J&K / Janne Schäfer and Kristine Agergaard
The Nation – guided tour
Performance and guided tour, 60 min
Video, 9:29 min
Site-specifically developed for The National Gallery of Denmark’s collection of Older Danish and Nordic Art
2011/2013

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J&K, Nation – guided tour, video, 9:29 min, 2013

What would the world look like if one came from a fictive future where the concept of the nation state or nationality had entirely disappeared? This question is investigated by J&K in a cunning and thought provoking guided tour through the National Gallery’s collection of Danish and Nordic Art from 1750 -1900. The artist duo casts a playful and investigative light onto Danish national cultural heritage and critically reflects the construction of national identity, which majorly developed during the 19th century and has had a political and social comeback during the last decades. Throughout the performance J&K re-interpret selected paintings in the exhibition from their alienated perspective and thereby create an alternative reading of art-history. They transform their own characters and the entire audience group in an ongoing metamorphosis of costumes and props producing a trans-national and cross-historical public assembly parading through the museum.

The work was performed nine times at The National Gallery of Denmark during 2011 and 2013. A video re-staging the performance, alongside 3 images of the photo series The Nation are on show within the collection of Older Danish and Nordic Art, room 218B, until the end of 2014.

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J&K, The Nation, documentation of performance, National Gallery of Denmark, 2011, photos: Mika Kokkonen 

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The Nation