Step inside the opening of the Stine Goya-curated show at Kunsten Museum of Modern Art in Aalborg

Art and architecture have long since been the primary source of inspiration for Stine Goya’s collections, which often revel in painterly prints. Now, the Danish designer takes her affinity for art to new heights, curating an exhibition at the Kunsten Museum of Modern Art in Aalborg dubbed “If You See What I See”. Drawing on the through line of separation and longing, Goya delved into the 4000-plus works in the museum’s collection to curate a show that’s both visually striking and melancholically poetic. Not unlike her clothes, come to think of it.

“This opportunity is like a dream I didn't know I had coming true,” says Goya, noting that the project kicked off by way of an email from Kunsten. Though she’s collaborated with many artists over the years – David Risley, John Kørner, Yilmaz Sen – Goya has, as she puts it, “stayed on her own turf”, screen-printing paintings onto silk scarves and frocks or commissioning an artist to create a set design for a runway show. “At the museum and as a curator, the agenda is different,” she says. “Here I want to be able to focus 100 per cent on the aesthetic.”

Throughout the stunning Alvar Aalto-designed museum (the only building outside of Finland Aalto designed), Goya plays with colour and space, light and material. Most importantly, she is totally detached from trends and budgets and all the other trappings that come with designing a collection. “Here I want to be able to work more freely in the intersection between design and art with my own agenda,” she says.

But Goya didn’t choose pieces on aesthetics alone and that notion of separation – which, she notes, encompasses death, desire, absence and hope – unfolds as one explores the space and digs deeper into the work. Standout pieces include “Ukend Dig Selv” (know yourself) by Danish artist Morten Søndergaard – 180-square-metre slab of marble engraved with existential poems in the form of questions that the viewer can discover by walking across the work. Elsewhere, one finds a photo by Greenlandic photographer Inuuteq Storch dubbed “Keepers Of The Ocean” that elevates everyday domesticity into something to long for. Other standout names represented in the exhibition are Lucio Fontana, Lene Adler Petersen and Kirsten Ortwed.

Yesterday evening, a handful of Danish art and fashion power players caught the 20-minute flight to Aalborg to take in the show firsthand, wandering amongst the works handpicked by Goya. “The open space gives the audience the opportunity to move intuitively through the exhibition to create their own experience,” says Goya. “That has always been our ambition. To create meaningful spaces, beautiful plateaus and offer surprises.”

See all the snaphots from the opening and more from the exhibition below.