Inside the cubist, red-brick walls of Aarhus’ showpiece art museum are nine floors of sweeping curves, soaring spaces and white walls, showcasing a wonderful selection of Golden Age works, Danish modernism, and an abundance of arresting and vivid contemporary art. The museum's cherry-on-top is the spectacular Your Rainbow Panorama , a 360-degree rooftop walkway offering technicolour views of the city through its glass panes in all shades of the rainbow.
Intriguingly, ARoS' main theme is Dante’s The Divine Comedy; the entrance is on level 4, and from there you either descend into Hell or climb towards Heaven. Hell is De 9 Rum (The 9 Spaces), on the bottom floor, painted black and home to moody installation pieces; Heaven is the rooftop rainbow halo, the brainchild of Olafur Eliasson, a Danish-Icelandic artist famed for big, conceptual pieces.
Another iconic piece is Ron Mueck’s Boy on level 1, an astoundingly lifelike, oversized (5m-high) sculpture of a crouching boy.
The museum stages varied special exhibitions – check what’s on when you’re in town. ARoS also houses a great giftshop and light-filled cafe on level 4 (free entry), and restaurant on level 8.
