ABOUT THE PERFORMANCE

As the official opening of the Toaster Performance Biennale 2026, Esben Weile Kjær’s groundbreaking performance Hardcore Freedom (2020) will be presented at Den Frie Udstillingsbygning.

Hardcore Freedom is both a performance and a party — a four-hour work where the audience is invited into an intense, collective space at the intersection of art, club culture and performance.

Throughout the evening, 30 performers activate the space, alongside live DJ sets by Courtesy and German producer Europa.

There will be free beer all night.

The event is open and free to everyone and marks the opening of the very first Toaster Performance Biennale, created in collaboration between Husets Teater and Den Frie Udstillingsbygning.

Capacity is limited, so arrive early!

Age restriction: 18+

Thanks to: To Øl, Just Another Collection, Statens Kunstfond, Augustinus Fonden, Den Obelske Familiefond and Bikubenfonden.

ABOUT THE ARTIST

Esben Weile Kjær (b. 1992 in Aarhus, Denmark) lives and works in Copenhagen, Denmark. Esben Weile Kjær’s work spans sculpture and performance, drawing on the history of pop culture to investigate themes of nostalgia, authenticityand generational anxiety. In his performances, installations and sculptures, he examines identity among his own generation and explores the role of popular culture and technology in shaping experiences of community and freedom. In 2020, Esben Weile Kjær held solo exhibitions in Denmark atKunstforeningen Gl. Strand and Copenhagen Contemporary. In 2023, he curated the exhibition BUTTERFLY! at Arken Museum of Contemporary Art, which primarily consisted of works from the museum’s own collection staged in an immersive scenography. In 2024, his largest solo exhibition to date, Solar System, opened at Kunsten Museum of Modern Art in Aalborg. 

Esben Weile Kjær has previously staged performances at institutions such as Den Frie Udstillingsbygning, the National Gallery of Denmark, and Overgaden (all in Copenhagen), as well as internationally at the Centre Pompidou in Paris, the Neue Nationalgalerie in Berlin, MMCA in South Korea, mumok in Vienna, Berghain in Berlin, Museum Tinguely in Basel, and Museum der Moderne in Salzburg. 

In 2022, Esben Weile Kjær was awarded the Carl Nielsen and Anne Marie Carl-Nielsen Talent Award, and in 2023 he received the Aage and Yelva Nimb Foundation’s honorary grant. His works can be found in the permanent collections of the National Gallery of Denmark, Kunsten, Malmö Art Museum, Brandts Museum, Arken, the Danish Arts Foundation and theNew Carlsberg Foundation. 

His work has been widely covered by international media including New York Magazine, Curbed, Vogue, Spike Art Magazine, Artnet, Wallpaper, Alt, DR, Heartbeats, PwMagazine, Politiken, Berlingske and Kunstkritikk.

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.