Stranger Than Kindness: The Virtual Nick Cave Exhibition
In 2020, Royal Danish Library presented the critically acclaimed exhibition Stranger Than Kindness: The Nick Cave Exhibition. Now the exhibition returns as a dynamic and interactive online experience.
"Nick Cave's ability to tell stories, even in the spatial format, is truly unique - and his contribution to the exhibition has been incredibly generous." - Christina Back, Head of Exhibitions at the Danish Royal Library
The exhibition Stranger Than Kindness: The Nick Cave Exhibition presented a unique insight into the creative world of musician, storyteller and cultural icon Nick Cave. With more than 300 objects, collected or created by Nick Cave over six decades, Stranger Than Kindness was thus a work of art in itself - an unorthodox fusion of biography, autobiography and fiction. The exhibition was developed especially for Royal Danish Library in close collaboration with Nick Cave.
Now the exhibition returns as a dynamic, interactive online experience - and with a new audio guide recorded with Nick Cave exclusively for the digital launch.
A guided tour with Nick Cave himself
Stranger Than Kindness: The Virtual Nick Cave Exhibition is a collaboration between Nick Cave Productions and MadPixel. The exhibition is based on an ultra-high-resolution 3D scan of the original exhibition. Using MadPixel's Second Canvas platform, visitors can move around the 3D version of the exhibition, zoom in on objects and artworks in gigapixel quality, and explore the many new interactive elements.
Visitors can experience the exhibition in the company of Nick Cave's voice in an exclusive audio guide that unfolds his own reflections on the exhibition and its content. The recordings were made in 2025 as a conversation between Nick Cave and Royal Danish Library's Head of Exhibitions, Christina Back.
The original Stranger Than Kindness exhibition was developed and designed by Christina Back from Royal Danish Library and Janine Barrand from Arts Centre Melbourne in collaboration with Nick Cave for The Black Diamond in 2020. The exhibition was supported by main sponsors Gucci and Danish Beckett Foundation.
The physical exhibition was named one of the world's must-see cultural events of 2020 by Time Out Magazine and created excitement among both audiences and media:
A unique exhibition
- Gaffa
A moving visualization of inspiration and love
- Information
A gigantic and impressive collection, where we come completely into the rooms of Nick Cave's life and development (...)
- Magasinet Kunst
Lets us into the mind of an artist and impresses (...)
- Politiken
