Artist to attend Rebild Festival with Trump sculpture after police intervention

Danish artist Jens Galschiøt will attend this year’s Rebild Festival with his controversial Trump sculpture, The Orange Plague, after police intervened to secure a place for him, reports DR.

Galschiøt had initially abandoned plans to bring the 1.5-meter-tall sculpture—depicting the former US president on the back of an exhausted man—after the festival’s security chief, Søren Korsgaard, deemed the modified mobility scooter carrying it unsafe for the hilly terrain of Rebild Bakker.

But following a letter from North Jutland Police’s legal team offering to find a “visible and relevant” location, Galschiøt reversed his decision. The police also stipulated that the scooter must meet traffic safety standards for transporting the 40-kilogram sculpture.

Korsgaard maintains the vehicle poses a risk, citing steep slopes and gravel paths that could cause it to tip, obstruct emergency exits, or endanger attendees. He told DR he would ask police to verify the scooter’s legality at the event.

Galschiøt dismissed the concerns, noting he had previously exhibited the sculpture at large gatherings, including a climate summit in Brazil, a security conference in Munich, and Denmark’s Folkemødet on Bornholm, without incident.

Rebild Festival, held annually since 1912, celebrates Danish-American friendship in the rolling hills of Rebild Bakker.