Inga Gerner Nielsen

In autumn 2026 I made a 3 hours durational performance materializing Hildegaard Von Bingen‘s iconographic image of song. The following text shares memories of conversations with audiences and how they connected the piece to my work about rituals at the Intensive Care Unit. * For dansk tekst, se link til videoen på Kunstbygningen i Vrås facebookside. In my crushing of materials and brushing out each layer of colour, an audience told me he had vitnessed with delight how the blue lid up, when the next circle of green was added. His knowledge of colour came from a lifetime of painting aquarel and together we dug into Hildegaards choices for the iconography. I feel a kind of high when the artistic research from the inside of the piece takes place like this. And recognise what a good condition for it, it is to trust the very slow pase of the durational performance. Later a woman saw a coastline in the outer layers of the circles, which stayed as a piece on the floor for the remaining month of the exhibition Visible/Invisible. Her father had passed away only five days prior. He had asked them to sing a psalm with the verse "angles will stand on the heavenly shore and sing their welcoming song". They had made it to find and sang it to him just before his passing. Now in seeing my post-liminal ritual of wiping the piece layer by layer from the floor, she stayed to sit and watch it slowly disappearing. For me, the encounter bridged into my further work with at the hospital in Hjørring, where @rifkaonshore and I are currently preparing a performance and exhibition, where we will explore how we can visualise, sense and mark the contours of liminal passages together with development nurse Marie Damgaard at the IntensiveCare Unit and @ann.karenina from the nursing education at UCN @sygeplejerske9800 .

Up here in Vendsyssel and Thy we are so happy for the grant given by @bikubenfonden to the project 𝐼𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑀𝑖𝑟𝑟𝑜𝑟 𝑜𝑓 𝐶𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑊𝑜𝑟𝑘 and its ongoing interdisciplinary collaboration connecting performance art, hospitals, and nursing education to develop and anchor new practices in clinical settings. This funding is a fantastic recognition of the partnership that began in 2019 between lecturer of the History of Nursing, Helle Kronborg Krogsgaard, and me as a performance artist. With continuous support from education leader @sanne.holm , our journey has resulted in immersive installations in the simulationslabs at the nursing education @sygeplejerske9800 & @sygeplejerske7700 with @limfjordsteatret , symposia @madhousehelsinki & @mdtsthlm , seminars, articles and a printed book with @tabloidpress and regular teaching in interactive performance and relational practices across various semesters at UCN. Last year, the project made an important move into clinical practice when development nurse Marie Damgaard Winther invited me to the Intensive Care Unit @intensiv_hjoerring at Regionshospital Nordjylland as part of the "Rituals and Routines" initiative, related to end-of-life care. In the coming years, we will further develop performance and exhibition in practice-oriented settings at Regionshospitalet, focusing on liminality and transitional experiences in close dialogue with curator Rebekka Anker-Møller @rifkaonshore . Simultaneously, we will develop art-based educational materials and a publication with lecturer @ann.karenina aimed at providing both nursing students and practicing nurses with a language for rituals and enhanced aesthetic awareness in clinical practice. Past initiatives have been financially supported by @nordiskkulturfond , Jyske Kunstfond, Region Nord, Hjørring Kommune, Circle-U, & @statenskunstfond . *Graphics in post are by @nadia.d.marcus in our book about the project conceptualized with @woundedgutfeeling and published by @tabloidpress . *The headpiece in the image of my post-liminal sweeping of Scivias Contemporary @kunstbygningenivraa is costum made by @stephanie.becquet Dont hesitate to get in touch for knowledge exchange

På hvert 1. og 4. semester underviser Helle Kronborg Krogsgaard og jeg performance-øvelser i guiding, relationsdannelse og brug af sansning med objekter til at genkalde minder og dele omsorgserfaringer. Dette års undervisning og udvikling på @sygeplejerske9800 og @sygeplejerske7700 har været støttet af @statenskunstfond ‘s Huskunstnerordning. Tegningerne i det nye undervisningsmateriale er af Marit Benthe Norheim. De blev skabt under et symposium i 2021, mens sygeplejersker og performere delte fortællinger med hinanden om deres arbejde med interaktion med publikum og patienter. Hvert nyt element i projektet In the Mirror of Care Work bygger på de erfaringer vi kontinuerligt gør os sammen. "Vi låner vores nervesystem ud", sagde Helle fx engang i en opsamlende samtale med de studerende om de elementer fra neuropædagogik de kunne genkende i performance-øvelsen. En anden gang sagde en studerende, at den måde hun i en performance-video så mig stryge en publikum med et tørklæde langsomt hen over håndfladen, mindede hende om det de i palliativ pleje havde lært om "basal stimulation". Det er i den tilbagevende spejling imellem vores fag, at vi skaber viden og får ideer sammen. Den metode, som Helle og jeg forfinede da vi skulle til Florence Nightingale Institute og dele den med sygeplejerskestuderende i London, er netop den jeg også arbejder videre med sammen med Marie Damgaard i Poetisk Personslestue på intensivafdelingen i Hjørring. Kontakt os gerne med ønsker om link til litteratur om arbejdet, med referencer eller andet på hjertet.

