Deep beneath the green lawns of Søndermarken lies a vast underground world where daylight never reaches. Here, the darkness, cold and dampness envelop you, so that you not only view the art, but are completely enveloped by it.
Every year, Cisternerne invites an internationally recognised artist or architect to create an exhibition specifically for its underground space – an exhibition that engages all the senses and interacts with Cisternerne’s unique architecture, climate, atmosphere, and history.
Jakob Kudsk Steensen: Psychosphere
16 March – 30 November 2025
This year’s exhibition at Cisternerne is created by Jakob Kudsk Steensen, and it draws from the artist’s fieldwork and scientific research into the origins of life at underwater volcanoes. The exhibition transforms Cisternerne’s underground space into a portal to the deep sea, where video projections, sound, light, and sculptures converge to tell a story about the interconnectedness that all living species on Earth share.
Cisternerne is part of the Frederiksberg Museums, which also includes Bakkehuset, STORM and Møstings.
Cisternerne
Søndermarken
Opposite Frederiksberg Palace
Monday: Closed
Tuesday: 11:00 – 18:00
Wednesday: 11:00 – 18:00
Thursday: 11:00 – 20:00
Friday: 12:00 – 18:00
Saturday: 11:00 – 18:00
Sunday: 11:00 – 18:00
Open seasonally from 16 March to 30 November 2025. Closed during winter.
Adults: 120 DKK
Children (0 – 18 years): 0 DKK
Students: 90 DKK
Young people (18 – 27 years): 90 DKK
Frederiksberg Museum Pass: 180 DKK
Prices are subject to change. Please visit the museum’s website for more information.
Cisternerne is an old high-altitude reservoir that once supplied the capital with clean drinking water and could hold as much as 16 million litres of water. Excavation began in 1856, and when it was completed three years later, it helped solve the major water supply problems of the time. Cisternerne ceased to function as a drinking water reservoir in 1933, but were only emptied of water in 1981.
Today, Cisternerne is an underground art space and a pocket under the city. Here, the site’s unique climate and surroundings merge with art to create a sensory art experience that is so site-specific that it can’t be experienced anywhere else.