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.
KAI MERKE is a multidisciplinary artist who works as a director, performer, and dramaturg. His practice moves between performance and participant-based formats, creating spaces to explore more reciprocal ways of living in relation to one another and the living world.
Kai is a graduate of the Berlin University of the Arts and has a degree in natural and cultural interpretation; he lives on a regenerative farm in West Zealand.
As a director, his credits include *Ruinerne*, developed in collaboration with Filip Vest, with whom he also conceived the show’s idea and concept. The production premiered at Deep Forest Art Land in July 2026. He has also created the production *Havet i munden* (2026) and, as a director, is responsible for *Ruinerne*, developed in collaboration with Filip Vest, with whom he also conceived the idea and concept for the production. The production premiered at Deep Forest Art Land in July 2026. He has also created the production *Havet i munden* (2026) as well as *Thump Thump* (2025), an instruction-based performance piece, exhibition, and listening room.
Kai is a co-founder and chair of the board of the Dance Cooperative in Copenhagen.
His work has been presented internationally at venues including Les Brigittines (BE), Centre de la danse (FR), Tanzquartier Wien (AT), Manila Metropolitan Theater (PH), Fuchsbau Festival (DE), Uferstudios (DE), Glyptoteket (DK), Nikolaj Kunsthal (DK), Den Frie Udstillingsbygning (DK), the National Gallery of Denmark (DK), Sort/Hvid (DK), and the Roskilde Festival (DK).
See the artist