Art Talk - Power Animals: Nature's Voices in Words and Images

An evening where literature, visual art, and nature education meet in a shared story about wild animals that have returned to Danish nature.

Author, lecturer, nature photographer, and poet Rune Engelbreth Larsen is the evening's central guest. Drawing on his current book "Power Animals" - a hybrid of nature poetry and nature education, where wolves, sea eagles, moose, wild boar, and wild horses speak for themselves - he reads and tells about animals that have historically been displaced or extinct in Denmark but have now returned. The evening opens with Merete Vigen Hansen, chair of the Danish Nature Conservation Society Varde, who places the event in a local and current nature context.

At the start of the evening, a large newly created painting by Gitte Degnemark is unveiled, created especially for the occasion, featuring the same five animals as central motifs. The event takes no political stance but uses art and literature to open for reflection and dialogue - not least about the wolf, which is an emotionally charged topic in western Jutland.

The event takes place in Boderne at Von Lügenhals in Varde. Guests can register in advance for a special art menu (for a fee).

See the full programme for ArtMatter Local: https://artmatter.dk/art-matter-local-2026