Når vi døde vågner (When We Dead Awaken) is a tour de force through art history as it has flowed through Gammel Strand – from 1825 to 2025. From Golden Age painting to contemporary art. From art society to art hall.

This year marks the 200th anniversary of Gammel Strand, one of Denmark’s very first cultural institutions. The exhibition Når vi døde vågner is a transhistorical journey through works and artists that have left a mark on Gammel Strand – from C.W. Eckersberg to Chris Cunningham to Tal R. What all these artists have in common is that they have all previously exhibited at Gammel Strand.

Visitors will experience both the weight of the gilded frame and the urgency of contemporary art in a vivid dialogue across generations. With Når vi døde vågner history is brought to life.

The exhibition title is borrowed from Gammel Strand’s 1998 exhibition on Edvard Munch, while also referencing Henrik Ibsen’s final play – which fittingly, centers on life and art. The exhibition presents a series of associative, imaginative encounters that together sketch a portrait of how art, its institutions and the surrounding world are constantly in motion – in a state of ongoing exchange and transformation.