CHART, an Ambitious Danish Art Fair, Adds Experimental Section

Director Nanna Hjortenberg shared highlights from the fair, which opens this week.

Danish art fair CHART will open its ninth edition in Charlottenborg, Copenhagen, on Thursday.

Founded in 2013, CHART is one of the leading art fairs in Scandinavia, alongside Stockholm's Market Art Fair (17–19 September) and fellow Copenhagen fair Art Nordic (26–28 November).

Director Nanna Hjortenberg said the fair 'has matured to become a strong voice in the Nordic art scene.'

'This year we're including a new Experimental section with 11 artist-run and alternative exhibition spaces, and we are launching a new art book fair with 27 independent publishers from the artist books and printed matter community in the Nordics,' she said. 'Both are new initiatives towards creating a stronger and more diverse and inclusive arts community.'

Altogether, 26 galleries and 11 artist-run spaces will present at this year's fair.

Hjortenberg said CHART will include a strong showing of new paintings by Anastasia Bay (NEVVEN), DANIELLE ORCHARD (V1 Gallery), Andreas Eriksson (Galleri Susanne Ottesen), Mamma Andersson (Galleri Magnus Karlsson), and Ida Ekblad (Peder Lund).

In a nod to the popularity of Scandi Style, the fair will also include a ten-metre-long sofa made by Danish design brand HAY and embroidered by Icelandic artist Loji Höskuldsson.

'The artwork is part of our new CHART Book Fair and will set the stage for a programme of talks, book signings and debates,' Hjortenberg explained.

The return of in-person events follows last year's decentralised approach, where the fair dispersed beyond Copenhagen to Helsinki, Oslo, Reykjavík, and Stockholm in response to the pandemic.

'We experienced huge support from both galleries, collectors and curators in making a radically new format work and to help strengthen connections at a time when the world had just been through the first serious lockdown,' Hjortenberg said.

She described sales as 'fairly successful' and noted the event resulted in new connections and interesting collaborations.

Ongoing uncertainty caused by the pandemic—including what can happen when—remains a challenge, she said, 'but at the same time, I think the local collectors have been supportive, and on a societal level a greater awareness of the importance of an art sector has been made clear.'

CHART opens by invitation only on 26 August before opening to the public from 27 to 29 August. —[O]