12/08/2025
Three bronze poodles conquer Augustenborg Sculpture Park — Unveiling Esben Weile Kjær’s The Poodle’s Core at Augustenborg_Project
Unveiling: 6 September 2025 at 15:00
Venue: Augustenborg_Project Sculpture Park, Palævej 9,
6440 Augustenborg, Als (DK)
Three mirror-polished bronze poodles take up permanent residence in the palace park at Augustenborg_Project. The Poodle’s Core by internationally acclaimed Danish artist Esben Weile Kjær will be unveiled at a public event, inviting the art community and curious visitors to encounter a new icon for the region.
With The Poodle’s Core, Weile Kjær re-draws Danish symbol heritage: the historic silver lions of Rosenborg Castle—emblems of monarchy and economic authority—are transformed into show poodles with exaggerated features and a pop-cultural staging. The result is a sculptural meditation on identity, branding, and the performative nature of our time, with Goethe’s line “Das war also des Pudels Kern! (”So that was the poodle's core!") as a conceptual key to what lies beneath the glittering surface.
With The Poodle’s Core we are writing a new chapter in Augustenborg_Project’s story: a work that is both playful and deeply serious in its reading of power symbols and our era’s image culture. We are proud to share it with the public—in the park, under open skies. Esben Weile Kjær's work joins the long list of historic artists and thinkers who have visited and contributed to Augustenborg, such as H.C. Andersen, Schiller, and Thorvaldsen.
About the artist
Esben Weile Kjær (b. 1992) is a graduate of the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts. His practice spans performance, installation, and sculpture, exploring nostalgia, authenticity, and generational identity. Current solo exhibitions include Rudolph Tegner Museum (Denmark), Amant (New York. USA), and Salzburger Kunstverein (Austria).
About Augustenborg_Project
Augustenborg_Project is a vibrant exhibition and sculpture park in the historic palace park in Augustenborg on the island of Als, Denmark. Through exhibitions, commissions, and our own collection, we create encounters between contemporary art, landscape, and community.
Photo by Casper Sejersen