Each year, Aarhus gathers to celebrate “Rolex for Everyone Day,” a tradition that began in 2012 when rapper $UO transformed Paludan Müllers Vej into a party celebrating the democratisation of luxury. The day honours a vision in which collective access to goods replaces individual competition. With his signature double-time flow, $UO rapped about wealth redistribution and the end of a system where “your boss earned more with your hands than you ever did.” “Rolex for Everyone Day” brings together the city’s hip-hop scene and local residents in a celebration of social equality. The event is part of Aarhus’ broader model for using art and culture to maximise enjoyment for the greatest number of people
Kristoffer Ørum & Emilio Hestepis: Aarhus’er #1 Kunsthal Aarhus → 27 June – 2 November 2025 → Opening: Friday 27.06.2025, 4:30–7 pm
Aarhus’er #1 is a collaborative exhibition by artist Kristoffer Ørum and rapper Emilio Hestepis. Together, they reimagine the city of Aarhus through hip-hop, DIY culture and artificial intelligence, transforming Kunsthal Aarhus into a fictional version of the city shaped by alternative rhythms, graffiti and speculative memory.
The exhibition presents a 15-metre legal graffiti wall, a giant record player, lo-fi mixtapes, deepfakes, DIY furniture, and historical snapshots from a city that could have been. At its centre is hip-hop—not as a fixed genre, but as a set of evolving local practices. DJing, MCing, breakdance and graffiti appear in distorted, Aarhus-specific forms that blur fact and fiction, protest and play.
The show is the most expansive chapter to date in Ørum’s ongoing counterfactual project Frihed, lighed og hip-hop. But here, that work becomes something new—a shared platform developed in close collaboration with Hestepis, who also contributes an original soundtrack.
Supported by the Obel Family Fund, New Carlsberg Foundation, Danish Arts Foundation, Augustinus Foundation, C.A.C Fonden, Knud Højgaards Foundation, Lemvigh-Müller Fonden, and Spar Nord Foundation.
More info: kunsthalaarhus.dk/da/udstillinger/kristoffer-oerum-emilio-hestepis-aarhuser-1
With thanks to Katrine Mailonovsky, Mathias Borello, Hannah Mathiesen Keegan, Michael Bolt Fisher, Salling, Batch Productions, Brian Sørensen, Tania Ørum, and many more.
#contemporaryart #hiphop #aarhus #alternativehistory #exhibition #kunsthalaarhus #FrihedLighedOgHipHop #aarhusernummer1
