GRASP OPENING: Friday

We gather for a shared experience with highlights from the program. Besides introducing you to what’s ahead, the openings mark a core value of GRASP: that art plays a vital role in sustainable change. That’s why every opening begins with an artistic experience.

As Friday’s artistic prelude, you can experience Action Man Collecting Sweethearts, a performance by visual artist Nicolai Risbjerg. Dressed in medieval-inspired costumes and armed with homemade weapons of love, Action Man and his army of romantics will flirt with the audience, fall in love with them, and hand out love letters and small gifts. While Action Man tries to appear as a hyper-masculine hero, he simultaneously plays with and challenges traditional ideals of gender and strength – here, love is both a language and a weapon.

Action Man Collecting Sweethearts was first performed at Roskilde Festival 2025 in collaboration with Art Hub Copenhagen.

In addition to his performance at GRASP, you can also experience Nicolai Risbjerg’s works in Roskilde city center until September 29. The works are a series of sculptural love letters in the form of paper planes, which have adorned the city throughout the summer. The sculptures are realized in collaboration between Roskilde Festival and Roskilde Municipality and stretch from Stændertorvet into the city center.

After the artistic opening, we will hear from speakers in the program, including Selma de Montgomery from The Nordic Climate Justice Coalition, Rob Hopkins from Transition Network and author Shekufe Heiberg, among others.

Participants

• Nicolai Risbjerg, visual artist
• Selma de Montgomery, The Nordic Climate Justice Coalition
• Shekufe Heiberg, author
• Rob Hopkins, Co-founder of Transition Network and Transition Town Totnes

This session will be held in English.