Under the title Art Bar Extravaganza, Nikolaj Kunsthal once again hosts the opening of Art Matter Festival 2026. The celebration takes place both outdoors on Nikolaj Plads and inside the galleries of Nikolaj Kunsthal, which currently present a major retrospective of the American Fluxus artist Alison Knowles.
Giant Salad, Choral Work and a Celebration in Red
As part of the opening event, visitors can experience three re-enactments of Alison Knowles’ performances and happenings. With assistance from Amalie og Floras Middage, the central work “Make a Salad” (1962) will be restaged. The work involves the audience and dissolves the boundaries between art and everyday life, artist and audience, and artwork and action. Cooking – an everyday gesture of care – becomes art that activates all the senses. Visitors can also experience the choral work “Piece for Any Number of Vocalists” (1962), as well as an activation of the work “Celebration Red” (1962). Guests are invited – as a tribute to the temporary and open – to replace the red objects installed in the artwork, which is presented at the Upper Gallery. In all three performances, the focus is not the material outcome but the situation itself: shared attention and the temporary structure created in the moment.
As part of the opening event, visitors can experience three re-enactments of Alison Knowles’ performances and happenings. With assistance from Amalie og Floras Middage, the central work “Make a Salad” (1962) will be restaged. The work involves the audience and dissolves the boundaries between art and everyday life, artist and audience, and artwork and action. Cooking – an everyday gesture of care – becomes art that activates all the senses. Visitors can also experience the choral work “Piece for Any Number of Vocalists” (1962), as well as an activation of the work “Celebration Red” (1962). Guests are invited – as a tribute to the temporary and open – to replace the red objects installed in the artwork, which is presented at the Upper Gallery. In all three performances, the focus is not the material outcome but the situation itself: shared attention and the temporary structure created in the moment.
Cake Performance
The opening also marks the premiere of Kim Richard Adler Mejdahl’s work “Cockpiece”, an absurd fellatio performance. The work stems from Mejdahl’s ongoing artistic investigation of the concept of the patriarchy, focusing on how our understanding of masculinity is shaped by patriarchal cultural structures. “Cockpiece” is inspired both by Alison Knowles’ practice, in which food often plays a central role, and by Valerie Solanas’ notorious work “S.C.U.M. Manifesto”, a radical and satirical text that attacks patriarchal power structures by imagining a society without men. In addition to the programme, the bar will serve cold organic pilsners from Depanneur, and Princes Banger will provide the soundtrack for the evening. Admission is free, and everyone is welcome.
The opening also marks the premiere of Kim Richard Adler Mejdahl’s work “Cockpiece”, an absurd fellatio performance. The work stems from Mejdahl’s ongoing artistic investigation of the concept of the patriarchy, focusing on how our understanding of masculinity is shaped by patriarchal cultural structures. “Cockpiece” is inspired both by Alison Knowles’ practice, in which food often plays a central role, and by Valerie Solanas’ notorious work “S.C.U.M. Manifesto”, a radical and satirical text that attacks patriarchal power structures by imagining a society without men. In addition to the programme, the bar will serve cold organic pilsners from Depanneur, and Princes Banger will provide the soundtrack for the evening. Admission is free, and everyone is welcome.
Kilde: Nikolaj Kunsthal
