The Hall of Failure

26.06.2026 – 03.01.2027

Experience failure as both liberating and challenging in the exhibitionThe Hall of Failure, which has the concept of failure as its central theme.

The Hall of Failureturns the common term 'The Hall of Fame' on its head and has invited five prominent contemporary artists to celebrate failure in all galleries at Kunsthal Aarhus. The works in the exhibition grapple with our relationship to error and allow the audience, through art, to gain their own experiences with failure and to learn more about what we can gain from them.

The artists who have created works forThe Hall of Failure are Sarah Trahan (US), FACTORY WORKERS UNITE (Tina Helen & Søren Thilo Funder, DK), Anders Bonnesen (DK) and Maria Viftrup (DK).

During the exhibition period, Kunsthal Aarhus renames itself "The Hall of Failure", thereby inviting failure right into the heart of the art institution.

Anders Bonnesen, The broom is in the corner, 2024.

MORE ON THE EXHIBITION

As examples of the major works planned and realised in collaboration with the participating artists, The Hall of Failure includes Maria Viftrup's "Department for Specially Selected Flaws and Deficiencies," where the artist methodically records and poetically comments on hundreds of errors in the gallery space at Kunsthal Aarhus.

Sarah Trahan, whose artistic practice combines ceramics and artificial intelligence, invites visitors directly into the artist's studio and thus into a vulnerable space where thoughts, technology, and creativity meet, and where error is an inescapable co-player.

In addition to these two works, FACTORY WORKERS UNITE (an artist duo consisting of Tina Helen and Søren Thilo Funder) presents a total installation comprising a real hallway of failure and a horror film, where our relationship with errors plays a central role.

Finally, artist Anders Bonnesen combines flawed sculptural works with motivational posters and welcome mats in a large-format work that physically, linguistically, and mentally challenges our understanding of error.

A THREE PART PROJECT FOCUSING ON ERROR

The Hall of Failure is the second part of the outreach project The Art of Failure, through which Kunsthal Aarhus, in the period 2025-2027, will examine the concept of error through exhibitions and events. First in 2025 with the exhibition Bugs and Metamorphosis, which explored the relationship between photography and error, and now with the exhibition The Hall of Failure, which delves even deeper into our personal relationship with errors. The project concludes in 2027 with a major book publication that goes beyond the traditional exhibition catalogue and invites a wide range of people to open up about their relationship with errors – all with art as the focal point.

The Hall of Failure - The Art of Failure is generously supported by 15. Juni Fonden, Ny Carlsbergfondet, Augustinus Fonden, Statens Kunstfond, Aage og Johanne Louis-Hansens Fond, Beckett-Fonden, Nordjyllandsfonden, and C.A.C. Fonden.

Collaborating partners for the event programme are Ved Roret, Radar, Cinemateket, Aarhus Festuge, A Mock Book, and Prokk.

Sarah Trahan, Soil sound sculptures, 2023.

WITH SUPPORT FROM