Ben Hamilton
July 13th, 2018

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Not a massive payday for artist Jacob Jacobsen, but a mountain of publicity (photo: YouTube screenshot)

Copenhagen Municipality remains undecided where to hang its latest art purchase – a series of 20 white A4 pages that announce the deaths of various politicians (including the PM), which it has paid 10,000 kroner for.

Several politicians have questioned the wisdom of buying Jakob Jakobsen’s 2015 artwork ‘Dødsfald’, which includes inscriptions such as “Lars Løkke er død”, “Henrik Sass Larsen” and, well, you get the picture.

One wag has already suggested it might be placed in an old people’s home.

Backed by entire committee
The decision was “unanimously” backed by the eight members of the municipality’s Billedkunstudvalget fine arts committee, which has an annual budget of 675,000 kroner to buy art, Niko Grünfeld (Alternativet), the deputy mayor for culture and leisure, told DR.

However, his predecessor, Carl Christian Ebbesen (DF), described the purchase as “foolish and a waste of money”, while Socialdemokratiet MP Dan Jørgensen called the artwork “tasteless”.

Wasn’t joking!
Apparently Gyda Heding (Endheslisten) was not joking about the old people’s home.

“When you’re there, your days are numbered and you’re reflecting on life,” she told DR. “Whatever happens, I can’t see them placing it at a job centre.”

Kingslayer gets overdue Emmy nomination
Nikolaj Coster-Waldau has finally been nominated for an Emmy award for best supporting actor in a TV drama series – one of 22 nods earned by ‘Game of Thrones’ in which he plays Jaime ‘Kingslayer’ Lannister. In the same category he will face competition from his co-star Peter Dinklage, who plays his onscreen brother Tyrion.

Badminton partnership to continue as a trio
Badminton star Kamilla Rytter Juhl is retiring at the age of 34 to have a baby, bringing to an end her successful women’s doubles partnership with Christina Pedersen, who is also her partner off court – a romance the pair only confirmed last year despite being together since 2009. “We’re happy I’m pregnant and we’re looking forward to becoming a family,” said Juhl. Earlier this year, the pair won the prestigious All England Open, the biggest win of their career, and in 2016 they came close to winning Olympic gold.

Art gallery visitor numbers in freefall
Statens Museum for Kunst, the country’s national gallery, has seen its visitor numbers plunge since it started charging admittance prices in 2016. In 2015, 451,000 visited the gallery, but last year only 334,000 came. The museum said it was in line with expectations, but cautioned that many of the guests are either children visiting for free or those taking advantage of group discounts.

No repeat triumph for Løchte at Wimbledon
Frederik Løchte Nielsen yesterday failed to again reach the final of the Wimbledon men’s doubles tournament, which he won in 2012 with British partner Jonathan Marray. Again teaming up with a Brit, this time Joe Salisbury, Nielsen lost the semi in four sets to the number 13 seeds, Michael Venus and Raven Klaasen.  In related news, Clara Tauson earlier this week lost in the second round of the girls’ tournament.

FCN and FCK chalk up 1-0 away wins
FC Nordsjaeland and FC Copenhagen got their Europa League campaigns off to winning starts yesterday. FCN won 1-0 away at Irish outfit Cliftonville, while FCK also won 1-0 on their travels, beating Finnish outfit KuPS Kuopio. The return legs are on July 19, but before that both teams will be in action when the Superliga returns this weekend.

Rapper was badly injured in Roskilde fall
US rapper Del The Funky Homo Sapien punctured one of his lungs and damaged the other, while also breaking seven ribs, when he fell off the stage during the final concert on the Orange Stage at this year’s Roskilde Festival. Gorillaz frontman Damon Albarn made the confirmation during an interview on the Beats 1 radio station.