At lunchtime today the European Economic and Social Committee threw its doors open for a public screening of a documentary film about the comprehensive restoration and embellishment with modern art of Frederik VIII’s Palace in Copenhagen before it became the official palace of the Crown Prince couple. The Committee is hosting a photographic exhibition (also open to the public) about the complicated resoration project and in late January the royal couple themselves came to visit the Committee and the exhibition. Their commitment to the project and their enthusiasm for modern art and artists comes across strongly in the film, as does their essential simplicity and attachment to their young family. Other points I found particularly interesting in the film were the interactions between modern artists and techniques and an ancient building and materials, the very particular way in which rooms (with pre-imposed dimensions and perspectives) may inspire commissioned artists, and the necessarily open-ended nature of such a restoration project (towards the end of the project, for example, dry rot was discovered in a wooden beam, imposing extra costs and stretching the completion date). The film is available on a loop alongside the photographic exhibition and is worth a watch if you’re in the neighbourhood. The house of organised civil society likes opening its doors to the public!