Da Poetisk Personalestue var i TVAvisen * An immersive performance for nurses in the intensive care unit on the evening news! In a sense, a small historic moment for the genre itself; to be shown with quite a poetic speak made by the journalist, weaving the dramaturgy of the performance into the interviews with the nurses. And that it is the nurses who explain why this kind of performance helps them articulate the otherwise silent knowledge of their work. * På sin vis en lidt historisk mediebegivenhed for min kunst-genre, at en immersiv performance vises i detaljer med så poetisk et speak skabt af redaktionen til aftennyhederne. Og at det er afdelingens fantastiske sygeplejesker, som forklarer hvorfor de har inviteret mig som performance-kunstner ind i deres arbejde med ritualer. * Projektet foregår i samarbejde med udviklingssygeplejerske Marie Damgaard. Rutiner og Ritualer bygger på “Fundamentals of Care (FoC) og sigter mod at udvikle nye rutiner og ritualer, der kan støtte sygeplejerskerne i disse særligt sensitive situationer. Vores samarbejde former en utraditionel tilgang med stort potentiale for at finde ord for det ordløse og styrke den personcentrerede og situationsorienterede sygepleje. Poetisk Personalestue på Intensivafsnittet er støttet af Jyske Kunstfond. Den sanselig, performative interviewmetode jeg bruger til at frembringe fortællinger fra sygeplejen, har jeg de sidste år forfinet sammen med Helle Kronborg Krogsgaard som del af undervisning med interaktiv og immersiv performance på Sygeplejerskeuddannelsen i Hjørring - University College Nordjylland. Som vi siger heroppe i Nordjylland: Kunst og sygepleje - "det kan noget!" #kunstisygepleje #artsinnursing #fundamentalsofcare immersivperformanceinnursing

Til Skabninger Samlinger # 2 viste Inga Gerner Nielsen 𝐓 𝐡 𝐢 𝐬 𝐈 𝐧 𝐬 𝐭 𝐢 𝐭 𝐮 𝐭 𝐞. En performance på 50 minutter. "I T h i s I n s t i t u t e kan publikum opleve de selv-institutionaliserende handlinger, hvormed jeg nedsænkede mig i den sanselige dimension af min tænkning og værkdannelse. Gennem berøring af artefakter og poetiske scores materialiseres tanker om moderskab, længsel og enrum. Om hvorfor det kan være nødvendigt at institutionalisere en ellers sfærisk vertikal tidsoplevelse – og hvad der gør at boblen sprænger." Tak for at dele din performance med os! Foto: Anita M Hopland

With Self-Institution / A Terminology, O.J.A.I (Office of Joint Administrative Intelligence) lists and gives insight to a phenomenon, which I find incredibly fun to explore from the inside. In his text about Artistic Practices as Institutions @gary__farrelly places O.J.A.I and Bureau of Melodramatic Research on the bureaucratically laden end of the spectrum ~ and T h i s I n s t i t u t e and The Letter Space Department on the other end, where institutionality is engaged in a more homeopathic manner "its presence spectral, manifested through sensory or ephemeral logics". Through our journey together through @a.pass_artistic_research , Gary has been an immense support in constituting and understanding my instituting desires. I am looking so much forward to some day experiencing a gathering of these practices under his glamorous curation!

Performances at Astrid Noacks Aterlier on Sunday the 8th from three Followed by talk on the 13th @skabninger_samlinger curated by Sarah Hamming & Storm Møller Madsen Photo @karolienchromiak

I Give You My Blue Words, a publication by Gilles Hellemans, with T h i s I n s t i t u t e feauturing among a string of beautiful blue works he curated for the @bluebenchsessions 2023 - 2025 Graphic design: angusmidgley 
Publication images: @fulopdanielmatyas 
Images book 1 and 4: @minnebezuijen

I am so thrilled ~ Vendsyssel Kunstmuseum has just purchased my video work Only Here to Adore! I am incredibly proud to become part of the museum's collection of artists — and the depiction of nature in Nordjylland. Only Here to Adore is about the garden and features five different types of interaction with plants. It was curated by @skalcontemporary with a preliminary artistic research at Landlyst Plantecenter in Hjørring and subsequently performed with dancer and a.pass alumni Nathaniel Moore @_princessnathanieldespoubelles and filmed by visual artist Louise Ørsted Jensen @louiseoerstedi at Vendsyssel Kunstmuseum in 2022. The acquisition was kindly supported by 15. Juni Fonden. The grant is part of the Foundation's overall UNG KUNST initiative.

only here to adore, 2022 Inga Gerner Nielsen I det borgerinddragende performance- og udstillingsprojekt only here to adore undersøgte Inga Gerner Nielsen haven som et afgrænset rum for omsorg, kontrol og tilbedelse. Et videoværk fra projektet er idag en del af samlingen hos Vendsyssel Kunstmuseum i Hjørring. I 2026 har Skal Contemporary 5 års jubilæum. I den anledning ser vi i den kommende tid tilbage på vores projekter i perioden 2021-2025. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ only here to adore var venligst støttet af Statens Kunstfond, Region Nordjylland, Kulturkanten og Ny Carlsbergfondet ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ In the participatory performance and exhibition project only here to adore, Inga Gerner Nielsen explored the garden as a delimited space for care, control, and devotion. A video work from the project is now part of the collection at Vendsyssel Art Museum in Hjørring. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ In 2026, Skal Contemporary celebrates its 5th anniversary. To mark the occasion, we will look back on our projects from 2021–2025 in the coming period of time. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ only here to adore was kindly supported by The Danish Arts Foundation, Region Nordjylland, Kulturkanten, and Ny Carlsbergfondet. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Foto: Rikke Ehlers Nilsson / Louise Ørsted Jensen

Scivias Contemporary, made in a 4 hours durational performance @kunstbygningenivraa A material and visual exploration of Hildegard Von Bingens iconographic image of song. The piece is part of the exhibition Visible/Invisible until November 16th.

Sysken Ingaborg, Rikkebard, Livia, Kristina, Ann Maria & Tyr @rikke_mapstone @oliviakamrart *Stisa* @annmai.dk @tyrawigg 💙🧡💙🧡💙🧡 Textile pieces costume made by @stephanie.becquet Supported by @statenskunstfond og @regionnordjylland #performanceartinnursing Immersiv performance installation på sygeplejerskeuddannelsen i Co-produktion med @limfjordsteatret