CONNECTIONS

The aim of the CONNECTIONS exhibition is to utilise art as a medium through which to stimulate discussion, bridge differences, and connect people – at a time when societies are physically and ideologically divided.

Tours

• Audio tour with Steinunn Thorarínsdóttirs own guide can be found on Soundcloud. 
• Visual tour can be found on YouTube .
• Find the sculptures here on the map.

Opening Reception on September 1st

On September 1st from 15.00-17.00 the Ambassador of Iceland, Mrs. Helga Hauksdóttir officially opened the CONNECTIONS exhibition at a reception at Danish Institute for Advanced Study at SDU. The artist Steinunn Thórarinsdóttir and DIAS Fellow James Rogers introduced the CONNECTIONS Exhibition and their thoughts behind it.  

As an interdisciplinary historian of war and conflict, James Rogers works with artists to express understandings about the impact of crisis, catastrophe, and war on human society. He has worked with Steinunn Thórarinsdóttir for the last five years and utilised her work on Borders, Armors, Cairns, and Fragments, to stimulate new interpretations of how people are connected, divided, mentally and physically fragmented, and personally affected by war, conflict, and crisis. 

About CONNECTIONS

The CONNECTIONS exhibition comprises 18 sculptures that will be selected and arranged by Steinunn Thórarinsdóttir at Danish Institute for Advanced Study, Center for War Studies, around the SDU campus, at Nordatlantisk Hus and Platanhaven in Odense City center – this way connecting the university with the local community. As part of the exhibition a sculpture is placed outside the Icelandic Embassy in Copenhagen.

 

“Today, the world is physically divided by COVID-19 and ideologically divided by the extremes of left- and right-wing politics. We need only look to the pulling down of controversial statues and global climate change for pertinent examples of political and social division. Such division makes CONNECTIONS a timely and important sculpture exhibition, one that aims to connect people and stimulate discussion about what divides and unties us as human beings.”

– James Rogers

 

 

 

The sculptures are life-size and are placed on the ground so that students, staff and public visitors can physically engage with the works and become a part of them. As James Rogers explains, the vulnerable and naked human encounters remind us of the frailty of the human condition and how we battle the challenges and insecurities in today´s world.

The sculptures are androgynous symbols of humanity, an every-person, that the viewer can relate to regardless of race and gender. They put forward questions about our perception of everyday life and how we relate to each other. In some of the sculptures, the figures are just partly visible as they inhabit abstract forms that could be seen as a kind of protection or armor from the outside world. 

 

As part of the overall project and at the same time as CONNECTIONS, Steinunn Thórarinsdóttir’s installation ARMORS was installed in the heart of Copenhagen in collaboration with Galleri Christoffer Egelund and the City of Copenhagen. ARMORS incorporates three pairs of life-size sculptures that are made with assistance from and in collaboration with the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. The six sculptures were installed on Kongens Nytorv from August 25th to September 15th and on Sankt Annæ Plads from September 15th to October 30th, 2021. 

Three sculptures were also exhibited at Gallery Christoffer Egelund, Bredgade 75 in Copenhagen. 

At a time when societies have been ideologically and physically divided, ARMORS and CONNECTIONS are put forward in the public realm to stimulate discussion, encourage dialogue, bridge differences and connect people. 

 

What did the press tell us about CONNECTIONS

• Steinunn Thórarinsdóttir: ARMORS – Galleri Christoffer Egelund, kunsten.nu - link
• Kunstner og krigshistoriker vil have os til at snakke sammen, AlderBEDST Magazine - link
• Two Exhibitions by Steinunn Thórarinsdóttir, Icelandic Art Center - link
• Steinunn Þórarinsdóttir myndlistamaður opnar tvær sýningar í Kaupmannahöfn, Stjórnarrád ìslands - link
• „Ég lít á þetta sem innrás“, Morgunbladid - link
• Celebración en honor de la artista Steinunn Thorarinsdottir, Relaciones Exteriores - link
• Et islandsk HUH-råb, Kunstavisen - link
• Verk Steinunnar í Danmörku, Frettabladid (page 22) - link
• Verdensudstilling på SDU skaber menneskelig forbindelse i en splittet tid, Ritzau - link
• Steinunn Thórarinsdóttir, WOMEN IN THE ARCTIC AND ANTARCTIC, link

Thanks to Albani Fonden and Danish Institute for Advanced Study

CONNECTIONS in Odense and ARMORS in Copenhagen are made possible thanks to the Albani Fonden and Danish Institute for Advanced Study, SDU.