Cisternerne is an exhibition space for contemporary art in Copenhagen, Denmark with one annual site-specific total experience - and a wide range of events during the year. Cisternerne is an integral part of the Frederiksberg Museums (Frederiksbergmuseerne) where the singularity of its architecture and atmosphere remains a core attraction. [1]
Located under Frederiksberg Hill in the heart of Søndermarken Park, Cisternerne is a cave underneath the city
Today, Cisternerne is a part of the Frederiksberg Museums (Frederiksbergmuseerne). The old subterranean water reservoir of Søndermarken shows exhibitions of contemporary art. The huge dripstone cave is sparsely lit, the climate is moist and cool.
Every year, Cisternerne invites an internationally recognized artist or architect to create a large-scale exhibition particular to this underground space, interacting with and emphasizing the unique architecture, climate, atmosphere and history of Cisternerne. The art projects that unfold at the Cisternerne are site-specific and cannot be built or rebuilt any other place in the world.
Cisternerne, an abandoned subterranean reservoir, once contained the supply of drinking water for the Danish capital and could hold as much as 16 million litres of clean water. Excavation began in 1856. Taking only three years to complete, the great structure quickly helped to alleviate many of the water supply problems of the day; but by 1933, the city’s cisterns ceased their function as a reservoir for drinking water, and they were finally drained in 1981.
In 1996, during Copenhagen’s year as the designated European City of Culture (later known as European Capital of Culture), the underground water reservoir was put to use as an exhibition space. The expedition was a joint initiative between the City of Frederiksberg and gallery owner Max Seidenfaden, who continued to run Cisternerne as a museum of modern glass art from 2001 to 2013. [2]
From 2013, Cisternerne became a part of the Frederiksberg Museums (Frederiksbergmuseerne) and was turned into an exhibition space for contemporary art.
Cisternerne is the only real dripstone cave in Denmark. The formation of stalactites and stalagmites is a common phenomenon in concrete structures and can be seen in tunnels, at metro stations and in shelters around Copenhagen. Yet none anywhere can offer the sheer magnitude and diversity of those found here, for these dripstones have been allowed to grow for decades.
The dripstones in Cisternerne are beautiful, fragile and fascinating and at the same time a sign of the slow decay of the building. The formation of the dripstones happens as water from Soendermarken seeps through the concrete ceiling, the water dissolves the basic calcareous minerals in the concrete.
The dripstones in Cisternerne are a reminder of how nature slowly but certainly dominates what we build and believe we control.[ citation needed ]
Copenhagen is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the Øresund strait. The Øresund Bridge connects the two cities by rail and road.
The Copenhagen Metro is a light rapid transit system in Copenhagen, Denmark, serving the municipalities of Copenhagen, Frederiksberg, and Tårnby.
The Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, also known as just Louisiana, is an art museum located on the shore of the Øresund Sound in Humlebæk, 35 km (22 mi) north of Copenhagen, Denmark. It is the most visited art museum in Denmark, and has an extensive permanent collection of modern and contemporary art, dating from World War II to the present day; in addition, it has a comprehensive programme of special exhibitions. The museum is also acknowledged as a milestone in modern Danish architecture, and is noted for its synthesis of art, architecture, and landscape, such as was showcased in an installation entitled "Riverbed" shown in 2014–2015. It has been called a "Danish beacon in the international art world." The museum occasionally also stages exhibitions of work by the great impressionists and expressionists, such as Claude Monet, who was the focus of a major exhibition in 1994. It has between 600,000–700,000 visitors per year, 17–33% of whom reside in nearby Sweden.
Frederiksberg Gardens is one of the largest and most attractive greenspaces in Copenhagen, Denmark. Together with the adjacent Søndermarken it forms a green area of 64 hectares at the western edge of Inner Copenhagen. It is a romantic landscape garden designed in the English style.
Søndermarken is a park in Frederiksberg on the border to Valby and the Carlsberg area in Copenhagen, Denmark. It shares much of its history with Frederiksberg Gardens from which it is separated only by Roskildevej. Cisternerne—an underground venue for art exhibitions in the former cisterns—are located inside the park.
