The Glyptotek shows a newly commissioned installation by Abbas and Abou-Rahme rooted in the museum’s ancient collection, alongside three works from the artists’ long-term research project And yet my mask is powerful. 

At the heart of the exhibition lies a collection of 9,000-year-old neolithic masks excavated in the West Bank and the surrounding areas. For many years, these masks were kept in private collections, hidden from public view until displayed at the Israel Museum in 2014. Visiting the exhibition online through a virtual tour, the artists decided to ‘hack’ the masks by replicating them using 3D-printing technology and subsequently returning the copies to the West Bank as an act of homecoming. 

Through poetry and political thinking, the exhibited works suggest an imaginative, or even parallel, time without occupation and colonial legacies.  

About Basel Abbas and Ruanne Abou-Rahme
Living and working between New York City and Ramallah, the artists Basel Abbas (b. Nicosia, Cyprus, 1983) and Ruanne Abou-Rahme (b. Boston, USA, 1983) have collaborated as a duo since 2007.  

Abbas and Abou-Rahme’s work is deeply rooted in the history and circumstances of Palestinian lives and culture, shaped by their upbringing in communities across Ramallah, Jerusalem and Galilee. However, their work is always situated beyond the individual as they incorporate multiple perspectives and sources in their research, including field work, oral history, personal encounters and self-authored texts, historical records, archaeological findings, archival research and found footage from the Internet. 

They have had institutional solo exhibitions at, among others, MIT List Visual Arts Center, Cambridge, MA (2024), Astrup Fearnley Museet, Oslo (2023); the Museum of Modern Art, New York (2022); Common Guild, Glasgow (2022); Art Institute of Chicago (2021); Centraal Museum, Utrecht (2020); Kunstverein, Hamburg (2018); Art Jameel Project Space Dubai (2017); and Institute for Contemporary Art, Philadelphia (2015).  

Their work has been included in major international biennials such as Sharjah Biennial (2023, 2015); Berlin Biennale (2022); Busan Biennial (2018); Gwangju Biennale and São Paulo Biennial (both 2014); Istanbul Biennial (2013); Liverpool Biennial (2010); and Venice Biennale (2009).

Unique collaboration
The exhibition is the second in the series of the three-year collaboration between CC and the Glyptotek titled Hosting Histories: Revisiting Cultural Heritage of the Middle East and Beyond, which seeks to revisit the cultural heritage of antiquity and its significance today. 

Between 2023 and 2025, three contemporary artistic practices will each create a two-part exhibition that relates to the Glyptotek’s ancient collections and is co-hosted by both institutions. 

Read more about the exhibition at Copenhagen Contemporary 

Public transport
Bus 2A runs directly between the Glyptotek’s main entrance and Copenhagen Contemporary. The trip from the Tietgensgade stop at Tivoli Gardens to the final stop at Refshaleøen takes 20 minutes. From there, it is a five-minute walk to Copenhagen Contemporary. Bus 2A departs every 8 minutes on weekdays and every 20 minutes on weekends. 

Discount on Admission: Annual Pass
Annual pass holders to the Glyptotek can visit Copenhagen Contemporary for free throughout the exhibition period.  

Discount on Admission: Tickets
All visitors can get a 20% discount on admission at the other location by presenting a ticket from one place – upon presentation of the ticket, receipt, or e-ticket. The discount can only be obtained at the ticket counter and not when purchasing a ticket online. 

The three-year exhibition programme at CC and the Glyptotek is generously supported by:

The exhibition at Copenhagen Contemporary is further supported by:

A.P. Møller og Hustru Chastine Mc-Kinney Møllers Fond til almene Formaal

The exhibition at the Glyptotek is further supported by:

Cover photo: Basel Abbas and Ruanne Abou-Rahme, And yet my mask is powerful Part 1 (2016). Video still. Courtesy of the artists.