Under the title Art Bar Extravaganza, Nikolaj Kunsthal once again hosts the opening of Art Matter Festival 2026. The celebration takes place both outdoors on Nikolaj Plads and inside the galleries of Nikolaj Kunsthal, which currently present a major retrospective of the American Fluxus artist Alison Knowles.  

Giant Salad, Choral Work and a Celebration in Red 
As part of the opening event, visitors can experience three re-enactments of Alison Knowles’ performances and happenings. With assistance from Amalie og Floras Middage, the central work “Make a Salad” (1962) will be restaged. The work involves the audience and dissolves the boundaries between art and everyday life, artist and audience, and artwork and action. Cooking – an everyday gesture of care – becomes art that activates all the senses. 

Visitors can also experience the choral work “Piece for Any Number of Vocalists” (1962), as well as an activation of the work “Celebration Red” (1962). Guests are invited – as a tribute to the temporary and open – to replace the red objects installed in the artwork, which is presented at the Upper Gallery. 

In all three performances, the focus is not the material outcome but the situation itself: shared attention and the temporary structure created in the moment.