A selection of works by Ovartaci has just been sent from Museum Ovartaci to New York, where, from March 21, 2026, they will be featured in the exhibition New Humans: Memories of the Future at the renowned New Museum.

The exhibition marks the museum’s reopening following a major expansion and brings together more than 150 artists from around the world. Ovartaci will be presented alongside names such as Salvador Dalí, Francis Bacon, and Alberto Giacometti. The New Museum’s Artistic Director, Massimiliano Gioni, highlights Ovartaci as a central voice in the exhibition’s exploration of humanity, the body, and identity.

“That Ovartaci’s works are now on their way to New York testifies to the significant recognition his art has achieved. From a life as a patient at Risskov to a position on the international art scene also marks a profound shift toward a broader understanding of art history,” says Museum Director Mia Lejsted.

The selection of works was made in close dialogue between Museum Ovartaci and the New Museum, and includes some of the artist’s most iconic pieces. At the same time, visitors can continue to experience a wide-ranging presentation of Ovartaci’s work in Aarhus, where the museum holds an extensive collection.

With participation in this landmark museum reopening, Ovartaci’s position as an artist of lasting international impact is firmly cemented.

The exhibition in New York runs until August 2026.

In close collaboration with Ensemble Lydenskab, Museum Ovartaci invites you to a sensory and intimate concert experience at the museum on March 12 at 5:00 PM.

The concert Musical Alliances is the result of a long-term collaboration between artists and individuals with lived experience from social psychiatry, where music and poetry have been created through shared co-creation. Personal stories have been transformed into songs that hold both vulnerability and strength, opening new ways of listening — to ourselves, to one another, and to the world around us.

Together with Martin Ottosen and Ulla Bendixen (Sorten Muld), and poet Gerd Laugesen, Ensemble Lydenskab creates a sonic space for immersion and resonance. The concert enters into close dialogue with Museum Ovartaci’s focus on art and the mind, gathering research-based work into a shared, healing experience.

🗓️ March 12, 5:00–6:00 PM
📍 Museum Ovartaci – Auditorium, Kulturhus Bunkeren

Tickets are limited and sold on a first-come, first-served basis.

Purchase tickets

Hear the story of how an artist who created his works at the Psychiatric Hospital in Risskov became part of international art history.

Ovartaci – born Louis Marcussen – worked throughout his life in the borderlands between gender, identity, reality, and vision. These very themes make his work strikingly relevant today.

In 2025, Ovartaci is included in the opening exhibition New Humans – Memories of the Future at the newly expanded New Museum in New York, curated by Massimiliano Gioni. Here, Ovartaci’s works are shown alongside Dalí, Giacometti, and Bacon.

The event explores how Ovartaci’s art speaks into a global conversation about transformation, psychology, and the limits of humanity, inviting audiences on a journey through images, stories, and conversations with those who know Ovartaci from both the inside and the outside.

Part of the Festival of the Century.

The event is in Danish.

🗓️ March 14, 2:00–3:00 PM
📍 Museum Ovartaci – Auditorium, Kulturhus Bunkeren

Purchase tickets

On Saturday, March 21, from 1:00–4:00 PM, Museum Ovartaci opens its doors for an interdisciplinary event featuring a screening of the documentary En Aftale Med Livet (A Pact with Life).

The film portrays visual artist Jens Jørgen Boje (JJ) and his attempt to find footing in a life marked by psychological vulnerability, addiction, and loneliness. When the municipality forces him to move from his apartment in Frederiksbjerg, he loses the place that had been his safe base for many years.

Through encounters with friends, acquaintances, and the director himself, the film unfolds an intimate and deeply human portrait of an artist constantly moving between hope and despair — yet who, through relationships and art, seeks once again to find meaning and the will to live.

Following the screening, the filmmakers will host a talk/Q&A. Further information will be announced closer to the event.

The event is in Danish.

🗓️ March 14, 1:00–4:00 PM
📍 Museum Ovartaci – Auditorium, Kulturhus Bunkeren

The event is free
 

Before and after the screening, visitors will have the opportunity to experience Jens Jørgen Boye’s artworks, exhibited in the square outside the museum.

We look forward to a day where film, art, and conversation meet in a shared space.

How is an artist’s life shaped? And what traces does a childhood town leave on a person who would later create a unique artistic universe?

Louis Marcussen was born in the small market town of Ebeltoft in 1894. No one could have known then that the young boy would one day become known as Ovartaci — a world-renowned artist with a powerful, deeply personal, and at times unsettling visual language created during his 56-year hospitalization at the psychiatric hospital in Risskov.

