Platform * Noah Holtegaard x Sarah Pihl

The scapegoat is a concept that can be traced back to a ritual in the Old Testament, in which a goat is burdened with humanity’s sins. Accounts of the ritual describe how red ribbons are tied around the goats’ horns before it is driven into the desert as a symbolic act of reconciliation. Similar scapegoat rituals, where one individual carries the guilt of the community, can be traced back to antiquity and today appear in new forms within the political landscape. 

Double vulnerability
In this exhibition, visual artist Noah Holtegaard explores the scapegoat as a figure. He takes as his point of departure his own position as a trans person and draws inspiration from historical research on how marginalised groups have been blamed for societal tensions. The exhibition title "Jeg ønskede aldrig at såre nogen" ("I Never Meant to Hurt Anyone") is a personal address that points to a double vulnerability in the processes through which an individual is made into a scapegoat: the vulnerability of the one singled out as deviant but also that of the communities which, through fear or insecurity, create distance. 

The theme of sin is rooted in the physical setting of the exhibition. In the center of the project space Platform stands a wooden column, one of several visible traces from St. Nikolaj Church, and in the exhibition, Holtegaard enters into dialogue with the ecclesiastical past of Nikolaj Kunsthal. St. Nikolaj Church is said to have been the first church in Denmark to – albeit unintentionally – marry a non-heterosexual couple. The wedding took place in 1715 between Andres Aschenberg and Bodil Marie Christensdatter. Andres was given the name Sidsel at birth, but lived as a man in the period leading up to the marriage and in the years that followed. In 1728 he was brought to trial in a case concerning fraud and gender transition, where a horn he had used for urination was found on him. In the exhibition, the horn appears as a central motif, as a monument to the story of Andres and Bodil Marie, and a reminder of the scapegoat mechanisms that have taken place in the church and in society more broadly. 

In his practice, Holtegaard borrows narratives and visual expressions from different times and contexts, assembling them into a digital and utopian visual universe. The works in the exhibition are created from watercolours and 3D renderings, which are materialised through digital weaving and CNC milling.  

"I Never Meant to Hurt Anyone" has been developed in collaboration with curator Sarah Pihl. Over the summer and autumn of 2026, the exhibition project will travel to Roskilde Festival, where a circular installation of three scapegoat horns can be experienced by the festival’s bathing lake. Afterwards, the exhibition will be shown at Nationalt Center for Kunst og Mental Sundhed, where it will conclude in a more intimate format at the center’s exhibition space on Amager. 

The exhibition is supported by Det Obelske Familiefond, Københavns Kommune, Statens Kunstfond, Rådet for Visuel Kunst, Fake Foundation, Knud Højgaards Fond, Dansk Tennis Fond og Roskilde Festival Gruppen.