Four artists create new works about stem cells
Cecilie Waagner Falkenstrøm (DK), Jens Settergren (DK), Davide Hjort Di Fabio (DK/IT), and Charlotte Jarvis (UK) are the four selected visual artists who, in dialogue with stem cell researchers, will develop newly commissioned works for the upcoming exhibition on stem cells. The artists were chosen through an Open Call, which received submissions from over 100 artists.
The upcoming exhibition opens on March 26, 2026, inviting reflection on how society handles the opportunities and dilemmas brought by stem cell research. It will be shown at both the Medical Museion and Politikens Forhal.
The Open Call is now closed – but you can still read the announcement below.
Read the Open Call
The selected Artists:
Organ of Radical Care: Una Matriz Colaborativa,
2019 – ongoing, Charlotte Jarvis
Charlotte Jarvis (UK)
Charlotte Jarvis works at the intersection of art and science, creating works that question how we understand the body, gender, and biology. She often uses living, biological material to explore how the body can be reimagined through new biotechnologies. For example, she has extracted stem cells to develop “female” sperm, cultivated her own cancer cells, and created a shared womb in collaboration with women, non-binary, and trans people. About her upcoming work, Jarvis says:
“I believe that contemporary stem cell technologies have the potential to propel us into this liminal space, where genetics, gender, sex and biology become complex interwoven systems that defy our ability to define them. My practice for nearly two decades has pursued this question of how we could be co-created and reimagined; our bodies becoming sites for transformation, hybridization and magic.“
Shell (yellow), 2024, Davide Hjort Di Fabio
Davide Hjort Di Fabio (DK/IT)
Davide Hjort di Fabio arbejder primært med skulptur – ofte modelleret efter sin egen krop – som en undersøgelse og transformation af kroppen og dens grænseflader med omverdenen. Værkernes flydende og organiske udtryk afsøger spørgsmål om identitet, krop og køn – og insisterer samtidig på kroppens grundlæggende foranderlighed som en kilde til kreativitet, fornyelse og selverkendelse. Om sit kommende værk på udstillingen siger han:
“By using my own body, I investigate the tension between the desire to preserve the body and the wish to transform it—a theme deeply connected to the regenerative potential of stem cells, which I would like to explore further in this exhibition.”
Architect, 2023, Jens Settergren
Jens Settergren (DK)
Through video, sculpture, sound, and installation, Jens Settergren examines the power that images and symbols have to shape our collective understanding of reality—especially in areas such as medicine and natural sciences. He often transforms iconic or commercial motifs into something more ambiguous, open, or directly unsettling, through a play with materials, visual references, and cultural codes. About his upcoming work for the stem cell exhibition, he says:
“I am deeply interested in exploring the discourse around plasticity and in examining stem cell research as a frontier technology that provokes strong reactions in the collective imaginary.“
Algorithmic Panopticon, 2024, Cecilie Waagner Falkenstrøm
Cecilie Waagner Falkenstrøm (DK)
Cecilie Falkenstrøm is an artist and founder of the studio ARTificial Mind in Copenhagen. She works at the intersection of contemporary art and new digital technologies, including artificial intelligence, machine learning, and 3D modeling. Through interactive works and AI-driven experiences, she explores humans’ relationship with technology, identity, and the cosmos—creating spaces for reflection and dialogue about human existence now and in the future. About her upcoming work, she says:
”I am interested in investigating new stem cell research as a field filled with ambiguity, in a constant tension between hope and hype, fact and fiction, altruism and commercialization.”