Kristoffer Ørum & Emilio Hestepis
Aarhus'er #1

Aarhus'er #1 is a counterfactual hip-hop exhibition that takes its point of departure in the Aarhus music scene of the 1980s. During that decade, the city’s popular music scene enjoyed a golden age – but what if acts such as TV2, Gnags, Thomas Helmig and På Slaget 12 had emerged from a hip-hop labour movement instead? What if a local version of the global hip-hop subculture had not been swept away by globalisation in the 1990s but instead evolved into a new collective and political movement rooted in DIY culture and grassroots organisation?

This exhibition is the first in a long-term collaboration between Kunsthal Aarhus and the music venues Radar and VoxHall. Here, visual artist Kristoffer Ørum and musician Emilio Hestepis use AI, rap music and installation art to imagine a radically different world.

The exhibition is supported by:
The Obelisk Family Fund
New Carlsberg Foundation
Danish Arts Foundation
Augustinus Foundation
C.A.C Fonden
Knud Højgaards Foundation
Lemvigh-Müller Fonden
Spar Nord Foundation

Image: Kristoffer Ørum & Emilio Hestepis, Aarhus'er #1, poster campaign, 2025 Courtesy of the artist.
Image: Kristoffer Ørum & Emilio Hestepis, Aarhus'er #1, poster campaign, 2025 Courtesy of the artist.
Image: Kristoffer Ørum & Emilio Hestepis, Aarhus'er #1. 2025. Courtesy of the artist.
Image: Kristoffer Ørum & Emilio Hestepis, Aarhus'er #1. 2025. Courtesy of the artist.