CREATIVE RESPONSES

Curated by Auður Aðalsteinsdóttir and Þórdís Aðalsteinsdóttir

Featuring works by
angela Snæfellsjökuls rawlings, Aurora Robson, Bolatta Silis-Høegh, Camilla Thorup, Hekla Dögg Jónsdóttir, Hildur Hákonardóttir, Jóna Hlíf Halldórsdóttir, Kristinn Már Pálmason, Laura Ortman, Peter Holst Henckel, Sigga Björg Sigurðardóttir, Sigrún Inga Hrólfsdóttir, Þórdís Aðalsteinsdóttir

May 16 – June 21, 2025

tekst på dansk

JOIN US FOR THE COMING SERIES OF EVENTS:

Creative Responses – an open symposium AT COPENHAGEN UNIVERSITY MAY 15 AT 13:00 – 17:00 HRS

A symposium on the complex and important role of art, literature and other creative activities in dealing with a changing worldview, highlighting the interplay of the local, regional and global environmental art.

All are welcome. Place: South Campus, Karen Blixens Vej 1, Copenhagen, room 21.0.54 (Multisalen)

Organizer: Department of Arts and Cultural Studies / Rannsóknasetur HÍ í Þingeyjarsveit and Michael Kjær

IN SPECTA

ARTMORNING IN SPECTA FRIDAY MAY 16 AT 9:30 – 10:30 HRS:

“Art and ecological thinking” - philosopher Ole Martin Sandberg chats with curators and artists of the exhibition Creative Responses, a group exhibition with an emphasis on how artists respond to environmental crises.

 
JOIN US IN SPECTA FOR THE OPENING AND CATALOGUE RELEASE ON FRIDAY MAY 16 AT 17 - 19 HRS

In SPECTA we are excited to take part in Creative Responses - a project curated by Auður Aðalsteinsdóttir and Þórdís Aðalsteinsdóttir, resulting in a symposium at the University of Copenhagen (May 15), a catalogue released and an exhibition later this year at the Akureyri Art Museum in Iceland. And, opening on May 16, talks and an exhibition in SPECTA presenting works by 13 artists who all deal with the climate and ecological crisis in a large variety of ways. The exhibition can be described as cacophonic, as it gives voice to many aspects of dealing with crisis, emotional as well as material – on show are works made from recycled materials, works depicting co-existence or lack of interconnected-ness with nature, heritage and new lifeforms and colors. 

The exhibition is inspired by a collection of articles titled Creative Responses to Environmental Crises in Nordic Art and Literature (2025), that sheds light on the complex and important role of visual arts, literature and other creative industries, when dealing with a changed world because of climate change and other environmental crises.

Works by artists addressed in the articles will be exhibited, as well as by others who relate to the main themes of the anthology: interconnectivity, complex systems, the value of diversity and deconstruction of hierarchy. One of the unexpected outcomes of the first anthology was a heavy emphasis on emotions related to environmental crises and changes: feelings of despair, melancholia and sorrow, but also more positive reactions like hope, resilience and joy. This affected the group exhibitions presented in this catalogue, which are taking place in Copenhagen and Akureyri. The curators, Tordis Adalsteinsdottir and Audur Adalsteinsdottir, along with many of the artists, have worked deliberately with this theme of emotional responses, and in the process, new topics have demanded attention: particularly those relating to respect and nurturing.

Creative Responses is a collaborative project between the University of Iceland’s Research Centre in Þingeyjarsveit, Akureyri Art Museum and Gallery SPECTA in Copenhagen.

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The project Creative Responses is generously supported by Nordisk Kulturfond, The Association of municipalities in North Iceland, and the Icelandic Art Center, and we would like to thank the Living Art Museum for lending us the work of Hildur Hákonardóttir.