Benedikte Bjerre brings penguins to Kunsthal Rotterdam

FROM 30 APR-1 NOV 2026 | More than a hundred helium-filled baby penguins will drift through Kunsthal Rotterdam from Saturday 30 May. Danish artist Benedikte Bjerre brings her exhibition When the wind blows to HAL 5, pairing playful absurdity with a sharper look at climate, consumption and our habit of buying things we quickly forget.

_{Benedikte Bjerre, The Birds, 2017. Courtesy the artist and palace enterprise. Photo: Gabriele Abbruzzese.}

The exhibition runs from 30 May to 1 November 2026 and brings together two works: The Birds from 2017 and Getting Warmer, a new text work developed specially for the Kunsthal.

Baby penguins fill HAL 5

Step into HAL 5 and you will find yourself among more than a hundred identical helium balloons shaped like baby penguins. They are cute, packed closely together and almost entirely at the mercy of the slightest movement of air.

At first glance, it sounds like a cheerful scene. But Bjerre uses humour as a way in, not as an escape route. The work quickly starts to feel less innocent when you realise these penguins are mass-produced party objects, the kind of things bought for a moment and then forgotten.

Climate change meets party shop culture

The Birds uses the penguin as a recognisable symbol of the polar regions and climate change. In Bjerre’s hands, that symbol becomes tangled with consumer culture, cheap objects and the endless production of things we do not really need.

That makes the installation work on two levels. You can enjoy the absurd sight of baby penguins floating through the Kunsthal, but you are also nudged towards a less comfortable question: what happens when cuteness becomes part of the same system that helps create the problem?

Getting warmer circles the room

For Kunsthal Rotterdam, Bjerre has created Getting Warmer, a text work that runs around the entire exhibition space. The words HOT and COLD alternate along the walls.

The work refers to the children’s game in which someone searches for a hidden object while others guide them with “warmer” or “colder”. At the Kunsthal, that simple game becomes a way to think about trends, politics and climate, where what is hot today may be cold tomorrow.

Humour with a serious undertone

The title When the wind blows fits the exhibition neatly. These balloon penguins move with invisible currents, drifting without direction, while the climate itself becomes less predictable.

Bjerre’s work often begins with recognisable objects and social habits. Here, the familiar shape of a party balloon becomes a quiet commentary on mass consumption, the Anthropocene and the unstable conditions we are all learning to live with.

About Benedikte Bjerre

Benedikte Bjerre was born in Copenhagen in 1987. Her conceptual practice focuses mainly on sculpture and installation, often drawing on sociological and social phenomena.

Her work moves between popular culture, mass consumption and the Anthropocene, the era in which human activity is deeply changing the earth. Bjerre has previously shown work at Frieze London, palace enterprise Copenhagen, Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam and MMK Frankfurt. From 2019 to 2023, she was a professor at the Jutland Art Academy in Aarhus, Denmark.

Benedikte Bjerre. Photo: Karen Rosetzsky.

Exhibition details

Exhibition: Benedikte Bjerre: When the wind blows
Dates: 30 May to 1 November 2026
Location: Kunsthal Rotterdam, HAL 5
Artist: Benedikte Bjerre
Works: The Birds, 2017, and Getting Warmer, 2026
More information: https://www.kunsthal.nl/en/plan-your-visit/exhibitions/benedikte-bjerre-en/

How to get there

Kunsthal Rotterdam sits on the edge of Museumpark, close to Het Nieuwe Instituut, Depot Boijmans Van Beuningen and the Westzeedijk. From Rotterdam Centraal, you can take the metro to Eendrachtsplein and walk from there, or follow the cultural route through the city centre towards Museumpark.