Welcome to a new museum year at Museum Ovartaci – a year filled with powerful stories and inspiring encounters with art.

In this first newsletter of the year, we lift the veil on a series of exciting events and special exhibitions coming your way in 2026. Until 31 January, you can still experience our current exhibition PROvartaci – Being Human, so be sure to stop by if you have not seen it yet.

The first special exhibition of the year opens on 26 February, and invites you to explore new perspectives and deeper understandings of living with mental illness.

In January, you can also join us for film screenings and talks at the cinema Øst for Paradis, as well as an engaging late-afternoon salon at the museum, where we take a closer look at our love of images and their unique power.

We are also offering a wide range of guided tour formats that give fresh ways to experience the museum’s permanent collection. In 2026, you can choose between Open Guided Tours, the popular Food & Museum, and our new initiative Brunch & Art, where you can enjoy a delicious brunch before diving into the world of art.

This year we are introducing an entirely new format: Mothers’ Group at the Museum – a gentle, sensory experience where mothers and their babies can explore the exhibition at their own pace, with room for pauses, presence, and curious glances.

We look forward to a year in which we – together with our visitors – continue to explore and understand the human mind through art and storytelling.

When you become a member of Museum Ovartaci’s Friends, you support a mission that gives voice to those who are often overlooked. You help create understanding, hope, and openness around mental illness – an issue that touches all of us.

One in three Danes will experience a mental health condition during their lifetime. Behind these numbers are people we know and care about. This is why it is essential that we dare to speak about the difficult things and meet one another with empathy and insight.

Museum Ovartaci works to break down stigma and create space for mental vulnerability through art and storytelling. Since 2016, Museum Ovartaci’s Friends have helped make it possible to create exhibitions and preserve a collection that moves, challenges, and expands our understanding of what it means to be human.

As a member, you help ensure that this important work can continue – and that even more people can find recognition, understanding, and community.

Membership benefits

• Free admission for cardholder + companion
• Invitations to exhibition openings and special events
• Exclusive member prices for selected activities

Membership fee

• DKK 325 for personal membership + companion

Become part of the community –  join today!

Together, we can make a difference!

Film screening & talks in collaboration with the cinemaØst for Paradis and the journal Lysninger

On Monday 19 January, 19:00–21:00, the cinema Øst for Paradis hosts The Strengths of Vulnerability, an event focusing on how art and film can express what can be difficult to put into words. Together, we embrace the complex, the challenging, and the vulnerable aspects of the human mind, insisting that vulnerability can be a strength. We believe that dialogue and openness foster understanding and community – and that together, we can break down taboos around mental fragility.

The evening includes two short film screenings offering different perspectives on living with psychiatry as part of everyday life. The films are followed by a talk presented by Museum Ovartaci and a contribution from filmmaker Alexander Saul, director of one of the short films.

The event concludes with a refreshment and an open conversation about the strengths of vulnerability, facilitated by Lysninger.

Read more about the films and  purchase tickets

🗓️ 19 January 2026 – 19:00–21:00
📍 Øst for Paradis

On Thursday 22 January, 17:00–18:00, Museum Ovartaci invites you to an inspiring late-afternoon salon.

Here, Associate Professor, PhD Laura Katrine Skinnebach from Aarhus University offers insight into how images – despite their inanimate materials – have been experienced as “alive” throughout history and even today. Drawing on the exhibition The Beloved Image at Sorø Art Museum, she opens new perspectives on how we engage with visual art.

Participation is free after paid museum admission. Members of Museum Ovartaci’s Friends naturally have free entry.

🗓️ 22 January 2026 – 17:00–18:00
📍 Museum Ovartaci

Do you and your baby need a calm and inspiring break from everyday life?
Join Mothers Group at the Museum and experience art in a way that awakens the senses.

We meet on Thursday 29 January at 11:00 in front of the museum and move together into the current exhibition PROvartaci – Being Human. Here you will find colours, shapes, and soundscapes that invite wonder, presence, and gentle sensory exploration – perfect for curious baby eyes and for mothers longing for culture, community, and a moment to breathe.

The tour proceeds at a slow, comfortable pace with room for pauses, feeding, and the natural sounds of small children. The atmosphere is relaxed and pressure-free – simply a space to be together.

After the exhibition visit, we offer a cup of coffee or tea, providing time to settle in, chat, and enjoy the company. The museum is equipped with changing facilities so you can comfortably care for your child along the way.

Ticket price: DKK 75 (includes museum admission + coffee/tea)

Purchase ticket

Come and enjoy a morning where art, calm, and baby-friendly community go hand in hand.

🗓️ 29 January 2026 – 11:00–12:00
📍 Museum Ovartaci

Spend a cosy and inspiring evening in the company of Ovartaci and learn more about his art and life at the Psychiatric Hospital in Risskov.

On Thursday 29 January at 17:00, we meet at the museum square, where our guide will take you on a journey through both the artwork and the stories behind it. You will gain a unique insight into life as a patient at the hospital and a deeper understanding of who Ovartaci truly was.

At 18:00, we serve a warm dish with a glass of wine on the museum square. Afterwards, you are welcome to explore the museum on your own until 20:00.

There are 20 seats available on a first-come, first-served basis.
Registration is binding.

Purchase ticket

🗓️ 27 January 2026 – 17:00–20:00
📍 Museum Ovartaci

Do you dare stepping into a shifting, wondrous world before the door closes?

The exhibition PROvartaci – Being Human is approaching its final days, and soon it will be your last chance to glimpse the cracks of the human mind.

Here, you encounter everything we rarely speak of: loneliness, mental vulnerability, dissolving identities, and existential doubt. Twelve contemporary artists from the collective PRO have created an intimate, sensory exhibition where fragility stands strong.

The exhibition opens doors to spaces where longing, anxiety, and loss are not hidden away but given form, colour, and presence. It is an exhibition that invites you to feel, reflect, and recognise yourself in the human experience.

Last chance: 31 January 2026
Come before it is too late – and step into the spaces where we dare look ourselves in the eye.