55.6° north is the latitude on which ARKEN is located, in the heart of Copenhagen’s western suburbs. If you place a pin here on a globe and spin it, you will pass the Baltic States, Poland, Ukraine, Russia, northern China, Alaska, Canada, and England before returning to the Nordic region. From this point, ARKEN’s major spring exhibition of Nordic contemporary art from the museum’s collection poses questions about the world and reality we are living in right now.

This is a time when geopolitical shifts are reshaping the region’s relationship with the United States and Russia, and when much is in flux. But what exactly is changing? How do we experience the global community? And what do we seek in Nordic traditions, ideas, and cultures?

The exhibition is full of cracks and openings that let us move in and out of the Nordic. All the artists are from the Nordic region or connected to it. They have a global outlook and allow us to see their own cultures from the inside. They are rooted in the present while carrying history with them. Issues of identity and power, welfare and consumption, nature and climate are among the themes that engage them.

The artists in the exhibition cast widely different perspectives on the Nordic. Greenlandic artist Inuuteq Storch photographs his everyday life in Greenland at a time when the import of Western lifestyles is extensive, while the export of local stories about daily life in Greenland – where traditions meet contemporary social struggles and the legacy of failed colonialism – is limited. Swedish artist Emilia Bergmark looks out over the North Sea as both nature and a pressured frontline, where wild birds and black fighter jets fill the sky, while fishing boats, oil tankers, and rubber ducks dominate the sea.

At 55.6° North, contemporary art explores a wide field of artistic expressions and practices – from the ritualistic and mythical to the raw, bodily, and political. The exhibition paints a picture of a strong and open Nordic art scene that investigates the communities, values, and power structures currently undergoing drastic change.

The exhibition presents rich and inspiring works by the following artists and artist groups:
Nanna Abell, Villiam Miklos Andersen, Merete Barker, Kinga Bartis, Nina Beier & Bob Kil, Emilia Bergmark, Jóhan Martin Christiansen, Ditte Ejlerskov & EvaMarie Lindahl, Olafur Eliasson, Elmgreen & Dragset, Kåre Frang, Tore Hallas, Martin Brandt Hansen, Jessie Kleemann, Miriam Kongstad, Elina Merenmies, Esko Männikkö, Rasmus Myrup, Eva Helene Pade, Tabita Rezaire, Apolonia Sokol, Inuuteq Storch, SUPERFLEX.

Read more about Apolonia Sokol and the other art works on ARKEN’s online universe The journal.

You can book a private tour of 55.6° North - ARKEN's Collection here.

The exhibition is supported by
The Augustinus Foundation