This September, HEPHAESTUS Living Lab in Bornholm, activities lead by consortium partner BOFA, continues its mission of connecting sustainability, craft, and creativity with a series of engaging activities as part of Bornholm’s Craft & Culture Weeks 2025. From textile transformation to experimental ceramics, participants and visitors are invited to explore how waste materials can inspire both art and awareness.
Bornholm Craft & Culture Weeks 2025
From September 5–21, 2025, Bornholm comes alive with creativity as Bornholm Culture & Craft Weeksmerge into a vibrant celebration of crafts, design and culture.
Explore the full program here:
Exhibition: Ødeland
Vernissage: September 6, 2025, Køppe Contemporary Objects, Rønne
Exhibition period: September 7–13, 2025
For the first time, Ødeland will be exhibited on Bornholm itself. This unique exhibition brings attention to the non-renewable nature of ceramics and the possibilities of rethinking waste as a resource.
Ceramics are made from clay and minerals extracted from the earth—finite geological deposits that are increasingly difficult to obtain. Meanwhile, vast amounts of ceramic waste such as tiles, plates, toilets, and bricks end up in landfills every year.
Artists Christina Schou Christensen, Thora Finnsdottir, and Signe Fensholt have explored how ceramic and glass waste can be transformed into new artistic objects. Their work, developed in collaboration with BOFA and the EU project HEPHAESTUS, demonstrates how discarded materials can become vessels of beauty and sustainability.
The exhibition invites visitors to reflect on human consumption of earth’s resources, and to consider how waste might be reimagined as a source of creative innovation.
More information: Vernissage
More information: Exhibition
Workshop: Transformation of textiles
Rønne Library, September 13, 2025
Together with craftmaker Ann Charlott Skogøy, this hands-on workshop turns textile waste from BOFA’s recycling site into new creations. Participants are invited to reflect on the textures, colors, and hidden stories of discarded fabrics and transform them into works that carry both personal and environmental meaning.
The event highlights the value of waste, exploring how aesthetics and sustainability intersect, and demonstrating the creative potential of materials that would otherwise be thrown away. More than just a workshop, it is also an investigation into how transformation can spark new connections between people, materials, and the environment.
(Workshop open for 12 participants aged 15+.)
More information: Workshop
Giant wooden troll brings zero-waste message to Bornholm
Thomas Dambo’s wooden troll Lomme Ulrik has been invited to Bornholm by BOFA. Until now, Krølle Bølle was the only troll on the island, but during September’s Craft & Culture Weeks, the two-meter-tall Lomme Ulrik will be on display at Grønbechs Gård.
Lomme Ulrik is one of about 150 giant trolls worldwide, created by artist Thomas Dambo from recycled wood. Each troll has its own story and personality. Ulrik carries a glass where people can throw in old “pocket wool,” which will later be used to knit a sweater. The idea is symbolic: waste can be transformed into something new and valuable.
This resonates with BOFA’s mission to eliminate waste on Bornholm by 2032. They aim to reframe waste as a resource, just as Ulrik does. The initiative is part of the EU-funded HEPHAESTUS project, which seeks to make crafts more sustainable by reusing and extending the life of materials.
BOFA sees the troll as a creative way to raise awareness about sustainability, connect with visitors through “slow tourism,” and show how crafts can inspire new behaviors. They are proud to collaborate with Dambo, whose art is internationally known.
After September, Lomme Ulrik will move elsewhere in Denmark, but during the Craft & Culture Weeks, a panel debate will explore whether Bornholm should work to host a permanent troll.
More info: Video about the Giant Wooden Troll
About Living Lab
A Living Lab is a dynamic environment where people come together to test, refine, and develop new ideas. It connects researchers, businesses, and communities to create practical solutions for real-world challenges. By bridging innovation with everyday practice, a Living Lab helps transform ideas into adaptable and sustainable solutions. In HEPHAESTUS project, we explore the future of craft through a Green Living Lab–Bornholm.
More info about Living Lab