Thierry Geoffroy, also known as Colonel, is a Danish-French artist, living in Copenhagen, Denmark. He is a Conceptual artist using a wide variety of media including video and installations, often collaborative with other artists.
Frederiksberg is a part of the Capital Region of Denmark. It is an independent municipality, Frederiksberg Municipality, separate from Copenhagen Municipality, but both are a part of the region of Copenhagen. It occupies an area of less than 9 km2 and had a population of 103,192 in 2015.
Carlsberg, is an area located straddling the border of Valby and Vesterbro districts in central Copenhagen, Denmark approximately 2.4 km from the City Hall Square. The area emerged when J.C. Jacobsen founded his original brewery in the district in 1847. The first brewing took place on 11 November 1847 and production continued until 30 October 2008, when production was moved to Fredericia in Jutland. The Jacobsen House Brewery is however still located in the district and produces specialty beers. The entire brewery grounds spread over more than 30 hectares and is currently being transformed into a new city district in Copenhagen.
Astrid Kruse Jensen is a Danish photographer and visual artist. She studied at the Gerrit Rietveld Academie in the Netherlands and the Glasgow School of Art in Scotland. Her artistic work is often characterized by its dreamy qualities, blurring the boundaries between memory, consciousness, reality, and illusion.
Trine Søndergaard, is a Danish photography-based visual artist. Trine Søndergaard lives and works in Copenhagen, Denmark.
Frederiksberg Runddel is a space in front of the main entrance to Frederiksberg Gardens, at the end of Frederiksberg Allé, in the Frederiksberg district of Copenhagen, Denmark.
Jørgen Haugen Sørensen was one of Denmark's most eminent sculptors. He had his artistic debut at the acclaimed and prestigious Spring Exhibition (Forårsudstillingen) at Kunsthal Charlottenborg, Copenhagen in 1953. Haugen Sørensen was a member of the artistic union Decembristerne and the artist collective Grønningen, as well as Veksølund in Denmark.
Calcite crystals form on the surface of quiescent bodies of water, even when the bulk water is not supersaturated with respect to calcium carbonate. The crystals grow, attach to one other and appear to be floating rafts of a white, opaque material. The floating materials have been referred to as calcite rafts or "leopard spots".
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Smallegade is a busy shopping street in the central part of Frederiksberg in Copenhagen, Denmark. It runs from the Town Hall Square in the east to Fasanvej in the west, along the north side of Frederiksberg Town Hall and Frederiksberg Park, linking Gammel Kongevej with Peter Bangs Vej. On the other side of the Town Hall is Bredegade, now smaller than Smallegade, which after a while joins Smallegade at Møstings Hus, an 18th-century country house-turned-exhibitions space, which overlooks a small pond.
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Møstings Hus is a small Neoclassical country house now used as an exhibition space in the Frederiksberg district of Copenhagen, Denmark. A pond lies in front of the building.
Peter Bangs Vej is a 2.2 km long street in Frederiksberg, a city in the Copenhagen area on the island of Zealand, Denmark. The direct continuation of Smallegade, it initially runs west, from Nordre Fasanvej, but then turns south along the east side of Damhus Lake to meet Roskildevej. There is a large sports complex on the south end of the street with the football club F.C. Copenhagen's training facilities as well as the multi-purpose venue K.B. Hallen.
Ofelia Plads is a public space situated on the Kvæsthus Pier next to the Royal Danish Playhouse on the harbourfront in Copenhagen, Denmark. It is owned by the Ministry of Culture and Jeudan and is used as an open-air venue by the Royal Danish Theatre. It was completed in 2016 to design by Lundgaard & Tranberg and is located on top of an underground parking facility with room for 500 cars.
The Cave of Hercules is a subterranean vaulted space dating back to Roman times located in the alley of San Ginés in the city of Toledo, Spain. The cave is under a building located where the Church of San Ginés, Toledo stood until 1841.
55°40′10.3″N12°31′28.3″E / 55.669528°N 12.524528°E
