Contemporary Art at ARoS

Returning to places you have been before on a journey is always a tricky thing. Yesterday, we had that experience in Aarhus. We really wanted to visit ARoS again - it is considered the largest museum of modern art in Scandinavia.

In the huge, colorful artwork "Your rainbow panorama" by Danish-Icelandic artist Olafur Eliasson on the roof of the museum, you can enjoy a panoramic view of the city in the colors of the rainbow. Since its installation in 2011, it has been the main attraction - apparently many visitors come here because of the unique view and often stand somewhat puzzled in front of all the displayed works, which are currently very popular as contemporary art for some reason.

ARoS is currently expanding its exhibitions with "The Next Level", an underground gallery, and the new huge work "The Dome" by American artist James Turell (https://jamesturrell.com). "The Dome" will allow visitors to see the infinite sky. However, currently, the view of the construction site dominates (and affects) the general impression in the museum. But it will certainly be the next big attraction when by then the hype around Eliasson's rainbow panorama may have subsided a bit. Opening in 2025.

Once again, it is striking how much the overall impression of a museum depends on the current exhibition. And the example of ARoS also shows that "big" does not always mean "great". We saw the museum in 2017 with colorful, space-filling installations made of sewn fabrics (what was the name of the artist again?) and therefore remembered it as much more exciting, colorful, and diverse.