician between two worlds. He is currently doing a lot of work in the Indigenous circumpolar hip hop and rap scene with a foot in two continents, the North American arctic and the European arctic. He is now living in Inari, Northern Finland / Sápmi.
Julie Edel Hardenberg was born and raised in Nuuk, Kalaallit Nunaat / Greenland (GL). She studied art in Finland, Norway, and England before gaining her MA in Art Theory and Communication from the The Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts. She lives and works in Nuuk and has recently acquired the Novo Nordisk Foundation PhD scholarship. For the past 25 years, she has worked with identity and (post)colonial perspectives as an overall theme. With roots in Nordic and Inuit cultures, she has an insight into different Inuit-Kalaallit / Greenlander's identities and self-understanding. Nonetheless, the economic and social interdependencies between the two countries and their impact on the Greenlanders; caught in a shared identity between power and powerlessness.
Adam Khalil (Ojibway) is a filmmaker and artist from Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, whose practice attempts to subvert traditional forms of image-making through the use of humor, relation, and transgression. He is a core contributor to New Red Order and co-founder of COUSINS Collective. His work has been exhibited at Museum of Modern Art, Walker Arts Center, Lincoln Center, Tate Modern, HKW, and Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit among others with recent exhibitions at Kunsthal Charlottenborg in Copenhagen and Spike Island in Bristol. He is the recipient of various fellowships and grants, including Creative Capital Award in 2021.
New Red Order is a public secret society facilitated by core contributors Adam Khalil (Ojibway), Zack Khalil (Ojibway), and Jackson Polys (Tlingit). In our current period of existential and environmental catastrophe, desires for Indigenous epistemologies increase and enterprising settlers labor to extract this understanding as if it were a natural resource. New Red Order emerges out of the contradistinction from the Improved Order of Red Men - a secret society that 'plays Indian' calls the attraction toward indigeneity into question, yet promotes this desire, and enjoins potential non-Indigenous accomplices to participate in the co-examination and expansion of Indigenous agency. Working with an interdisciplinary network of informants, NRO co-produces video, performance, and installation works that confront settler colonial tendencies and obstacles to Indigenous growth.
Katrine Dirckinck-Holmfeld, PhD, is a visual artist, independent researcher and educator born in Aalborg (DK). Her work explores “reparative critical practices” as collaborative, audio-visual practices that explore the debris of broken histories. Current artistic work and research traverse the entangled colonial archives between the United States Virgin Islands, Ghana, Greenland, India, and Denmark, often presented in video installations, performative presentations and publications. She was the head of the Institute for Art, Writing and Research at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, where she also was a postdoctoral researcher. She is the co-founder of the bar and cultural venue Sorte Firkant in Copenhagen.
Aqqalu Berthelsen, also known as Uyarakq, was born in Nuuk (GL) in the mid 80s. He is a self-taught music producer / composer and DJ with a background in metal music. Growing up in Uummannaq, Northern Greenland and Nuuk, the capital has played a large role in shaping him to be a versatile musician between two worlds. He is currently doing a lot of work in the Indigenous circumpolar hip hop and rap scene with a foot in two continents, the North American arctic and the European arctic. He is now living in Inari, Northern Finland / Sápmi.
Julie Edel Hardenberg was born and raised in Nuuk, Kalaallit Nunaat / Greenland (GL). She studied art in Finland, Norway, and England before gaining her MA in Art Theory and Communication from the The Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts. She lives and works in Nuuk and has recently acquired the Novo Nordisk Foundation PhD scholarship. For the past 25 years, she has worked with identity and (post)colonial perspectives as an overall theme. With roots in Nordic and Inuit cultures, she has an insight into different Inuit-Kalaallit / Greenlander's identities and self-understanding. Nonetheless, the economic and social interdependencies between the two countries and their impact on the Greenlanders; caught in a shared identity between power and powerlessness.
Adam Khalil (Ojibway) is a filmmaker and artist from Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, whose practice attempts to subvert traditional forms of image-making through the use of humor, relation, and transgression. He is a core contributor to New Red Order and co-founder of COUSINS Collective. His work has been exhibited at Museum of Modern Art, Walker Arts Center, Lincoln Center, Tate Modern, HKW, and Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit among others with recent exhibitions at Kunsthal Charlottenborg in Copenhagen and Spike Island in Bristol. He is the recipient of various fellowships and grants, including Creative Capital Award in 2021.
New Red Order is a public secret society facilitated by core contributors Adam Khalil (Ojibway), Zack Khalil (Ojibway), and Jackson Polys (Tlingit). In our current period of existential and environmental catastrophe, desires for Indigenous epistemologies increase and enterprising settlers labor to extract this understanding as if it were a natural resource. New Red Order emerges out of the contradistinction from the Improved Order of Red Men - a secret society that 'plays Indian' calls the attraction toward indigeneity into question, yet promotes this desire, and enjoins potential non-Indigenous accomplices to participate in the co-examination and expansion of Indigenous agency. Working with an interdisciplinary network of informants, NRO co-produces video, performance, and installation works that confront settler colonial tendencies and obstacles to Indigenous growth.
Katrine Dirckinck-Holmfeld, PhD, is a visual artist, independent researcher and educator born in Aalborg (DK). Her work explores “reparative critical practices” as collaborative, audio-visual practices that explore the debris of broken histories. Current artistic work and research traverse the entangled colonial archives between the United States Virgin Islands, Ghana, Greenland, India, and Denmark, often presented in video installations, performative presentations and publications. She was the head of the Institute for Art, Writing and Research at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, where she also was a postdoctoral researcher. She is the co-founder of the bar and cultural venue Sorte Firkant in Copenhagen.