Before he became Ovartaci, however, he was simply Louis — a boy from Ebeltoft. What was his upbringing like? What did the town look like around 1900? And which events and environments may have left their mark on the young Louis?

Find out when Museum Ovartaci and Museum Østjylland invite you to a guided city walk in the artist’s footsteps.

The walks are in Danish.

🗓️ Thursday, March 19, 4:00–5:30 PM
🗓️ Friday, March 20, 2026, 2:00–3:30 PM

📍 Meeting point: Main entrance, BMA Maltfabrikken, Maltvej 8, 8400 Ebeltoft
Ticket price: DKK 85

Tickets available at museumoj.dk

A warm thank you to everyone who joined us and filled the museum and exhibition spaces with life, presence, and curiosity. It was truly moving to see so many people gather around the art – and around the conversations it sparks.

Following the museum director’s welcome, the evening unfolded with an honest and deeply moving conversation between researcher Brian Benjamin Hanssen and author Lea Muldtofte. A special space emerged for vulnerability, reflection, and community – a space where we could pause together and dwell on the questions the exhibition raises.

What is it, really, that we call “mad”?
And who gets to define it?

GALT! enters both a historical and highly relevant contemporary debate – from Amalie Skram and the Mad Movement to present-day voices insisting on dignity beyond diagnoses. The exhibition invites reflection and new insights, making room for perspectives that are far too rarely heard – and that demand to be taken seriously.

Three distinctive artistic voices take on the concepts of psychiatry and turn them into a counter-language:

• Caroline Sofie Larsen (2000–2024)
• Agne Gye (b. 1992)
• Lea Muldtofte (b. 1987)

GALT! is not an exhibition that asks for pity.

GALT! demands attention.

GALT! insists.

— And challenges the way we see.

If you were unable to attend the opening, the exhibition is on view until May 17 during the museum’s opening hours. We look forward to welcoming you.

Easter is the perfect opportunity to visit the museum and experience art, culture, and powerful stories in inspiring surroundings. Museum Ovartaci is open every day during Easter, and we look forward to welcoming you — whether you come with family, friends, or for a springtime outing.

Explore the museum’s unique universe and spend a few hours immersed in reflection, conversation, and new perspectives. A museum visit during Easter can be both thought-provoking and deeply engaging — and an experience to share.

Easter Opening Hours:

• Monday–Wednesday: 10 AM – 5 PM
• Maundy Thursday: 12 PM – 5 PM
• Good Friday: 12 PM – 5 PM
• Saturday: 12 PM – 5 PM
• Easter Sunday: 12 PM – 5 PM
• Easter Monday: 12 PM – 5 PM

We look forward to seeing you at Museum Ovartaci — and Happy Easter!

During the Easter holidays, Museum Ovartaci invites children and their families to take part in an exciting picture hunt in the museum’s permanent exhibition. Children can explore the artworks, discover hidden details, and solve small tasks along the way. The activity offers a fun and active approach to art and encourages meaningful conversations between children and adults.

Once the picture hunt is completed, a small reward awaits all participating children — a cozy ending to a museum visit.

The activity is perfect for families looking for a cultural holiday experience, as well as for grandparents who wish to take their grandchildren on a meaningful and enjoyable outing.

Please note that children and young people  under 18 enjoy free admission to the museum.

We look forward to welcoming you to an Easter holiday filled with curiosity, creativity, and shared discovery at Museum Ovartaci.

When you become a member of Friends of Museum Ovartaci, you support work that gives voice to those who are often left in the shadows. You help create understanding, hope, and openness around mental illness—an area that affects us all.

Every third Dane will experience a mental illness at some point in life. Behind the statistics are people we know and care about. That’s why it’s vital that we dare to talk about difficult topics and meet one another with insight and empathy.

Museum Ovartaci works to break down stigma and create space for mental vulnerability through art and storytelling. Since 2016, Friends of Museum Ovartaci have helped make it possible to create exhibitions and preserve a collection that moves, challenges, and broadens our understanding of what it means to be human.

As a member, you help ensure that this important work continues—and that even more people can find reflection, understanding, and community.

As a member, you receive:
• Free admission for cardholder + one guest
• Invitations to exhibition openings and events
• Special member prices on selected events.

Membership fee:
• DKK 325 for personal membership + guest

Become part of the community— join today

Together, we can make a difference!