Jens Haaning

Often the works consist of interventions in institutional structures or public spaces. Examples of these are: ‘Middelburg Summer 1996’ (1996), which was a temporary relocation of a factory employing immigrant workers to the exhibition space De Vleeshal, Middelburg, The Netherlands, and ‘Turkish Jokes’ (1994) a sound piece with a tape-recording of jokes, told by Turks in their native language, which was originally played in a public square in Oslo, Norway.

Haaning has exhibited extensively, the main exhibitions include: Documenta XI, Kassel, Germany (2002), the 9th Istanbul Biennial, Istanbul, Turkey (2005), Traffic at CAPC Museé d'art contemporain, Bordeaux, France (1996), Vienna Secession, Vienna, Austria (1997, 1998, 2007), Publicness at ICA, London, England (2003), the 6th Gwangju Biennale, Gwangju, South Korea (2002, 2006) and latest a large survey of Haaning’s works from the 1990s until 2017 at Göteborg International Biennial for Contemporary Art, Gothenburg, Sweden (2017).

Haaning has produced a body of artworks since the 1990s, which – when seen together – offers an acute reflection of a complex and changing society in the West. The works address the existing structures of power and communication in the global society and necessitate a debate around subjects such as migration, displacement, nationalism, and other aspects related to our coexistence.

Jens Haaning (born 1965) is a Danish conceptual, contemporary artist living and working in Copenhagen.