It’s certainly no secret that Scandinavian design is worth traveling for. And in Copenhagen—the food-, fashion-, and design-forward city that’s arguably the poster child for “effortless cool”—one art-filled weekend proves it.
Each year as summer comes to a close in Denmark’s capital, lively events, exhibitions, and installations emerge during the CHART Art Fair. Leading up to and during the fair, site-specific art installations, exhibitions, moderated talks, and performances across Copenhagen “explore the crossover between art, design, architecture, music, performance, and gastronomy.”
The citywide program, launched in 2013 by five leading Copenhagen galleries, seeks to celebrate the best of Nordic contemporary art, and the open events are intended to welcome and attract people from outside the art world to enjoy.
The 2018 CHART Art Fair will bring artworks from 32 prominent Nordic galleries to Copenhagen’s Kunsthal Charlottenborg.
Photo by David Stjernholm
Scandinavia’s most exciting art
For its sixth edition, the 2018 CHART Art Fair will return to its home at Kunsthal Charlottenborg, one of Europe’s largest art exhibition spaces situated right on the famous Nyhavn canal in Copenhagen.
CHART’s 2018 display will feature artworks from 32 prominent galleries in Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland, and Iceland, among them Andréhn-Schiptjenko, the Stockholm art gallery (pictured below) credited for successfully launching the careers of Scandinavian artists such as Annika Larsson, Matts Leiderstam, and Annika von Hausswolff.
Other notable exhibiting galleries include BERG Contemporary from Reykjavík, Galleri Brandstrup from Oslo, and Edition Copenhagen.
An installation by Swedish artist Martin Jacobson on view at Andréhn-Schiptjenko, one of the leading galleries in Stockholm, Sweden.
Photo by Jean-Baptiste Béranger
Famously refined design
CHART Design, the fair’s design-specific component, will be held at Den Frie Center of Contemporary Art near Copenhagen’s expansive Østre Anlæg Park. The exhibition, dedicated to collectible design objects ranging from 20th-century modernism to contemporary styles, will showcase objects and installations from 12 prominent Nordic galleries.The exhibitors range from established Scandinavian names, like LOKAL, the award-winning Helsinki concept store and gallery (pictured below), to exciting CHART newcomers like ADORNO, a digital e-commerce design gallery based in Copenhagen.
LOKAL, the concept store and gallery dedicated to independent Finnish art and design, will exhibit at 2018 CHART Design.
Courtesy of CHART Art Fair
Weekend-long celebrations
Throughout the weekend, CHART Social’s courtyard program at Kunsthal Charlottenborg—which is free and open to the public—brings live acts, DJs, performances, and unique architectural installations and food stands to the art fair’s main venue. In 2017, the art fair recorded more than 9,000 people in attendance at CHART’s opening concert.
At Designmuseum Danmark, Norwegian artist Pearla Pigao’s “Sinus” explores how sound can be materialized without physical touch.
Photo by Vegard Kleven
This year, notable exhibitions also extend beyond the fair’s central venues. Don’t miss the display of Norwegian artist Pearla Pigao’s Sinus at Designmuseum Danmark. Inspired by the theremin, an electronic instrument controlled without contact, the site-specific installation investigates how music and sound can be materialized in the absence of physical touch. As viewers interact with the installation made of textiles woven with metal threads, the artwork becomes an instrument that can be played without being handled directly.
For a complete list of 2018 CHART Art Fair ticketed exhibitions, visit chartartfair.com.
To plan your stay, read our list of the best hotels in Copenhagen.
