Red Flags - Murder of women in Denmark

Every year, Kunsthal Aarhus enters into new collaborations that help bring cultural communities together and engage with national and international debates and trends. Through these collaborations, Kunsthal Aarhus has established new spaces for artistic expression, engaged a broader audience, strengthened the regional art scene and contributed to debate in both artistic and academic contexts.

Most recently, Kunsthal Aarhus has entered into a collaboration with Nønne Mai Svalholm from the company SVALHOLM, who in early March will present the performance work Red Flags - Murder of women in Denmark, in which Kunsthal Aarhus is engaged as co-producer.

About the work

There are 536 reasons for this work. That's the number of women killed in Denmark between 1992 and 2016. Red Flags - Murder of women in Denmark is a site-specific choreographic work created for the powerful political space of local town halls. The work will have a duration of 45 minutes and will premiere at Aarhus City Hall on March 1, 2024 and play 3 times leading up to International Women's Day on March 8, 2024. The work is expected to have a long lifespan as it will be highly topical every year leading up to International Women's Day.

Red Flags - Murder of women in Denmark is based on new research on partner homicide and violence against women in Denmark, and is inspired by the book En Forudsigelig Forbrydelse – kvindedrab i Danmark / A Predictable Crime - Femicide in Denmark (Forlaget 28B, 2022) written by journalist Line Vaaben and forensic pathologist, PhD, Asser Hedegård Thomsen based on data from Asser Hedegård Thomsen's research and interviews with almost 40 experts from Denmark. The work itself includes facts and personal accounts from the book En Forudsigelig Forbrydelse – kvindedrab i Danmark, which describes four different murders of women. With the work, we want to qualify the conversation and society's efforts against femicide.

Kunsthal Aarhus is co-producing the work and contributes with sparring on the development/exhibition of the sculptural elements of the work, which consists of 7 specially developed flags produced during a stay at The Danish Art Workshops 18. December 2023 - 12. January 2024. In addition, Kunsthal Aarhus contributes with premises for the development of the work, communication, PR and ticket sales.

Artistic director/artist Nønne Mai Svalholm/SVALHOLM receives sparring on new research in the field by journalist Line Vaaben and forensic pathologist, PhD, Asser Hedegård Thomsen Asser Hedegård and the organization Danner.

The work is supported by the Danish Arts Foundation, Augustinus Foundation and The Danish Art Workshops.

Tickets are available on Billetto.

Read more at svalholm.dk

Image: courtesy of artistic director/artist Nønne Mai Svalholm.
Image: courtesy of artistic director/artist Nønne Mai Svalholm.
Image: courtesy of artistic director/artist Nønne Mai Svalholm.
Image: courtesy of artistic director/artist Nønne Mai Svalholm.