Katrine Dirckinck-Holmfeld has paid compensation to the Academy Council for a plaster bust that ended up in the harbor. The Academy Council and the former head of the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, Katrine Dirckinck-Holmfeld, have reached a settlement regarding compensation for the plaster bust of Frederik V. This was reported by the Academy Council in a press release. The bust was removed from the banquet hall at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts in October 2020 and thrown into the harbor. It was eroded by seawater to the point where it is not possible to restore it. Katrine Dirckinck-Holmfeld has taken responsibility for the incident, which is described as an “event” in the press release. As part of the settlement, Dirckinck-Holmfeld paid a compensation of 44,350 Danish Kroner to the Academy Council in April this year. The amount corresponds to the cost of casting a new bust of Frederik V. The press release states that the Academy Council has recognized the incident with the bust as a piece of art. The Academy Council is a state administrator of the collection that the plaster bust was part of.
The case of the plaster bust of Frederik V began in October 2020 when a group called Anonymous Visual Artists posted a video online of the episode where the bust was thrown into the harbor. In an accompanying text, it was stated that the bust was to be thrown into the water “to address the ways in which the colonial period is rendered invisible.” The press release states that the Academy Council and Katrine Dirckinck-Holmfeld consider their dispute to be resolved. However, the case is not entirely closed for the former head. In October 2021, she was charged with gross vandalism in connection with the incident. This case will be heard in the Copenhagen City Court over three days—June 19, 20, and 26. Tyge Trier, defense attorney for Katrine Dirckinck-Holmfeld, wanted to call upon 13 witnesses in the case. However, he has only been allowed to call upon two witnesses—a art historian and an artist who is an expert in plaster.