Sjæl gør dig smuk

About the performance

Jessie Kleemann’s new performance Sjæl gør dig smuk (The Soul Makes You Beautiful) explores the idea that everything has a soul. The performance’s soundscape blends recordings, news broadcasts and live sound, as gentle singing and chanting respond to the omnipresent contemporary declarations about the takeover of land and territories. In a world that is growing increasingly ugly, the soul must be beautiful. The title of the exhibition is borrowed from Ole Jørgensen’s 1981 book Sjæl gør dig smuk: Om inuit-menneskene (The Soul Makes You Beautiful: On the Inuit People).

The spine keeps our inner selves in place and holds us upright in the world. “We’ve got your back,” as we also say. In Kalaallit Nunaat/Greenland, some of the world’s oldest rocks are found — forming a geological pillar, or backbone, that carries the globe. In Sjæl gør dig smuk, Kleemann continues and internalises movements in which the arch and curvature of the back repeat ancient customs and traditions.

About the artist

For three decades, Jessie Kleemann (GL/DK) has been a prominent figure on the contemporary art scene with her original approach to video art, experimental theatre, and performance art. Her work is rooted in the complex relationships between Kalaallit Nunaat/Greenland, where she was born and raised, and Denmark, where she lives today. In her practice, she incorporates objects from traditional Inuit culture, from colonial history, and from contemporary Kalaallit Nunaat/Greenland. Kleemann challenges stereotypes and the notion of an unspoiled Kalaallit Nunaat/Greenland. In the autumn of 2023, she had her first major solo exhibition at a Danish museum, Statens Museum for Kunst (SMK), where works spanning her entire artistic practice were presented.

Toaster Performance Biennale

In April 2026, Toaster presents Denmark’s first international performance biennale, taking place across Den Frie and Husets Teater.

The biennale offers a current portrait of the performance field within both visual art and performing arts – and the many intersections between them – which are rapidly evolving nationally as well as internationally. The focus is state of the art: taking the temperature of the field right now.

Experience more than 20 performances, including 10 entirely new works created specifically for the biennial. The artists range from established performance practitioners to emerging talents – sometimes within the same work.

The programme encompasses works rooted in dance, text, costume, sound, light, music, and space. Performance is here and now – it is the time we live in, and the time we choose to spend together.