Visitors may be interested to discover an unusual and thought-provoking exhibition by a famous Danish photographer. 

The exhibition of conceptual photography by Søren Dahlgaard will be officially launched last tonight (July 29) at the National Art Gallery in Male’, the capital of the Maldives. The ground-breaking exhibition is one of the first of its kind in the Maldives by a foreign artist. 

Søren Dahlgaard, who is from Copenhagen in Denmark, studied at the Slade School of Fine Arts in London. His work is conceptual and often incorporates an “understated slapstick” in his performances and staged photography series.

Entitled Dough Portraits, the new exhibition combines portraits of people with –as the title suggests – dough. A total of 99 people appear in the Dough Portraits series. 

Søren explains: “Dough and bread are universal. 

“They are things we can all relate to. We know how it is made, how it feels to touch it, but when it appears in art, it can be difficult to place. It wakes people’s curiosity.”

Søren has also exhibited at the prestigious MoMA (Museum of Modern Art) in New York, Ileana Tounta Contemporary Arts Centre, Athens, The Singapore Biennale 08 and the National Gallery, Copenhagen.

The Dough Portrait photo series was initially launched at the National Art Gallery in Denmark in 2008, before moving to the National Museum in Kosovo in May 2010 and now The National Art Gallery of the Maldives. The exhibition runs until August 10.