Tag Archives: Denmark

Meditation, Tea, and Slow Looking at Frederiksbergmuseerne in Denmark

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For Slow Art Day 2025, Frederiksbergmuseerne in Frederiksberg, Denmark invited participants to step into a slower rhythm of being through a sensory-rich morning program at Bakkehuset (one of four museums) centered on art, presence, and reflection. The program gently guided visitors toward deeper awareness, encouraging attentiveness to both inner experience and artistic detail.

One key artwork from the day: The Como Lake with Villa Plinia in the Background by artist H. Hess, 1795; photo taken by Siw Aldershvile Nielsen of the Frederiksbergmuseerne.

The day began with a softly guided morning meditation, held in the atmospheric rooms of Bakkehuset, where light and shadow played across historic interiors. This session opened the senses and prepared participants for a mindful encounter with art and environment.

Slow Art Day participants beginning the day with meditation; photo taken by Siw Aldershvile Nielsen of the Frederiksbergmuseerne.

Next, guests took part in a tea experience that activated taste, smell, and touch — deepening sensory awareness and setting a calm, attentive tone. While briefly introduced to the cultural background of Matcha, the focus remained on being fully present with the experience.

Tea experience; photo taken by Siw Aldershvile Nielsen of the Frederiksbergmuseerne.

The morning culminated in a session of Slow Looking and creative reflection, where participants engaged deeply with the museum’s art and design elements. In a quiet, unhurried atmosphere, they explored visual details and textures, allowing time for intuitive insights and personal resonance. The experience was extended through writing exercises that captured impressions, emotions, and thoughts stirred by the art.

Each element of the program supported the others, with sensory openness cultivated in the meditation and tea experience enriching the final artistic encounter. The day as a whole emphasized slowness as a method for connecting more profoundly with both art and oneself.

Frederiksbergmuseerne’s contribution to Slow Art Day was also part of a national phenomenological slow looking research project, “From Challenge to Opportunity.” This initiative explores how Slow Looking can promote well-being and deeper cultural engagement.

At Slow Art Day HQ, we especially appreciate Frederiksbergmuseerne’s thoughtful integration of meditation, tea, and reflection. Programs like this show how slow looking can engage multiple senses and deepen the experience of art.

We look forward to seeing what Frederiksbergmuseerne comes up with for Slow Art Day 2026.

– Ashley, Johanna, Jessica Jane, and Phyl

Mindfulness and Music in Copenhagen

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For their third Slow Art Day, the Frederiksbergmuseerne in Frederiksberg – a neighborhood of Copenhagen, hosted a slow looking event at Bakkehuset (The Hill House). The Bakkehuset was a gathering place for prominent figures in the Danish Golden Age of art, literature, and philosophy including writers like Hans Christian Andersen. Today, it is one of the four Frederiksbergmuseerne and open to the public.

Bakkehuset interior. Photo: Stuart McIntyre.
Bakkehuset interior. Photo: Stuart McIntyre.

For Slow Art Day, Bakkehuset aimed to use the calming atmosphere of the historical interior of the house as a starting point for slow looking. They began their event by taking visitors on a tour and inviting them to immerse themselves in the atmosphere, and imagine what it might have been like to live, talk, and hang out in the house 200 years ago.

During the tour, they also introduced mindfulness techniques to help participants slow down and sharpen their attention.

Consistent with their theme of immersion, the tour ended with asking participants to listen to Chopin’s raindrop prelude in the garden room of the house. Amazing. We love the idea of weaving music, mindfulness, and slow looking. And, as we write this, we imagine ourselves sitting in Bakkehuset, listening to Chopin and looking slowly at art.

We are already excited for whatever the Frederiksbergsmuseerne come up with for Slow Art Day in 2025.

– Johanna, Ashley, Jessica Jane, and Phyl

P.S. To find out more about Frederiksbergsmuseerne you can visit their Facebook or Instagram.

Engaging the Senses in Frederiksberg, Denmark

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For their second Slow Art Day, the Frederiksberg Museums in Frederiksberg, Denmark, held two guided slow looking events at Cisternerne (The Cisterns), an underground water reservoir that now hosts contemporary art exhibitions.

Slow looking participant. Slow Art Day 2023 at Cisterne. Photo: Jacob Hansen.

For their Slow Art Day event, Cecilie Monrad, Curator and Health Manager, and Thomas Riis Jensen, Coordinator of Exhibitions and Events, invited participants to engage their senses in a new way by experiencing South Korean artist Kimsooja’s Weaving the Light exhibition at the Cisternerne.

The Cisternerne Exhibition Space featuring Kimsooja’s Weaving the Light installation. Photo: Torben Eskerod.

Before we describe what they did for Slow Art Day, we need to first explain the unique environment of the Cisternerne. It is a 4,400 square meter underground space that never sees daylight, where the humidity is close to 100%, and the temperature fluctuates between 40 and 60 degrees Fahrenheit (4 and 16 degrees Celsius). Sounds vibrate and echo throughout, and a slow surface drip of water creates stalactites on the walls and vaults.

For the Weaving the Light exhibition, Kimsooja transformed the darkness of Cisternerne into an installation of light and color by using diffraction grating film mounted on transparent panels. These let light pass through a microscopic surface of horizontal and vertical prisms, creating a spectacular array of light in the darkness.

Artist Kimsooja at her exhibition Weaving the Light at Cisternerne. Photo: Malthe Ivarsson.

The Slow Art Day event started above ground, where participants first got acclimated to the light, temperature and atmosphere outside. Next, they went down into the Cisternerne together, first spending a moment getting used to the darkness, and change in temperature and humidity. They then self-selected areas throughout the exhibition for a 30 minute slow looking session before heading back to the surface, where they shared observations and reflections from the experience.

The Cisternerne, which is actually one of four museums in The Frederiksberg Museum collection, hosts, along with the other museums, slow looking events throughout the year. This year, for example, the museum collective is leading a research program for young psychiatric users who will investigate slow looking as a component in the recovery process for people suffering from dementia, stress, or depression.

At Slow Art Day HQ we are impressed by the many ways the Frederiksberg Museums are creatively using slow looking in a number of different ways. In fact, we all want to go spend some time with them and think you should do the same.

We look forward to whatever they come up with for Slow Art Day 2024.

-Johanna, Ashley, Jessica Jane, Phyl

P.S. Note that the Cisternerne is actually one of several museums in The Frederiksberg Museum collection, which also includes:
– STORM – Museum of Humor and Satire
– Bakkehuset – Museum of the Danish Golden Age
– Møstings – Danish Museum of Contemporary and Modern Art