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Stepping into the Kunsten Museum of Modern Art Aalborg’s latest exhibition feels like entering a dream — vibrant colors, soft fabrics, and an undercurrent of emotion guide visitors through a collection that is anything but conventional. This is not a typical museum show. Instead, it is a personal and poetic journey by one of Denmark’s most celebrated fashion designers, Stine Goya, in collaboration with the museum’s curators.

For the first time, Kunsten has invited someone from outside the art world to reimagine its collection. Stine Goya, renowned for her distinctive and playful approach to fashion, accepted the challenge, creating an exhibition that strips away traditional narratives and focuses on human experience — specifically, the universal theme of separation.

Under Goya’s direction, the exhibition becomes less about understanding and more about feeling. Heavy drapes and layered textures frame paintings and sculptures, while her signature use of color transforms the gallery into a space that feels alive and intimate. The result is an exhibition that bypasses intellectual analysis in favor of sensory and emotional engagement.

“This is a very different way of presenting the museum’s art collection,” says Caroline Nymark Zachariassen, Kunsten’s Chief Curator and Head of Collections, who worked closely with Goya. “It opens up the possibility of a more intuitive, sensuous experience of art, where the works are selected and presented based on a profoundly personal point of view rather than a classic art history narrative.”

Goya’s starting point was separation — a theme she describes as central to her life as a mother, daughter, and partner. Her vision for the exhibition is deeply personal, reflecting both her own experiences and the broader tensions of our times.

“Separation is inevitable and necessary,” Goya explains. “It creates life, identity, diversity, and nuances. But it is also associated with grief and longing, when someone or something we are close to disappears.”

This theme is explored through a carefully curated selection of works from the museum’s collection, featuring artists such as Lucio Fontana, Kirsten Ortwed, and Geoffrey Hendricks. Each piece speaks to different aspects of separation: longing, absence, death, distance, and hope. Together, they form a narrative that invites viewers to reflect on their own experiences of connection and loss.

“The collaboration with Kunsten is like a dream come true,” Goya says. “Art and architecture have always been my most important sources of inspiration and key to my work. This exhibition brings everything together.”

The installation itself feels like a Goya design come to life. Works by contemporary artists such as Lene Adler Petersen and Sophia Kalkau are displayed alongside mid-century and modern pieces, creating a dialogue that feels both timeless and immediate.

For the Kunsten Museum, this exhibition is more than an experiment; it’s a statement about the future of art curation. Director Lasse Andersson emphasizes the museum’s commitment to innovation, explaining that the collaboration with Goya aligns with its vision of breaking away from traditional approaches.

“We aim to challenge the way we traditionally work,” Andersson says. “As a museum housed in unique architecture, our foundation lies in the concept of ‘gesamtkunstwerk,’ where different aesthetic and creative spheres come together. Stine Goya’s artistic approach fits perfectly with this ethos.”

Walking through the exhibition, it’s hard not to be struck by the intimacy of the experience. The staging draws visitors closer to the works, encouraging them to consider not just what they see but how it makes them feel. The narrative of separation is present in every corner, from the tension in Lucio Fontana’s slashed canvases to the quiet yearning in Anette Harboe Flensburg’s muted interiors.

For Goya, this emotional connection is central to the exhibition’s purpose. “Separation is not only the start of something new but also a conclusion,” she says. “It’s a source of inspiration — not just for me, but for anyone willing to engage with it.”

Her reflections also extend to the global context. “I see how global challenges and opportunities force us closer together, yet we become more polarized and drift apart,” she observes. “This paradox is one we must navigate and find a way to accommodate.”

Stine Goya’s collaboration with the Kunsten Museum of Modern Art Aalborg is a testament to the transformative power of creativity. By blending fashion and fine art, the exhibition invites visitors to experience the museum’s collection in a deeply personal and sensory way. It’s not just a celebration of art but an exploration of what it means to be human in a world defined by both connection and separation.

As visitors leave the gallery, they may find themselves thinking less about the works they’ve seen and more about the emotions they’ve felt — and that, perhaps, is the exhibition’s greatest achievement.

The exhibition Stine Goya x Kunsten runs from 21 November 2024 to 9 June 2025.