Live Art for Children

Live Art for Children is a festival where children, young people and adults actively participate as co-creators in artworks. Since 2014, the festival has presented international artists with live art experiences exploring questions of climate, identity, democracy and community.

This year's edition is inspired by Aarhus Municipality's social policy challenges and brings artists from Denmark, Sweden and the UK to the city. Secret Hotel investigates water, climate crisis and future resources in The H2O Game. Filip Vest invites audiences to dance in Heart on the Sleeve, where euphoria and vulnerability meet on the dance floor. Jamal Gerald leads intimate one-to-one conversations about identity and privilege in You See.

The public can also contribute to visions of the future in John Huntington's The New School, weave personal memories into Leif Holmstrand's collaborative work Ruin Recalled, or let children take control of the future welfare society in Mette Riise's A Future with a Future. In the humorous advice show Ask the Flock, artists and nature researchers answer the audience's questions inspired by ants, birds and other species. Class Exchange sets Aarhus schoolchildren to investigate social communities based on the day they swapped lives with each other.

The events take place in Dokk1 during the Aarhus Festival at these locations:
• The Ramp: John Huntington: The New School
• The Square: Jamal Gerald: You See
• The View: Leif Holmstrand: Ruin Recalled
• Main Hall: Live Art Denmark: Class Exchange
• Main Hall: Secret Hotel: The H2O Game
• Small Hall: Filip Vest: Heart on the Sleeve
• Small Hall: Mette Riise: A Future with a Future
• Small Hall: Ask the Flock

The festival is produced by Live Art Denmark and supported by the Knud and Dagny Gad Andersen Foundation, the Danish Arts Foundation, Nordjyllandsfonden, Demant Foundation, Swedish-Danish Cultural Foundation, Aarhus Festival and Aarhus Libraries. Read more on the Aarhus Festival website: Live Art for Children 2026.