By Jonas Wissing Larsen The exhibition Voices from the Colonies is quite new, as it opened for visitors in the October 2017. Before this exhibition the Danish colonial era did not take up much space in Danish museums. The increased focus on the Danish colonial history is probably due to 2017 having been the centenary of the sale of the former Danish West Indies, to the USA. However, the exhibition is not just about these islands, now known as the…
By Arleen Pushparajah, Jessica Rasmussen & Lea Vyff Blauenfeldt In these days of Danish politics and society discussing the meaning of certain cultures and the influence in and of Danish culture and society, it can be hard to view any cultural display with an open mind. However, walking through the doors of David’s Collection we were on the quest of having an open mind, in particular as none of us had the slightest idea of what to expect, being neither…
By Louise Borges-Hansen and Maiken Hollænder Larsen Saint Patrick’s Day is celebrated worldwide and appears without doubt as one of our favorite days of the year! It is a day of joy where people enjoy Irish food and a cold pint of beer at the local pub. However, on this 17th of March where drunken people dressed in green, clovers and leprechauns overtake cities around the world, one might ask if people have forgotten what this day in reality is…
By Saskia Schindler Imagine entering a room with a big cross in its center. The cross is not out of wood, it is an over-sized cross shaped out of a wall like a passage to the other side of the wall. Perhaps it symbolizes a transit zone between two worlds. The wall is painted with crosses, either they are falling or ascending. Imagine bells starting to ring and the light brightening when you are getting closer to the hallway. When…
By Renata Byfoged and Dildora Nutfieva Mødestedet is a center run by the Christian church in Vesterbro, which offers workshops, religious dialogues, excursions, and socialization programs for refugee and immigrants of any faith. During a visit, the authors, though, encountered much more than that. Considering that the authors are also immigrants in Denmark our experience at Mødestedet somehow connect us with our cultural background. “Gatherings” in the center reminded one of us, who is a Muslim, of social activities from…
By Pil Qvist Østergaard and Karen Ayerve The National Museum of Denmark invites us to “take a journey around the world” through its Ethnography collection. What can we expect? A large set of “ethnography objects and archaeological artefacts from non-European cultures as well as the Arctic peoples.” Indeed, the entire collection itself represents a unique cultural experience of rituals, customs and habits performances the Others. We arrived at the Museum looking for the “People of the Earth” exhibition, and more…
By Paulina Gretkierewicz I love religious art. I grew up going to church with my family every Sunday. I come from Poland, the country that is not only very catholic but also grossly fetishizes religious depictions. In November of 2010, a 53 meters tall statue of Christ the King was built in a small Polish town of Świebodzin. It is the tallest statue of Jesus in the world, bigger even than the famous Cristo Redentor looking over Rio de Janerio…
By Nicoline Bonø Reindel, Nadia Charlotte Dahlgren Petersen and Josephine Amanda Jørgensen We are rushing down Købmagergade with our coffee to go, looking for the Mariam Mosque on our way to Friday prayer. Growing up in Denmark with Christian and atheist parents, we are excited to experience this Islamic ritual for the first time. The mosque is nowhere to be found at first sight. No minaret or glorious entrance as we imagined it. The mosque is located in an apartment…
By Anna Gerda Nielsen and Amalie Glimø Christensen “Many thinks that the Danish colonialism in the Danish West Indies, were more human and gentle, than other colonial countries” (Det Olske Orkester.dk) The performance Sugar forms a critical picture of Denmark’s self-understanding as a slave nation. The play takes place a stage not like the ones you are used to. There are no walls or “backstage”, and the scene is surrounded by the audience. The floor of the stage is made…
By Peter Krøgh Lundby Gravesen, Ida Cecilie Guttman Gammeltoft og Asmus Sebastian Kobbernagel On a rainy Sunday in March, we took part in a Christian service in Apostelkirken (The Apostel’s Church) on Vesterbro, Copenhagen. Compared to ‘normal’ churches, what sets Apostelkirken apart is that it is a so-called ‘integration church’. We had decided beforehand that we would base this blog post on observations and refrain from doing interviews. The first thing we noticed was two non-Danish looking men in casual attire…