With 21 artworks spanning a wide range of media and styles, 18 Danish artists have interpreted the past and present of Denmark’s iconic frigate. Artist: Randi & Katrine
Art vessel and muse — Denmark’s beloved frigate takes on yet another new role With its majestic appearance and dramatic history, Fregatten Jylland is known and recognised by most Danes. However, this summer, visitors to the frigate will have a completely new experience as 18 Danish artists have transformed the old ship into one big art installation. By Signe Hansen | Photos: Sonnich Jensen, Fregatten Jylland
War vessel, spice carrier and school ship – built in 1860, Fregatten Jylland has had a dramatic life and many functions. Now, for the first time, the old three-master has become not just the carrier of, but also the inspiration for, a modern art exhibition by Art Association Jylland. The art exhibition Jylland på Jylland (Jutland at Jutland) 60 | Issue 126 | July 2019
includes 21 works of art in a wide range of media, from giant sculptures to photography and video. “A lot of people want to polarise our cultural heritage, with the frigate on one side and modern art on the other side, but the artists in our exhibition show that they are two sides of the same coin,” explains curator Karen Louise Juhl Christensen. “That’s
the starting point for the exhibition and for the works, which all interpret some aspect of the frigate – an aesthetic detail, the life of its sailors, or its long history.” The artworks are installed in every nook and corner of the frigate, around it and in its museum hall.
A parrot, a giant rope, and painted papier maché While all inspired by the frigate, the 21 works by the artists of Art Association Jylland – who do not, despite the name, all come from Jutland – take hugely different approaches to the interpretation of the ship’s past and present. Built in 1860,