The Art Newspaper

Kunsthal Charlottenborg reopens with revitalised programme

Former ICA director of exhibitions Mark Sladen hopes to attract a “broader public” to the contemporary arts institution

By Clemens Bomsdorf. Web only
Published online: 28 March 2011

Sven-Åke Johansson's "Concert for 12 Tractors", 1996/2011 was recreated for the opening weekend Photo: Anders Sune Berg

Copenhagen. Mark Sladen, the former director of exhibitions at the Institute of Contemporary Arts in London, has reopened the Kunsthal Charlottenborg in Copenhagen—one of Denmark’s biggest institutions for contemporary art— with a new exhibition strategy. “My aim is to make more use of Charlottenborg’s top location and to attract a broader public in addition to the typical cultural audience,” Sladen told The Art Newspaper. He became director of the exhibition hall last summer.

After undergoing a renovation, the 1,400 sq. m exhibition space reopened on 5 March. The single space has been transformed into two exhibition areas and one project space. International artists are to play a bigger role in the programme, while the number of exhibitions on show at any one time will increase to two. “We will use the bigger wing with 12 galleries for larger group shows or retrospectives, such as one with Simon Starling to go on show in autumn 2011,” said Sladen.

Shortly before Sladen was selected as director, a new board was drafted in with a more international focus, including Norwegian artist Ingar Dragset as well as Michael Nellemann, who as head of the cultural division of the Danish embassy in France is responsible for the exhibition programme at the Maison du Danemark in Paris. Together with four other institutions in the Danish capital, Charlottenborg is due to take part in an arts festival in Copenhagen next year.