Museum-going

2026 is the 350th anniversary year of Ole Rømer s discovery of the speed of light. The Danish astronomer used lunar eclipses on Jupiter to understand that light does not travel instantaneously. Copenhagen's Rundetårn , the round tower located in the city centre  the oldest still functioning observatory building in Europe), dedicates the AD LUCEM exhibition to him, which tells the story of the discovery and its connection to the very building that housed the astronomical observatory where Rømer worked. Not far away, on Sølvgade, is the Statens Museum for Kunst (SMK)  with Denmark's largest collection of artwork with canvases by Mantegna and Tintoretto and several paintings from Denmark's 'Golden Age'. Design, an integral part of Denmark's industrial production, lifestyle and national identity, is the subject of the Design Museum Danmark in a rococo 18th century building that tells the story of Danish design through temporary and permanent exhibitions. Also not to be missed is the Danish Architecture Centre (DAC). Among the most eagerly awaited exhibitions of the year  (until 30 November) is that of Marina Abramović, one of the most influential figures in contemporary art, with a site-specific immersive installation inside the evocative Cisternerne,  a system of vast water cisterns built in 1856 to supply the city. Once capable of holding 16 million litres of water, the monumental structure, which dried up in 1981, was converted into an exhibition space when Copenhagen was named European Capital of Culture in 1996. Since 2013, the large rooms, known for their almost total darkness and 17-second echo, have been dedicated to site-specific contemporary art projects.

https://frederiksbergmuseerne.dk/en/udstillinger/marina-abramovic/