The Christmas calendar is an artistic collaboration between a number of writers, visual artists, choreographers, and musicians, who make up the entire cast of actors. Among others, you can experience the award-winning musician Clarissa Connelly in the role of the mysterious Karen, who plays opposite writers Fie Martens Ljungmann and Ulrikke Bak, musician Sø Skinnebach, and many others from the Danish art scene.

Karen from the Mill was created by artists Aske Olsen, Marie Vedel, and Selina Rom Andersen, who are also part of the cast.

An absurd Christmas tale
At first glance, the scene is set for a classic, nostalgic Christmas calendar with the story of a stranger who comes to a small village and is swept up in a magical tale involving elves, an old mill, and the search for something. And yet, not quite. In the story of René, who comes to town to find his half-sister, it is as if the overall plot is drowned in a sea of absurdities, and the Christmas calendar itself forgets what it is actually about.

Instead, expectant viewers are sucked into an alternative Christmas universe, where images, characters, and situations are woven together into a new whole. Here we meet, among others, the angel Rygestop and the prayer person, who houses the town’s decoupage workshop in his prayer shop and follows the Christmas porridge that is smuggled in urns.

The result is a magical blend of classic Christmas calendar and contemporary art – woven together with understated humor and the Christmas calendar aesthetic we know so well.

The doors to the Christmas calendar can be opened online via the museum’s Instagram profile, @museet_for_samtidskunst, or the website karenfromthemill.dk. At the same time, the day’s episode is shown at four different libraries across the country: Dokk1 in Aarhus, Odense Main Library, Esbjerg Main Library, and Roskilde Library.

Each episode lasts approximately 6 minutes.