The Ruins
Nordskoven
THE RUINS is a multidisciplinary performance by Filip Vest and Kai Merke about hope, community, and the idea of alternative ways of living together. In the middle of the forest, a fictional ruin emerges, populated by beings from another world who are trying to build a new society amid the remnants of the past.
The Artists
Filip Vest is a visual artist who graduated from the Malmö Art Academy. Through performance, installation, and film, they explore identity, performativity, and labor. Their works challenge social structures and norms and explore how we can imagine other ways of being in the world.
Filip Vest is part of YOUNG CONTEMPORARY ART at Deep Forest Art Land.
Choreographer, dramaturg, and voice coach.
Kai works with voice, dance, and dramaturgy to create connections between people and their surroundings, with a focus on challenging the Western perspective on nature. He is a co-founder of Dance Cooperative (Copenhagen) and has created performances such as *Havet i munden* and *Prøvedage* (2025). Together with Filip Vest, he is one of the creators of *Ruinerne*, serving as creative director. Kai is a graduate of HZT Berlin and holds a bachelor’s degree in natural and cultural heritage management.