Sydney Opera House celebrates 40th anniversary with a special focus on Denmark

The Sydney Opera House has invited Denmark to participate in the celebration of its 40th anniversary. Young Danish architects, designers, and musicians will be given a prominent display window. The Crown Prince Couple of Denmark are invited as patrons of the celebration, which will take place on October 20 – 28, 2013.

When Jørn Utzon’s world-famous opera house in Sydney celebrates its 40th anniversary in October 2013, Denmark’s most important contribution to world architecture will provide new generations of Danish architects, designers, musicians, and cultural industries an attractive platform for exposure.

Louise Herron, CEO, Sydney Opera House says:
“The Opera House has been central to Australian life and identity for forty years. It has also been integral to forging important links between our two countries that continue to strengthen and evolve to this day, which is why it is so appropriate that new generations of Danes play a central part in our 40th anniversary celebrations in October. Our anniversary is very much about safeguarding Jørn Utzon’s masterpiece for future generations of artists, visitors and audiences.”

The Opera House has put together an ambitious program of events stretching from October 20 – 28. In collaboration with the Danish Agency for Culture and a number of Danish partners, the 40 years anniversary of the opera house will be turned into a major, joint Danish-Australian cultural event. The programme will include, among other things:

• International architecture and design symposium – taking its starting point in Utzon’s masterpiece, the symposium will invite Danish, Australian, and international top talents to discuss future challenges. The symposium will be curated by professor and architect Anthony Burke, former curator for Australia at the Venice Biennale. An advisory panel from Denmark – consisting of the Danish Architecture Centre, Danish Crafts, and the Danish Agency for Culture – and from the Australia – consisting of the Institute of Architects, the Registration Board of Architects, and Object – will assist in the planning of the symposium.
  The symposium will be held on October 25, 2013 at the Sydney Opera House with the Crown Prince Couple in attendance.
  
  
• Danish design exhibition - an integrated exhibition of Danish architects, designers, and Danish cultural industries at the Sydney Opera House. The exhibition will be curated with support from the Danish Arts Foundation by architect Gerard Reinmuth and architect Karen Kjærgaard. The exhibition will be an integrated part of the Sydney Architecture Festival.
  The exhibition will be open from October 25 until November15, Western Foyers, Sydney Opera House, with the Crown Prince Couple in attendance.
  More information available at www.sydneyoperahouse.com

• The Danish Crown Prince Couple’s Awards for 2013 – The Sydney Opera House, the Danish Broadcasting Corporation, and the Bikuben Foundation are inviting a long list of Danish artists to perform in connection with the anniversary. The Danish Agency for Culture will support the artists’ travel and accommodation expenses. The artists will perform, inter alia, at the Sydney Opera House on October 28 in connection with the awards ceremony. The Crown Prince Couple’s Awards for 2013 will be produced in collaboration with the Danish Broadcasting Corporation (DR) and the Special Broadcasting Service (SBS). The awards ceremony will be broadcasted by DR1 and SBS to Danish and Australian viewers. On following days, the Danish artists will be performing at various venues throughout Sydney.
  Read more about the Danish royal visit at www.sydneyoperahoue.com
  

The 40th anniversary of the opening of the Sydney Opera House will be celebrated in Denmark with a three-part exhibition at the Utzon Center in Aalborg. Heretofore never-exhibited original sketches and models of Jørn Utzon’s Australian masterpiece will be displayed. Moreover, a portion of the opera house’s stairway will be constructed on which the public may sit and experience the social aspect of Jørn Utzon’s architecture. In addition, the Utzon Center, the Danish Architecture Centre, and the Sydney Opera House have established a collaboration to develop digital teaching materials, so Danish children can take a virtual tour of the Sydney Opera House as a part of their architecture education programme.

Read more at www.utzoncenter.dk

Background
The Sydney Opera House has invited Denmark to participate in the official 40th anniversary celebration of Jørn Utzon’s world-famous architectural work. The Crown Prince Couple of Denmark have been invited by the Sydney Opera House to be patrons of the celebration, which will take place on October 20 – 28. A significant focus of the October Anniversary will be taking the Opera House’s Danish roots and tracing them into new generations and new talents through a series of cultural events with the participation of Danish and Australian artists, architects, and designers. Among the Danish collaborators are the Danish Agency for Culture, the Danish Arts Foundation, the Danish Architecture Centre, the Danish Broadcasting Corporation (DR), the Bikuben Foundation, the Royal Danish Embassy in Australia, and the Danish Consulate General in Sydney.

Read more about the official 40th anniversary of the Sydney Opera House at www.sydneyoperahouse.com
Facts about the Danish contribution to 40th celebrations at www.kulturstyrelsen.dk

Contact
Sune Blicher, Senior Advisor, The Danish Agency for Culture,
phone +45 3374 4562, sub@kulturstyrelsen.dk