CURRENT EXHIBITIONS

THE CULTURAL LABYRINTH: OUR PERMANENT EXHIBITION

Hope, faith, peace, security, money and love – there are many reasons to travel. All travellers have faced the task of creating a new life when encountering a foreign country, an unknown language and new neighbours. Migration has always existed and is part of our everyday lives.

Throughout Danish history, immigrants have repeatedly been pieces in internal political power struggles and media debates. They have been an important workforce, essential to the country’s economy and an expression of Danish ideals in international agreements. Some were invited, others found their own way. They were rejected, tolerated, endured or welcomed with open arms. All of them have – often without knowing it – left their mark on history.

The history of immigration to Denmark is a mosaic of personal destinies and historical events. It is political dogmas combined with pragmatic solutions and individual choices. Each story is its own – but linked together, the stories of migrants across time make a special contribution to our shared history: the story of foreigners’ encounter with Denmark and Denmark’s encounter with the world.

The exhibition provides insight into more than 500 years of migration history.

MOSAIC – Stories of belonging to more than one home

What does it mean to belong? To have a home in several countries – or nowhere at all? To recall old memories – one’s own as well as those passed down? To be part of the community – and yet stand out from the crowd?

In the MOSAIC exhibition, we meet young people whose lives are shaped by movement – physically, emotionally and historically. Some have crossed borders themselves, while others carry stories of migration from previous generations with them. What they have in common is that Denmark is their home, but not always a place where they feel at home. Together, their voices form a mosaic: diverse, imperfect, honest. Through images, sound and fragments of text, MOSAIC presents a multifaceted picture of how multiculturalism involves both discrimination and challenges – but also brings strength, new insights and nuanced perspectives.

Stories of home, belonging and life between several cultures weave in and out of one another and provide insight into experiences that all too rarely find a place in Danish museum collections. But perhaps it is precisely in the mosaic – in the fragments, contrasts and composition – that we discover what we share as human beings; the need to belong and to ask ourselves: What does home mean to me?

The exhibition was developed by the Migration Museum of Denmark in collaboration with Almen Modstand, Amagerplanen, Meleret Melanin, Mellemfolkeligt Samvirke, Os Udenfor, Unge4Statsborgerskab and more than 40 young contributors.

Photos: Private. Top right: Saba Lykke

Experience the full exhibition:

• Nørrebro Library: 4 September 2025 – 28 September 2025
• Furesø Municipality Town Hall (Værløse): 1 October 2025 – 23 October 2025
• Migration Museum of Denmark: 25 October 2025 – 6 January 2026
• Taastrup Cultural Centre: 8 January 2026 – 5 February 2026
• Ungdommens Demokratihus: 6 February 2026 – 27 February 2026

Experience the travelling exhibition:

• Odense Main Library, Café Ordet: 9 April 2026 – 5 May 2026
• Vollsmose Library: 7 May 2026 – 21 June 2026
• Gellerup Library: 16 July 2026 – 12 August 2026.

Impressions, Imprints, Expressions

Together with Furesø Libraries and the Danish Jewish Museum, the Migration Museum of Denmark has over the past two years carried out the initiative Impressions, Imprints, Expressions, focusing on communicating Danish-Jewish history, culture and life. The initiative received funding from the Danish Agency for Culture and Palaces in 2022 on the basis of a politically adopted action plan against antisemitism.

On Saturday, 3 May, we will bring the entire initiative to a close with the opening of the two exhibitions ‘Threads Through Danish History – Stories of Antisemitism’ and ‘Blood Ties’ by the artists Augusta Alta and Pernille Egeskov, accompanied by the musicians Goldschmidt and Singh, whose repertoire ranges from Jewish and Arabic music to their own compositions, along with classical works, Balkan music and Danish songs.

We look forward to welcoming you.

About the exhibition ‘Threads Through Danish History – Stories of Antisemitism’ (3 May 2025 – 1 May 2026)

For centuries, antisemitism has run like a thread through our Danish history. Closely connected to wars in the surrounding world, economic crises, radicalisation and polarisation, and at times with violent consequences, but also with resistance from the monarchy, democracy and civil society. The exhibition draws threads from medieval myths to the crises of the present day and shows how antisemitism, as a flexible form of hatred with numerous and often contradictory stereotypes, has been fuelled and fought against.

About the exhibition ‘Blood Ties’ (3 May 2025 – 9 November 2025)

Farum Kulturhus presents the art exhibition ‘Blood Ties’ by the artists Augusta Alta and Pernille Egeskov. The exhibition reflects on inherited trauma, minorities, antisemitism, racism, the history of immigration, war and the importance of democracy. Augusta Alta takes as her starting point her family’s historical diary from their time as members of the resistance during the Second World War. Pernille Egeskov explores questions of identity, survival and assimilation in Jewish history.

Augusta Alta was educated in London and has contributed works to Danish art collections and exhibited at a wide range of European institutions. Pernille Egeskov is a Danish visual artist who works at the intersection of textiles, installation and space, often focusing on the body, identity and the imprint of time.

The Guest Workers – Stories from the 70s

Join us in celebrating the immigrants who came to Denmark as guest workers 50 years ago with the opening of the new special exhibition “The Guest Workers – Stories from the 70s”.

Experience the many personal stories about encountering Denmark and the Danes, about life between two cultures and about building a new life in a foreign country – and learn more about the history of the significant impact that labour immigration in the 1970s from, among other places, Turkey, Pakistan, Morocco and Yugoslavia has had on Danish society. New and old objects, photographs and testimonies told by the former guest workers themselves take us back to the world of the 1970s: to a tough labour market and poor housing conditions, to longing and deprivation, to values and identity, to new food cultures and influences on music and literature, to love and family life, to popular meeting places and smoke-filled clubs.

Photo: Uwe Bødevadt.

THREADS THROUGH DANISH HISTORY – STORIES ABOUT ANTISEMITISM

The exhibition explores 400 years of Jewish life and antisemitism in a Danish context. Through personal stories, historical objects, photographs and documents, visitors can follow the traces that Jewish communities have left on Danish society.

The stories range from the first Sephardic Jews who settled in Glückstadt during the reign of Christian IV to contemporary voices describing life with Jewish heritage in Denmark today. The exhibition also examines prejudice, persecution and xenophobia and invites visitors to reflect on how migration, identity and culture have shaped our shared history.