ABOUT

KUNSTRUM FYN

Kunstrum Fyn is an interdisciplinary art space located under the great sky in the village of Tårup on the Danish Island of Funen. With a close connection to its environment Kunstrum Fyn develops Nordic and international exhibitions and projects, creating dialogues between art, science, and nature.

In addition to the ongoing exhibition program, Kunstrum Fyn organizes the Nordic art and science festival Tårup Dark Sky, taking place for the first time in September 2023. Finding its inspiration in the dark night sky, the festival is divided into three subdivisions: The Universe (2023), Botanics (2026) and Under the Earth (2029). Furthermore, Kunstrum Fyn will offer a study- and residency program for artists and scientists.

Kunstrum Fyn is initiated by curator Helga-Marie Nordby and visual artist Crispin Gurholt, who moved to Tårup from Berlin in 2020. Between them, they have extensive international careers within the field of art. At Kunstrum Fyn they seek new ways of producing and presenting art and ideas relating to place, identity, history, development, and sustainability. 

Crispin Gurholt (b. 1965 in Oslo, Norway) is trained as an artist at the Norwegian Academy of Fine Arts in Oslo and at the New York Film School SCE and has a long international career behind him working with installations, photography, video, and painting. He has participated in the Havana Biennale and the Venice Biennale's collateral programme; he has had many solo exhibitions and major projects at a number of Norwegian and Nordic museums and art institutions. He has been presented in international art fairs such as Art Copenhagen and Art Cologne, as well as showing his works in Berlin, London, Rome, Turin, Madrid, and Paris, and participated in a number of international art film festivals. He is also represented in several public and private art collections.

Helga-Marie Nordby (b. 1977 in Fredrikstad, Norway) is educated as an art historian at the University of Oslo and has a Master's in Curating from Goldsmiths College, University of London. She has been Director of UKS in Oslo and head of the Art Academy in Tromsø/UiT Norway's Arctic University. She has been Chair of the Lofoten International Art Festival's (LIAF) advisory board since 2009, spent four years as an expert in the Nordic Council's art and culture program and was one of two initiators of SALT, a nomadic initiative for art, architecture, and the environment in the Arctic. Nordby has led and curated several art exhibitions, biennales, and festivals in Scandinavia and internationally.

Kunstrum Fyn is aiming to develop Tårup into an art centre on Funen attracting audiences, artists, and professionals from all over the Nordic region.

Board

  • Helga-Marie Nordby

    Curator

  • Crispin Gurholt

    Artist

  • Sine Mohr

    Solicitor

  • Morten Fischer Mortensen

    Scientist

  • Anders Sunke

    Architect

  • Stine Dydensborg

    Designer

Tårup

Tårup is a small but lively village on the East side of the Funen Island, 10 km from the city of Nyborg, 30 km from Odense and Copenhagen is 1 hour 15 minutes away by train.

The landscape is lush and green, with colorful fields, forests, sea (Storebælt), and an ever changing big sky. The community is warm and inclusive, seeking an eco-friendly and sustainable lifestyle. There are many artists and culturally interested people living in Tårup, organizing concerts, exhibitions, lectures, and parties. The active village has a children's choir, a winter bathing club, a hiking club, a pétanque court and many more activities to join. A very old and big oak tree is looking after the village`s inhabitants. There is no street lighting in Tårup, and the village is proud of its dark night sky. Efforts are therefore being made to have Tårup named as the Nordic region's second Dark Sky area.