In connection with the 250th anniversary of Caroline Matilda’s death, the three visual artists Eva Steen Kristensen, Louise Hindsgavl and Mille Kalsmose will present a special exhibition at Celle Castle in May 2025.
The exhibition will be presented alongside the castle’s then exhibition revolving around how today – a time characterized by disruption of existing structures and new ideas – resembles the day and age of Caroline Matilda, Queen of Denmark and Norway. Caroline Matilda is maybe most well-known for her affair with Struensee. The doctor, as many other intellectuals of that time, was occupied with the thoughts of Rousseau and the Enlightenment Period, and Caroline Matilda supported a series of reforms, which he instituted as he gained more power.
Times like those, where new beliefs emerge and familiar structures are questioned, are often marked by conflicting and even false information. As the permanent exhibition of Celle Castle shows, Struensee and Caroline Matilda’s time was no exception, with the circulation of critical rumors intended to create discord and division among the people.
In contrast, union is central to Mille Kalsmose’s Collected Memory. The on-going project serves to create a contemplative space, functioning as a vessel for the myriads of emotions evoked by various events, using the voice of those affected. Collected Memory is designed on the people's terms, maintaining community and personal narratives, while encouraging the cultivation of deeper contact with oneself within a community.
At Celle Castle, Kalsmose will present a variation of the large-scale installation that have previously been showcased at Kunsten – Museum of Modern Art in Aalborg as well as at Martin Asbæk Gallery in Copenhagen. Here, the visitors are encouraged to participate by sharing their thoughts about today’s world, and thereby tapping into a similar frustration at Caroline Matilda may have felt due to her foresight and ideas in the year’s leading up to her death. Thoughts are shared by writing them down on the papers within the installation and afterward achieving them inside the brass structure itself. Herewith participants engage not only with the artwork but also with each other, fostering a sense of community.
Please share your answer to these questions with us:
How do you find direction in a world where old structures are
collapsing?
Do you have any experiences or advice on how we can face a
world in turmoil?
What do you do, think and feel?