10/03/2022 - The interactive initiative features ten pieces this year, which blend extended reality, film and digital art

The line-up of this year’s Inter:Active exhibition, running from 25 March-2 April during the upcoming CPH:DOX in Denmark, has been announced. The interactive exhibition, which can be experienced at Kunsthal Charlottenborg and at selected venues around Copenhagen, features ten brand-new pieces.

Mark Atkin, CPH:LAB head of studies and curator of the Inter:Active exhibition, says: “I am really excited to be able to present a number of large-scale, immersive installations at this year’s CPH:DOX Inter:Active exhibition. I am thrilled to be able to showcase some of the most exciting new work by world-leading Danish immersive artists as well as ground-breaking work from emerging artists that has been developed at the CPH:LAB. This collection takes us on a deep dive into the themes of violence and identity in society and the human influence on nature, giving audiences an embodied experience of some of today’s most pressing issues.”

Several of the selected projects explore the human impact on nature, such as Liminal Lands by Jakob Kudsk Steensen (Denmark), which is an environmental virtual-reality experience of a landscape that connects with the viewer, as he or she embodies the elements of nature. Myriad. Where We Connect by Lena Thiele, Sebastian Baurmann and Dirk Hoffmann (Germany) is an artistic virtual-reality experience of a poetic journey undertaken by migratory animals. The Memor: The Eternal Return Series by Lundahl & Seitl and ScanLAB Projects (Sweden/UK) is a mixed-media art installation that explores the future of memory through traces of the Earth’s deep past all the way to its post-Anthropocene future. And in Gondwana by Ben Joseph Andrews and Emma Roberts (Australia), we witness a virtual living and breathing rainforest that awakens every day during the festival.

Other projects look at how we interact with each other in social settings and as individuals within society. For instance, Drengeblå/Sange fra i dag by Aske Zidore and Anders Lauge Meldgaard (Denmark) is a sound installation based on economic data, centred on a church bench where one can listen to the composed music sung by the Danish Boys’ Choir. Captured by Hanna Haaslahtti (Finland) invites the audience to participate in a virtual community that explores the bystander effect, and Civil Dusk by David Uzochukwu (Germany/Nigeria) is a video-art installation that looks into the notion of belonging in a post-migration setting. Both projects have been created by artists who have previously taken part in CPH:LAB, the talent development programme of CPH:DOX, which encourages artists to discover and experiment with innovative and creative approaches to storytelling that extend beyond the boundaries of traditional documentary filmmaking.

Alongside the seven projects at Kunsthal Charlottenborg, three Inter:Active Specials will be presented at three different venues around Copenhagen: Shadow by David Adler and Ole Bornedal (Denmark), a VR experience based on the British air raid against the Gestapo headquarters, the Shell House, in Copenhagen on 21 March 1945; We Are at Home by Uri Kranot and Michelle Kranot (Denmark/France/Canada), a VR experience inspired by the Carl Sandburg poem The Hangman at Home (1922); and the winner of CPH:PIX 2021, End of Night by David Adler (Denmark), a cinematic VR experience that takes place in Nazi-occupied Denmark, as Josef rows the viewer to safety in Sweden.

Here is the full list of Inter:Active installations:

Captured - Hanna Haaslahtti (Finland)
Civil Dusk - David Uzochukwu (Germany/Nigeria)
Drengeblå/Sange fra i dag - Aske Zidore, Anders Lauge Meldgaard (Denmark)
Gondwana - Ben Joseph Andrews, Emma Roberts (Australia)
Liminal Lands - Jakob Kudsk Steensen (Denmark)
Myriad. Where We Connect - Lena Thiele, Sebastian Baurmann, Dirk Hoffmann (Germany)
The Memor: The Eternal Return Series - Lundahl & Seitl, ScanLAB Projects (Sweden/UK)

Inter:Active Specials

End of Night - David Adler (Denmark)
Shadow - David Adler, Ole Bornedal (Denmark)
We Are at Home - Uri Kranot, Michelle Kranot (Denmark/France/Canada)