In recent years, Lars Vilks (1946-2021) was mainly known for his work Muhammad as a Roundabout Dog (2007), but he had been active as an artist since the 1970s and was one of the early conceptual artists in Sweden. In 1980, he began his most extensive work, Nimis (1980-2021), an enormous driftwood construction on the northern coast of the Kullaberg peninsula in north-western Scania. Despite the winding and steep path to the beach where Nimis, and later Arx (1991–2021), a rock and concrete sculpture, were created, thousands of people have since visited the site to experience the spectacular installations.
Vilks worked continuously on Nimis, and after a few years it was 100 metres long and came to consist of several structures, including three 15-metre high towers. The structure was built illegally, which led to a number of legal disputes that the artist incorporated into his artistic process through texts and actions. In 1996, he also created the micro-nation of Ladonia as a conceptual work, but also as a physical place in the very nature preserve where Nimis and Arx are located. What started as an effort to protect his works against Swedish authorities developed into a nation with over 28 000 citiziens, its own flag, stamps and currency, Örtug.
After Vilks’s death in a car accident in 2021, the fate of Nimis has been uncertain. The work’s location leaves it exposed to the elements, and without the artist’s daily maintenance, additional efforts will be required to ensure that Nimis is preserved. Then there is the legal aspect. Höganäs municipality, which governs the Kullaberg Nature Reserve in which the sculpture is located, has supported an application to classify Nimis as a listed building. But for that to be possible, the ownership of the work first needs to be established, something that has been unclear until recently.
The background to all this is that Vilks sold Nimis to Joseph Beuys (1921-1986) in 1984. Upon the German artist’s death, ownership passed on to the artist duo Christo (1935-2020) and Jeanne-Claude (1935-2009). After Christo’s death, his heirs made it clear that they make no claim on Vilks’s work, and as of January 2023 the Lars Vilks Memorial Foundation, which was set up shortly after the artist’s death, is the owner of both Nimis, Arx and Ladonia.
The chairman of the memorial fund is Krister Thelin, a long-time friend of Lars Vilks and former Minister of Justice in Ladonia.
“A number of people are part of the memorial fund, including the lawyer Nils Hyllienmark and the journalist Stina Dabrowski. Then there is the association Friends of Nimis, in which I also participate, along with Nils Hyllienmark, the art critic Dan Jönsson, and others. The association is independent and was created to ensure the maintenance of Nimis and to protect artistic freedom of expression,” Thelin told Kunstkritikk.
In addition to ensuring Nimis’s continued presence on Kullaberg, the Friends of Nimis also raise money to finance its maintenance, which Thelin estimates will cost some SEK 400,000 (EUR 35,000) a year. Added to this is the volunteer work that a small group puts in almost daily to look after the work. No art museum has yet been involved in the management or ownership issues.
“When institutions have offered to buy one of the works, we have said that it is currently not interesting. But we have had some contact with Dunkers Kulturhus in Helsingborg, and we hope to be able to arrange a collaboration with Louisiana in Denmark,” Thelin told Kunstkritikk.
When asked why he is so committed to a work that figuratively points the finger at laws and local authorities, Thelin cited the carefree attitude that characterised Vilks’s artistic work.
“He was driven by a desire to challenge established orders. He ended up learning a lot about law in a very practical way and over the years discussed this with me, which meant a lot to me,” said Thelin, stressing that, although it was not formalised, there is no doubt that Vilks wanted his work to live on.
Some obstacles remain, however. In order for Nimis to be classified as a listed building, which Thelin expects will happen, the County Administrative Board of Scania must grant an exemption from current laws regarding shoreline protection. Nimis was built in a nature conservation area, and it is possible that the application process will take time. In addition to this are the maintenance costs. Despite Thelin’s optimism, it seems that the Lars Vilks Memorial Foundation still has some way to go.
