We would like to invite you to a Resting Lab on February 26, at O—Overgaden, Overgaden neden Vandet 17, 9.30- 16.00.

Our environments and bodies are exhausted. We urgently need rest. And we need to imagine and enact resting otherwise than through the lens of wellness-capitalism, which perpetuates the un-rest of other places and beings. Rest must be reclaimed as a practice of transformative care—rooted in agency, community, activism, and creativity.

From December 2024 to May 2025, The Resting Labs offer four exploratory days focused on rest as an embodied critical and artistic practice. Through discussions, practices, and collaborations, and inviting diverse lecturers and practitioners, the labs seek to challenge the logics of production, extraction, and consumption. Each lab explores the (im)possibilities to rest from unique perspectives, aiming to cultivate regenerative ways of being within our strained societies and environments.

Partnering with institutions across disciplines, the labs foster cross-sector collaborations, applying rest as a principle from the personal to planetary levels. Rest becomes a radical act—resisting exploitative systems and embracing care, compassion, and presence. Resting not just because it is necessary, but because it is revolutionary.

For our second lab in the second series, taking place on February 26 from 9.30 to 16.00, we will be exploring themes around rest and institutions - from institutional spaces TO institutionalized behaviour, expectations and thought patterns - and how we can challenge them and intervene with restful practices in them. Taking our point of departure in O—Overgaden’s spaces, we will seek to find and share rest as an expanding presence with/in the institution and beyond.

The Labs are free and open to all. If you would like to participate in the morning session on February 26 (at 9.30 - 13.00), please register here.

The afternoon session will take place during O—Overgaden’s opening hours and does not require in-advance registration.

With restful anticipation,

the organizers: Lukas Lund, Linda Lapina, Nana-Francisca Schottländer and others

Accessibility:

Please reach out to Anne Kølbæk Iversen, ak@overgaden.org to request an accommodation or for inquiries about accessibility.

O—Overgaden is currently working to establish improved access to its building which is included in the Danish Conservation Act of 1918 (Fredningsloven). We are collaborating with Rønnow architects on a lift solution through the main entrance to O—Overgaden’s ground floor as well as an elevator connecting to the other floors.

O—Overgaden provides a stair climber including a manual wheelchair, operated by our staff, which can assist people with little or no walking ability into the building. Please note that not all wheelchair models fit the stair climber. Maximum load is 160 kg. O—Overgaden’s stair climber is a temporary solution for accessing the building.