Two of western Copenhagen's great landmarks, football club Brøndby IF and ARKEN Museum of Contemporary Art, began a new and unique collaboration in the winter of 2025. The first initiative was a (POP-UP) exhibition, focusing on the football jersey, not just as a player's uniform, but as a cultural symbol.
The (POP-UP) exhibition opened at ARKEN on 01.05.25 and ran until 09.06.25, allowing guests to dive into Brøndby IF's history, explore the evolution of the Brøndby jersey up to today, watch a cup final at the museum, and enjoy the popular Fanzone, which relocated to ARKEN for one weekend.

An exhibition with 150 unique jerseys
‍The exhibition showcased nearly all of Brøndby IF's player jerseys throughout the years, from classic retro designs to modern technological fabrics.
ARKEN also invited three prominent contemporary artists: Frederik Næblerød, Apolonia Sokol x Maison Mourcel, and Jakob Kolding, to present their artistic interpretations of the iconic blue-and-yellow jerseys. Their works add a new dimension to the jersey's significance as an identity marker and cultural phenomenon.

^{Brøndby IF x Turning Tables Fanzone. Photo: Arken}

Brøndby IF's CEO, Ole Palmå, commented on the exhibition at ARKEN. "The football jersey is much more than just a part of the player's uniform. It holds a history and a lot of emotions. Through our collaboration with ARKEN, we have the opportunity to show how Brøndby IF’s jerseys have not only influenced the field but also played a role in shaping the culture and identity around the club," he said, continuing. "Furthermore, the collaboration provides an opportunity for two worlds to meet around the football jersey, where ARKEN’s network of artists enriches us with their art and offers their take on a player’s jersey or an artwork made from jerseys," said Ole Palmå, CEO of Brøndby IF.

Portraits of the people behind the jersey
‍The (POP-UP) exhibition also featured a series of portraits of Brøndby IF’s players, taken by children and young people from Brøndby Strand in collaboration with the NGO Turning Tables Denmark. The photographs show the players in their everyday clothes, depicting them as humans rather than athletes, and create a strong contrast to the rest of the exhibition. This invites the audience to reflect on what it means to belong to a club, a community, and a local connection.

What the press said

Arken and Brøndby IF team up in an unlikely collaboration - Berlingske
Football meets art on the West Coast - Sport
Brøndby culture at ARKEN - 3POINT
The blue and yellow are going to the museum. Football is no longer - DR
When football becomes art and painfully boring contemporary art - DR
Superliga club Brøndby IF and the art museum Arken will collaborate - DR
Arken enters into a partnership with a major football club - Kulturmonitor
It is modern art, it is football jerseys - NSS Sports