SILVERS Community & Collectors' Collective: Ukrainian Stories with Mikael Colville-Andersen

For our next SILVERS community gathering, we’re stepping into the world of Silver Mikael Colville-Andersen and his new exhibition, SNAFU*: Ukrainian Stories.

In 2022, following Russia’s full-scale invasion, Mikael went to Ukraine to volunteer his skills as an urbanist and support Ukrainian cities and communities. He didn’t go there to make art. But while living and working in Kyiv, art unexpectedly found its way back into his life.

Mikael began sketching as a way of processing what he was experiencing around him. Those sketches gradually became paintings, assemblages and other works, each connected to people he met, things they said, situations he witnessed and moments that stayed with him.

On 15 October, Mikael will welcome the SILVERS community to Collectors’ Collective for a private introduction to the exhibition and the stories behind it.

With a glass of wine in hand, we’ll hear from Mikael about his time in Kyiv, how art returned to his life, and how experiences of fear, humour, humanity and the absurdity of everyday life during war found their way into the work.

Afterwards, there’ll be time to explore the exhibition, talk with Mikael and connect with others from the SILVERS and Collectors’ Collective community.

*The title SNAFU comes from the military acronym “Situation Normal: All Fucked Up” – capturing the strange normalisation of the profoundly abnormal.

About Mikael

Mikael is a Danish urbanist, author, filmmaker, photographer, TV host and artist. He has worked in more than 100 cities around the world and is known for creating and hosting the international documentary series The Life-Sized City.

Before his career in urbanism, Mikael exhibited as an artist in Copenhagen throughout the late 1990s and early 2000s. After many years away from exhibiting, his experiences in Ukraine unexpectedly brought him back to making art.

About Collectors’ Collective

Collectors’ Collective is a Copenhagen-based art community built around a simple idea: collecting art should be social, accessible and a little addictive.

Part gallery, part collectors’ club and part cultural meeting point, Collectors’ Collective brings together emerging and established artists with a growing community of collectors, art lovers and curious newcomers.