In the Studio Cecilia Vicuña, New York

Cecilia Vicuña’s practice moves fluidly between poetry, sculpture, textile, and performance, always returning to what she calls arte precario: an art built from debris, unspun wool, feathers, and stone that she has been making since 1966. Rooted in Indigenous Andean knowledge systems, and above all in the khipu—the knotted cord long dismissed as a mere accounting device—her work reframes precariousness and fragility as forms of consciousness rather than loss.

Person with long wavy hair sits on a stool in a gallery, looking at the camera, wearing a navy jacket; left wall covered in blue Life posters.

In the Studio Robin Kid, Rambouillet, France

Robin Kid works with images that feel less made than encountered. Cowboys, cops, fragments of cartoon Americana: images that existed long before he picked them up, suspended somewhere between memory and mass culture. Raised in the south of the Netherlands by his grandparents, in a former mining neighbourhood bordering an American army base, he grew up with the idea of the U.S. glowing faintly from the other side of the fence.

Adult female with blonde ponytail in a dark sweatshirt stands with arms crossed amid tall cacti in a sunlit garden.

In the Studio Megan Plunkett, Los Angeles, CA

American artist Megan Plunkett turns away from depicting people, instead focusing on everyday objects. Drawn from consumer culture, and the film industry, her carefully constructed photographic series cultivate a sense of estrangement within things that might otherwise feel familiar.

Two adults posing in an art gallery; woman in a mint blazer dress, man in a navy pinstripe suit, colorful artworks on the walls.

Collector Stories Oliver Elst and Laura del Arco, Berlin

Oliver Elst and Laura del Arco are a well-known collector couple based in Berlin and Barcelona. Laura, a fashion designer and art director and Oliver a former car designer, both long term expats in Shanghai, China, entered the world of art collecting several years ago and, since then, have built significant art collections individually and together.

Culture Briefing

Where to meet art, culture and creativity

Sponsored Link

CHART is the leading event for Nordic contemporary art and an editorial platform focusing on the region's contemporary art scene. CHART bring together dedicated individuals and inspiring professionals to impact the future of the arts community in the Nordics and beyond. The next edition of CHART will take place from 27 – 30 August 2026. Each year, CHART presents an art fair with the leading galleries in the region, alongside younger galleries with more emerging programmes, a vast public programme of talks, performances, films and music, a site-specific sculptural exhibition in the iconic amusement park Tivoli Gardens, as well as ongoing editorial releases. Building on Copenhagen’s strongholds of art, design, and architecture CHART explores artistic crossovers and bring the arts community together in all its diversity.

Nordic Notes

Back view of a person with a top knot wearing a black T-shirt reading 'DEAD INSIDE BUT STILL HAVE FUN', standing in a bright attic studio.

Toni R. Toivonen, Hämeenkoski
Toni R. Toivonen reflects on the duality of life. Moving between abstraction and realism, his golden-hued works on brass depict decaying animals lying recumbent. As the dead animal’s body decomposes it leaves its presence on a sheet of brass, an aesthetic image that is both peaceful and dignified.
read more