Welcome to the Souvenir Shop

2026

Souvenir displays, vinyl floor and alternative versions of Danish souvenirs.

In the exhibition Welcome to the Souvenir Shop, the audience was presented with two installations in the form of shop displays, each presenting a range of unconventional Danish souvenirs and merchandise objects - at once kitsch, humorous, and critically informed.

At a time marked by increasing tourism, the exhibition responds to the significant rise of souvenir shops in central Copenhagen. Within a 1.3 km radius from Gammel Strand, one can find as many as 47 shops that define themselves as souvenir stores. In addition, there are at least as many museum shops and stores that include souvenirs as part of their selection.

The two central works explore how seemingly banal everyday objects and ready-mades can function as carriers of history and cultural narratives within a Danish context by challenging conventional ideas of what a souvenir is and where it comes from. This is evident, among other things, in one of the two display installations, which consists of assorted Danish souvenirs available through the Chinese online marketplace Temu. In this way, two installations examines how souvenir shops can be understood as cultural representations of Denmark and questions how the selection of souvenirs shapes perceptions of Denmark and the Danes.