Laesoe Art Hall was invited by the Danish Art Council and the Ministry of Culture to take part in the opening of the Danish pavillion at this year’s Biennal in Venice. For that we are grateful. Here are some pictures from the day. Photo by Jon Eirik Lundberg.
Læsø Kunsthals sommerudstilling, “Idéen om et landskab”, havde en universel appel. Det understreges ved at den nu rejser videre og genopstår i en ny udgave hos Galleri TESE i Aarhus. 
Læsø Kunsthals Forlag udgav i august Steen Hagebros debutsamling, “Den indre torden”. Digtene kredser om en uforløst forelskelse der lægger sig over hele det eksistentielle rum, og nærmest vokser i et med livet selv. Gennem teksterne løber et ‘jeg’ der på samme tid både er afsondret fra og sammensmeltet med omgivelserne. Man følger en sart sansende sjæl som ser byen, menneskene i den og en kvinde som befinder sig på en helt umulig afstand, også når hun står lige foran digterjeget.
Bogen er udformet af John Ovesen og omslaget er et portræt af digteren udført af kunstneren Christian Lemmerz. Bogen sælges gennem alle boghandlere og på Vinstue 90, Gammel Kongevej 90, København. Den har hurtigt fået et publikum og det første oplag er snart udsolgt. 
It has caught the attention of international media that the Danish governement is suggesting to punish even artistic treatment of religious symbols with prison sentences. A leading voice in the protests is the french satirical magazine, Charlie Hebdo, which was brutally attacked in January 2015. Its editor in chief, Gérard Biard, has written a manifesto against the law (link in the end of the article).
In the text Biard concludes, that the Danish government is taking side with the cruel regimes of countries like Afghanistan and Iran, where the treatment of women is both brutal and on display for entire world. Less exposed in the daily newsfeed, but just as brutal, is the treatment of women, minorities, gays and migrants in numerous OIC countries.
These topics have been dealt with in three Laesoe Art Hall exhibitions in 2019 and 2021:
Den politiske kunst (Laesoe Art Hall, 2019)
WOMEN (solo exhibition with Firoozeh Bazrafkan, Laesoe Art Hall, 2021)
Political Art (group exhibition, Ujazdowski Castle Centre for Contemporary Art, Warsaw, 2021 – 2022)
The exhibitions lead to a serie of online lectures, “Politisk kunst”, published by Alinea and available for all 10th grade pupils in Denmark. Likewise the exhibitions have been described in two books, “Balladen om den politiske kunst” (“the trouble of the political art”), 2020, and “Kulturmiddelklassens hævn” (“The revenge of the cultural middle class”), 2022, both by Laesoe Art Hall Publishing.
The exhibitions were either ignored or attacked by most Danish media. Still the leading Danish newspaper, Berlingske Tidende, is “surprised to see the major art institutions abstain from commenting” on the new law. The newspaper is also condemning the looming “art police” under the minister of Justice, Peter Hummelgaard (the Social-Democrats). What until recently was condemned as “right wing propaganda” is now art that must be protected, according to this line of reasoning.
Link to the editorial in Berlingske:
https://www.berlingske.dk/ledere/nu-tromler-peter-hummelgaards-kunstpoliti-frem-og-den-danske-kunstverden
Gérard Biard is right in his observation that the law is taking side with the most repressive powers in the world. But the attitude behind the law has existed for a very long time, and already made life very difficult for artists and curators alike.
Manifesto in Danish:
https://www.altinget.dk/artikel/charlie-hebdos-chefredaktoer-med-koranforbud-bliver-danmark-allieret-med-taliban-og-irans-praestestyre
Article in LeMonde:
https://www.lemonde.fr/en/religions/article/2023/09/05/charlie-hebdo-denounces-proposed-danish-blasphemy-law_6124007_63.html
Jon Eirik Lundberg
The Polish TV Republica has made a presentation of the exhibition “Odd Nerdrum – Painter of the North”, presenting the exhibition space, details in the paintings and talks by director Piotr Bernatowicz and curator Jon Eirik Lundberg from the Ujazdowski Castle Centre for Contemporary Art.
The exhibition “Odd Nerdrum – Painter of the North” opened Friday August 11th at the Ujazdowski Castle Centre for Contemporary Art (UCCA) in Warsaw, Poland. The exhibition received honorary patronage from the Norwegian Embassy in Warsaw and drew a great crowd of artists, journalists, political representatives and general public. Pictures by Voytek Daniel Czarnocki / UCCA
Conversations and exhibition curated and recorded by Jon Eirik Lundberg. Music by Jon Eirik Lundberg and Håkon Lervåg.
Martin Askholm reflecting on his landscape paintings in Laesoe Art Hall
The Danish painter Jeppe Kruse talks about his paintings in the exhibition “The Idea of a Landscape” in Laesoe Art Hall. The recording was made in Normandy.
Norwegian painter Tommy Johansson talks about his works in the crossing between art books and originals, and the poetic elements in his “photo album” landscapes. The paintings are part of the exhibition “The idea of a landscape” in Laesoe Art Hall, July – September 2023.
Odd Nerdrum has created a position in the art world which is rivaled only by the classical masters from Caravaggio and onwards. We are proud to cooperate with the gallerist Bengt Tornvall and Poland’s most important museum for contemporary art, the Ujazdowski Castle (CSW), presenting a very unique artist with a global audience. The honorary patronage of the Norwegian Embassy in Poland underscores the fact that this exhibition is an important event. With more than 30 works presented it is Odd Nerdrum’s first solo exhibition in Poland.
Søndag den 25. juni åbner Læsø Børnekunstskole med lokaler i det tidligere mejeri på Mejeripladsen i Byrum. Skolen er et helårs tilbud til børn på Læsø, men i ferien gives der også undervisning til børn der kommer som gæster på øen.
Læsø Kunsthal står bag initiativet, som bliver drevet af Tamara Paliienko i samarbejde med Læsø Skole og en gruppe frivillige hjælpere. Undervisningen tager afsæt i Steinerpædagogikkens indføring i farve- og formlære, og spænder i hovedtræk over tegning, maling og arbejde i ler.
Lokalerne er indrettet så kunstnere og andre undervisere kan leje sig ind udenfor skolens undervisningstid.
Undervisningstiden udenfor højsæsonen er under planlægning.
Læsø Børnekunstskole er skabt med generøs støtte fra Læsø Kulturråd, Region Nordjylland, Spar Nord Fonden, Nordjyske Landbobank og Østifternes Fond.
Læsø Kunsthal åbner sæsonen med en udstilling baseret på kunsthallens egen samling. Værker af Marc Chagall, Jørgen Haugen Sørensen, Pablo Picasso, Salvador Dalí, Hartmut Stockter og Erik Sparre indgår i dialogiske relationer; Jorns liv på Læsø, Kirkebys skulpturelle arbejde og den endelige forklaring på såkaldt “cancel culture” i kunstlivet har deres egne sektioner.
Udstillingen vises fra 9/6 til 4/7.
