8th Socle du Monde, Herning, Denmark, conceived by Mattijs Visser, 25 April - 27 August 2021

Shortly after the Second World War textile manufacturer Aage Damgaard decided, together with his friend the artist Paul Gadegaard, to invite artists from Scandinavia and Europe to Herning. Their idea was to jointly develop a new image for the future of his business and of the city, through the interaction with architecture, design, and art. 
The Damgaard family donation of their extensive collection, including works by the Italian Piero Manzoni, to the Danish state laid the foundations for a museum; the Herning Museum of Contemporary Art which in turn, took on the mission to develop possible futures through the continued proximity with artists from around the world. At the base of this ambitious project would be the work “Le Socle du Monde” by Piero Manzoni, made and located in Herning. ​

Aage Damgaard

By placing his "Socle" upside down, Piero Manzoni created a stage for life and potential experience to be played out. Inspired by Manzoni’s iconic work, the 8th edition of the "Socle du Monde" enters in 2020 into the public space of Herning and brings art into direct contact with its residents.
Using a festival format, "Welcome back my friends to the show that never ends" features seven stages, linking the museum to the city, and the past with today and the future, with local and international artists from different generations. The upcoming "Socle du Monde" will reflect a world in transformation; with architectural interventions, playful objects and installations, suggestive images and sounds.

Mario Merz

Stage 1: The Past
In Italy, in the late 1960s, a group of artists, under the name “Arte Povera”, managed to create suggestive images with simple (poor) materials such as earth, stones, light, water, and glass, in the hope that real life could be experienced more consciously. An exhibition with their work is the first and historical stage of the "Socle du Monde”, with, among others, Luciano Fabro, Jannis Kounellis and Mario Merz and assembled by the Italian curator Bruno Cora. The German / Italian artist Klaus Munch, has been invited to reflect on the "Arte Povera" with an installation on the facade of the museum. Location: HEART

Spencer Tunick

Stage 2: The Past extended
There where most artists thankfully use modern techniques and materials, others continue painting or sculpturing with traditional materials. Antony Gormley has been asked to show his field of 35000 little handmade clay figures. Where Gormley asked people from all over the world to make those clay figures, Spencer Tunick realizes his large installations all around the world with thousands of real naked human bodies, as an only one day lasting event. Kimsooja invites the public to add a piece of clay to her space taking table. We, humans, people, we live with our past into the future. Location: HEART
>>> klick here to read more about Gormleys project

Anthony Gormley

Kimsooja

Stage 3: The Present
Piero Manzoni and his generation wanted to show real life in the museum, but also wanted to bring out art into public space, away from the museum environment. This was in a way the beginning of the "experience". Jaume Plensa has been asked to develop a permanent artwork for the city of Herning, where unexpected encounters with his art may enrich daily life. Location: Pedestrian-street Herning and Textile Museum
>>>klick here to read more about Plensas project

Herman de Vries

Stage 4: The never Ending
As the first permanent installation in the park of the Hojskole, Herman de Vries will link Art and Nature with his work "Hortus Conclusus." De Vries is known for his installations with natural elements, in his installation for Herning he leaves the future to the nature, nothing can be changed inside the surrounding walls. Location: Hojskole

El Anatsui

Stage 5 & 6: The Past and Future
Herning was the city of the textile trade and industry, and today aligns traditional industry and experience industry of which art is a central element. In the Textile Museum, the American artist Charles LeDray will show miniaturised cloths and objects, the Persian artist Arefe Arad will produce large soft  sculptures from used textile, the Norwegian artist Kari Anne Helleberg Bahri alienated fabric objects, and the Dutch artist Maria Roosen will show a large installations with wool. The Ghanaian sculptor El Anatsui will appear just outside the Textile Museum, with a large cloth-like wall sculpture made from the waste of consumer goods. Locations: Textile Museum

Charles Ledray

Arefe Arad

Stage 7: The Future 
The seventh stage is the Hojskole, originally a high-school and residence for the arts, and the place where all cultural forms came together, from cooking to philosophy, from music to architecture. For this edition of the "Socle du Monde" the Hojskole regains part of its original function as an open place for all kind of talents, and invites, since almost sixty years, the local community to participate. Location: Hojskole Birk

Extra: The Memory
​Piero Manzoni and his generation wanted to bring art into the public space, and declare  "life" as art; Piero Manzoni and Jan Henderikse signed people, Yves Klein and Yayoi Kusama used the naked body as their canvas, and Christo wrapped daily objects and bodies. This stage can be seen as the memory of the upcoming "8th Socle du Monde"

​"Welcome back my friends to the show that never ends” creates a festival of form and experience; a nexus where “real” life and "artistic" life merge together, where “geographical” and “artistic” boundaries are lifted, and where “old" and “new” friends meet. Welcome! ​

Image left: Antony Gormley