Opening Celebration – Art Matter Local 2026

Join us in celebrating the opening of Art Matter Local 2026 with an afternoon of new Danish contemporary art, performances, speeches, and the presentation of the Poul Erik Bech Foundation Art Award 2026.

Language: Parts of the programme, including speeches and the award presentation, will be conducted in Danish. The event can also be enjoyed without Danish language skills.

Free admission

Art Matter Local’s opening celebration takes place at VARDE GARTEN and marks the beginning of four days during which contemporary art spreads throughout the municipality, creating encounters between art, artists, and local communities.

The programme features performances by leading contemporary artists, official opening speeches, and the presentation of the Poul Erik Bech Foundation Art Award 2026, an annual award presented to two graduating students from the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts. We look forward to welcoming you to a festive opening where art, nature, and community take centre stage.

From 17–20 September, Art Matter arrives in West Jutland as Varde Municipality becomes the host of Denmark’s largest festival for contemporary art for the first time. Around 60 artists will transform the municipality with artistic experiences ranging from performances and new sculptures in the town centre of Varde to art in buses, schools, along the west coast, and at cultural institutions across the area.

Created in collaboration between Art Matter and Varde Municipality, the festival brings together professional artists, local cultural institutions, schools, associations, and citizens. Art is not confined to traditional exhibition spaces but appears where everyday life already unfolds: in town centres, schools, buses, libraries, natural landscapes, and along the North Sea coast.

Programme

15:30

Spildestunt – a performance by Molly Haslund

16:00

Official opening of Art Matter Local 2026
Welcome speech by Claus Brink, Chair of the Committee for Culture and Health, Varde Municipality
Opening speech by Jan Falk Borup, Director of Art Matter

16:30

Poul Erik Bech Foundation Art Award 2026
Speech by Mette Kristensen, Art Consultant, Poul Erik Bech Foundation
Speech by Lars Bent Petersen, Rector of the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts
Presentation of the winning artworks
Award presentation to this year’s recipients: Anastasia Karkazis and Sidsel Winther Hansen

17:00

Die Ewige Suppe – a performance by Ellinor Åslund

17:30

Performance by Jesper Aabille: Fællesshakeren – Cocktail in Arms

We look forward to welcoming everyone to the festive opening of Varde Municipality’s art festival and to celebrating art, artists, and the community surrounding Art Matter Local 2026.