By Steen Bruun Jensen, The magazine Billedkunstneren no. 1 2026
In the courtyard of the apartment building in which artist and curator Rebekka Bohse Meyer lives in Frederiksberg, there is a bunker. A bunker that she actually first became aware of as a member of the farm guild, but which she immediately saw potential in as a future exhibition space. She allied herself with her downstairs tenant, Lise Seier Petersen, a visual artist and ceramist, who was equally convinced of the bunker's potential, and with support from the Danish Arts Foundation and the Frederiksberg Foundation, the bunker was able to open its doors to its first exhibition the following year – in 2021 – under the name platform BUNKER.
The opening exhibition featured female artists from Rolfsvej 10 in Frederiksberg, where the bunker is also located, and if you're surprised that a single hallway can house so many female artists, it's because Rolfsvej 10 houses a foundation with ten grant homes for older female artists and musicians, established in 1948 by the former chairman of the Society of Women Artists (KKS), Elisabeth Neckelmann.
This has also influenced the exhibition profile of platform BUNKER from the beginning, says Rebekka Bohse Meyer:
"Our curation is based on KKS' values of equality, including age diversity and diversity in disciplines. At the same time, we are a different exhibition venue because we are located in a private yard - somewhere between the private and the public. It also provides a special audience because we constantly relate to the local residents."
Between the black box and the white cube
“We were of course fascinated by the architecture, the acoustics and the intimate atmosphere where you could invite the audience in. We curate site-specifically – the artists have to relate to the space. It is both a framework and a theme. It is interesting to see how different artists work with the space based on their approach and discipline,” says Rebekka Bohse Meyer, who wanted to create a place that is between a black box and a white cube, and today collaborates with the Icelandic artist and curator Sól Ey on the exhibitions:
“Our primary goal is to facilitate the kind of art that we ourselves experience lacks a platform in Copenhagen – hybrid art, multimedia, sound art, the performative, multisensory and immersive formats. That which lies between theatre and visual art, which is also where we ourselves come from as artists.”
"At the same time, it is both fun and inspiring to curate and invite other artists and see how different practices approach the project and relate to the bunker and its surroundings. It is also educational to be involved in an arranging and producing process – not just the creative one. And then it is about creating an environment that you can be a part of, because life as a self-producing artist can be quite lonely," she says.
Not surprisingly, the economics are also the biggest challenge for the BUNKER platform:
“We wish we could pay both the artists and ourselves better. It is often difficult to know how much money we actually have for an exhibition until very late in the process. It is very difficult to get money for operations, and that means we work a lot for free, because our own salary goes first, so it comes to less than one month's salary for a whole year's work,” she says.
Difference in terms
From Nina Saunders' exhibition Harbinger of Hope Through History and Time, platform BUNKER, 2025. Photo: Ole Akhøj
“There is also a structural inequality in terms of what different artists can apply for. For example, composers and sound artists can apply for larger fees through Koda, which visual artists cannot. Visual artists can apply for work production, but it is difficult to get. We try to even out the differences ourselves and create as fair a salary as possible. In addition, we have two types of collaborations with artists; we have commissioned artists who we pay, and then we have pop-up exhibitions with artists who basically finance their projects themselves – and which are also shorter. We do this to give more people the opportunity to use the space, as long as it fits into our curatorial line.”
If you ask Rebekka Bohse Meyer what it takes to establish yourself on the slightly longer track, the answer is also more resources:
"First and foremost, to pay ourselves and the artists better for the work we actually do. And then we need more employees to take care of the administration, so that we can get rid of some of the tedious work that otherwise risks wearing down platforms like ours. I could dream of someone taking care of operations and administration. It takes up an insane amount of time: we do everything from brewing coffee, shopping for openings in Føtex and cleaning, to creating strategies, talking to artists, applying for funds and writing contracts, etc. It's a huge job to take on. We also need resources for communication and to engage the local area more. Communication is often where we could make a much greater effort if we had the time and energy," she says.
New formats
Nevertheless, she is certain that artist-run exhibition spaces also have a role to play in the future:
"They challenge traditional institutions and have a willingness to take risks and freedom to go other ways than larger institutions, which also have to deal with things like ticket sales. They fill gaps in the art scene and represent real visions from the artists behind them - visions that reflect the times we live in. We need innovative thinking that can challenge and break with the traditional and accommodate other formats and artists."
Therefore, she has no doubt that she will still be busy with the same work in five years:
“Every time we are about to open an exhibition, I regret it a little. I think: 'What have I gotten myself into?' But when the opening comes, it is incredibly meaningful. It gives me so much. I also believe that arranging and facilitating is a part of me. In the future, I see us creating new formats – which is also what I do as an artist. The curating practice is important to me because it makes it possible to both facilitate something for others and be creative ourselves. And we want to do something that has not been done before. We want to be an important exhibition venue in the area, bringing people together – including children – and inspiring people who might not otherwise seek out art. We would very much like to reach a different kind of audience,” says Rebekka Bohse Meyer.
Photos at top:
1. From Christine Hvidt's exhibition As Roots Grow Back Into Us, platform BUNKER, 2025. Photo: Ole Akhøj
2. Platform BUNKER seen from the outside. Photo: platform BUNKER
Platform 5:55 – video art in everyday life
In addition to platform BUNKER, Rebekka Bohse Meyer, together with her partner, video artist Magnus Pind, is behind Platform 5:55, a new art platform for video on Frederiksberg Center's advertising screens.
The platform is inspired by the Midnight Moments concept in Times Square in New York City, which displays international video art every midnight for five minutes on Times Square's billboards. During the Copenhagen Light Festival in February, Nigerian-American performance artist Ayodamola Okunseindes showed the video work Aimoììlì – a five-minute sci-fi film that follows fictional neurohistorian Dr. Zola Umoja, who travels back in time to investigate the historical circumstances surrounding the transatlantic slave trade.
There is another exhibition coming up this fall with the British artist duo Dunne & Raby, and the curators see the video screenings as “a concept that can travel” and become part of everyday spaces in many other places:
"That's the energy the project has. In the long term, it can be expanded to other major centers or to larger cultural events such as Aarhus Festuge or other urban space displays," says Magnus Pind.