ABOUT THE PERFORMANCE

‘Once I was a Human’ has free access for all and starts outside Husets Teater.

The performance piece Once I was a Human examines dehumanization and survival in a world, where traditional human existence has become unsustainable. Find and follow the performance character, which takes form as a humanized animal-like creature that wanders near Den Frie and in the tunnel systems under the streets. The creature is trying to find ways to communicate with the world, as norms and languages directed by humans seem to have lost their meaning. The animal-like behaviors of the characters express a state of self-isolation in a situation of despair, as they experience that a constant mode of adaptation has replaced the hope of returning to a safe and familiar life. The movement of the characters through the city is set as a repetitive pattern – a compulsive retention – in the attempt to create coherence and control. The performance examines how we might need to enter the future by altering ways of being and creating other types of communication, as we face new challenging dimensions of climate crises, societal collapse, and personal grief. How do we, both as individuals and as a society, adapt to the irreversible transformations necessary to live in a world, where all basic human norms are to be confronted and transformed. 

ABOUT THE ARTIST

Kristoffer Akselbo  is a Danish artist based in Odense, working across performance, sculpture and installation. His practice examines bodily presence, absurdity and ritual through staged and spatial interventions. 

Recent works include Barracuda (2025), a week-long durational performance for Berlin Atonal’s Third Surface programme, and Once I was a Human (2025, Den Frie/Toaster), a performative reflection on dehumanisation in urban space. Akselbo has also presented works at Kunstmuseum Bonn, SMK, Kunsthal Aarhus, Cabaret Voltaire (Zürich), Aspen Art Museum, and Palais de Tokyo (Paris). His solo show WDB2 (2022, Kunsthal Kongegaarden) was awarded by Statens Kunstfond. 

He is the recipient of several distinctions, including a 3-year working grant from Statens Kunstfond, Torjussens Legat (2021), and Aage & Yelva Nimbs Honorary Grant (2024). 

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.