ESPIONAGE GLAMOUR - Through Analogue Lenses
Live Performances, Short Film Screenings, Soundtracks from Real Espionage Operations
Part of the official program for Copenhagen Culture Night 2025 - Friday, 10 October 2025, 18:00-24:00
Only access for visitors with a digital or physical Culture Pass
For one unforgettable evening during Copenhagen Culture Night, Laterna Magica Museum invites audiences to step into the world of espionage through the lens of glamorous analogue history and memory.
This immersive experience explores the intersection of secrecy, art, and performance, blending narrative storytelling with live acts, interactive participation, film screenings, and authentic historical artifacts.
Inspired by the rich legacy of espionage and its enduring influence on art and culture, "Espionage Glamour: Through Analogue Lenses" unfolds as a layered performative journey that merges art with spy craft - while also reflecting on espionage as an art form in itself.
Drawing on the allure of vintage film, photography, and authentic espionage devices from the museum collection, the evening reimagines spy histories through a captivating blend of visuals, sound, and performance.
Audiences will encounter untold stories of real Danish spies, Cold War agents, and wartime intelligence operatives, alongside authentic surveillance tools once used by the Stasi, CIA, KGB, and Allied Forces – including covert spy watches, pens, radios, cigarette lighters, and disguised cameras. This tactile and performative event highlights espionage as both cultural history and artistic inspiration.
PERFORMANCE PROGRAM
Sniper of East and West by Elyas Rama
An interactive performance born of siege and survival, where hunger sharpens sight, and images strike back. A story staged on the thin line between vision and weapon.
The Radio Files by José Lezaeta
A sensory voyage into the sound wave that secretly watches. Everyday life turns uncanny, as suspicion hums beneath radio broadcasts. An exploration of circuits, shadows, and Cold War echoes.
Hollywood at 25000 Feet by Laura Kamis Wrang
A journey into the skies where film and fire collide. About secret missions, liberations, and the defeat of Nazi werewolfes.
Cosmic Top Secret by Trine Laier
An award-winning animated mobile game where reality and fantasy intertwine. The audience is invited into a deeply personal, visually striking universe that explores family ties and the hidden shadows of the Cold War.
Espionage Glamour: Film and Reality by Stine Hoxbroe
A journey into the smoke screens and seductive aesthetics of the spy-film universe. Combining real spy cameras with the stylized language of cinema, the performance weaves words, rhythm, and reflection into a story about control, staging, and the invisible games behind the façade.
Infrared (Three Days of the Condor) by Stefano Cagol
A new participatory performance following the long saga of The Body of Energy (of the mind) in which the artist used thermal infrared imaging. What used to visualize vital exchanges, and the fact that we are energy, now evokes his favorite spy film, Three Days of the Condor (1975), which perfectly recalls his childhood during the Cold War. A device that often appears in his performances, a technology that is primarily used for spying, capturing, and killing.
Circling in the Dark by Sara Ahmadi
A story that lingers in the shadows between fact and fiction. Where an ordinary object becomes charged with silence and pursuit. A performance of memories circling in the dark.
UFO Conspiracies and Espionage by Khaled Ramadan
An interactive performance built on archival footage from the 1960s. Viewers are drawn into a world of secret signals, UFOs, and paranoia – where the boundary between fact and imagination is pushed to its limits.
GAME & ART FILM
Undercover
The Man with the Devil
Cosmic Top Secret
EVENING HIGHLIGHTS
Throughout the evening, audiences will be immersed in a series of interconnected performances and experiences that bring espionage to life through art. Performance artists reinterpret spy narratives with movement inspired by classic films, covert missions, and hidden identities. Through shadow play, film projections, and analogue photography techniques, they evoke the atmosphere of secrecy, danger, and betrayal - merging historical references with contemporary interpretive styles. Alongside these live acts, a collection of short experimental films reveals the ingenuity and cinematic elegance of vintage spycraft. From the early spy cameras of the 1910s to later covert surveillance devices, the films highlight the ingenuity and tension of espionage as both craft and performance.
The soundscape of the evening is anchored by a rare audio recording, captured in New York in 1969 by an anonymous spy using an official espionage kit. This original artifact - presented together with the recording itself - becomes part of a live sound performance. Every whisper, footstep, and silence within it carries the psychological weight of surveillance, drawing audiences into the coded rhythm of clandestine communication. "Espionage Glamour: Through Analogue Lenses" is more than an exhibition - it is an artistic journey into the hidden aesthetics of spycraft. By connecting the mystery of analogue photography, authentic espionage artifacts, and the power of live art, the event celebrates creativity, secrecy, and storytelling while reflecting on the enduring cultural fascination with espionage.
Supported by Frederiksberg Kommune
