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ANGELA DORRER’S URBAN PILGRIMS, COPENHAGEN AND CHRISTIANIA,
NOVEMBER - FEBRUARY 2007-08
www.urbanpilgrims.org
review by Tomas Jonsson for
Fuse Magazin (CAN)
Within an increasing climate of conservatism and xenophobia in Denmark, two incidents in 2007 highlighted how radically the political and social landscape has shifted in recent years. That spring, the Danish Liberal Party issued a “normalization plan” for the free town of Christiania. Occupying the site of a former military base since 1972, Christiania was established by people wishing to live according to autonomous and collective principles, outside of the surrounding municipal and state framework. In contrast to this vision, the state’s new plan included provisions to introduce individual property ownership structures and a gradual shift towards market values for the formerly collectively-owned property. Crackdowns on drug trafficking and a strong police presence became a regular occurrence, forcing the once famous open hash market to become secretive and dispersed throughout the city.
Meanwhile in the Norrebro district of Copenhagen, years of threatened eviction of ungdomshuset (youth house) — a long-established underground music venue and community site for leftist and anarchist groups located at Jagtvej 69 — was finally acted on. The government-owned building was put up for sale and finally purchased by the conservative religious group Faderhuset. The former tenants of the building refused to give up the space and staged a number of protests. After a period of intense conflict between protesters and police, the site was cleared and demolished.
Community response to these two situations was dramatic and often polarizing. Activists and police clashed violently as activists attempted to secure a new space and weekly protest marches wound through city streets to the site of Jagtveg 69. Protesters set up barricades to the gates of Christiania and graffiti imploring passersby to ‘save Christiania’ and ‘give back the youth house’ appeared across the city. The severity of protests, particularly the damage to property and space, sharply divided opinions of local citizens.
Looking at the context of protest culture in Europe, Aazar & Sienkiewicz ask if “it is possible to make out of demonstrations, or the kind of activity that gathers a lot of people in the public space, a kind of real discussion that would allow more than just expressing your statement or opinion. If the strategies of art would be implemented on demonstrations, could it result in some kind of social platforms that would enable real dialogue and real social negotiations within the public space?”[1] The opportunity for just this type of discussion is evident in Urban Pilgrims, a project realized by German-Canadian artist Angela Dorrer. The project is an ongoing series of excursions into the fine grain of urban environments, adopting the form of a traditional religious pilgrimage — a procession like journey.
Over the course of four months and two concurrent residencies, Dorrer engaged with local residents in public spaces, including cafes, saunas, through regular columns in the Christiania newsletter and on the street. She also promoted her online surveys through stickers, on the home page of the computers at a popular Christiania cafe and on the Wonderful Copenhagen tourist portal. The information she gathered informed a series of procession-oriented projects that articulated subjective and poetical understandings of the city. She posed questions such as “if you were a good fairy and could grant one wish to Copenhagen, what would it be?’ with responses that included: Copenhageners should be able to make other people feel nice; I would give Copenhagen 1 million foreign settlers, in order for the Danes to become a minority; that it would be set free to do what it liked, room for a little more chaos and difference Copenhagen — become more curious!; The Copenhageners should use their beautiful designer kitchens not only as an alibi for the perfect life but should socialize and actually cook more!
Dorrer’s blog entries were more meandering, based on her daily encounters and activities, including observations of the reserved nature of Danes, tips for dealing with winter depression, as well as more political observations. Readers could expand on these entries and some engaged in spirited discussion. These personal exchanges allowed Dorrer to build up a sense of trust and connection that allowed the narratives to expand.
Blog Entry 17.01.2008, 16:59 http://urbanpilgrims.org/Copenhagen_Christiania/blog
S. told me that when there was that Ungdomshuset crisis many people, who before and for a long time had ‚kept quiet’ now thought: Enough is enough. And they went on the streets. N. said that also a lot of people joined in the riots to get rid of their frustrations. The riots were a valve (german: ‚ventil’) for something that had been cooking up… He was part of an anti-violence-group that tried to convince people that violence is not the proper reaction and will only cause more violence.
When I asked who those frustrated people were N. said a lot of 2nd generation foreigners who do not feel accepted in this country. Someone had told me earlier that if I would have a kid now and here in Denmark chances were high that it would not be accepted by the Danish society. I was shocked to hear that.
Ok. But when is this spiral gonna end? If the Danes do not learn to integrate foreign ideas, people, creativity, energy etc. the spiral will not end. So again these extremes: white-black, right-left, foreign-local. Come on, get a bit softer Denmark.
Talking about this another person said he does not see it so negative, instead he thinks that the riots kind of shook a lot of people up and made the community around Ungdomshuset much stronger. That’s also an aspect that should be kept in mind.
Dorrer’s approach moves beyond the conventional polemics of protest and counter-protest that is increasingly common in Copenhagen. Engaging on a personal, individual level and as an outsider meant not having to adhere to inherent processes and logics that typically determine behaviours and actions, such as protests and demonstrations, where solidarity can override individual and varied positioning. Instead, her project intersects through number of social dynamics and allows varied positions and individual responses to be expressed. As Dorrer notes, “Naturally, and through the accumulation of answers, issues of power relationships, space structures, image production and forms of urban appropriation will be addressed.”[2]
Dorrer adopted and played with the dynamic of the crowd in a poetic and open process for two public Urban Pilgrimages in January and February. Over the course of a day a dedicated group of fifty people took part in a bicycle pilgrimage across the city, taking part in several performative activities that symbolically addressed the political and social dimensions of Copenhagen. The route of the tour, for example, was at some points determined by vote, by holding up sheets of paper for right or left, referring to the dramatic political shifts in Denmark and the dualism that currently divides citizens of different social and political positions. Participants also wore printouts that had been generated by Dorrer’s survey and consisted of wishes for Copenhagen to share them with passersby. Participants also emulated the pose of the little mermaid statue to consider the symbolic value this figure had for the country.
Urban Pilgrams offered a playful response to a common Danish condition — the conflict between the desire to be exceptional and the desire for consensus or ‘jante’, a particularly Danish concept, where one should not think themselves better than anyone else. Dorrer played with these paradoxical desires by inviting participants to visit the Royal Palace to send their wishes to the Queen (who is simultaneously viewed as ‘exceptional’ while holding no ‘extraordinary’ political powers). Afterwards she invited them to wear crowns and taught them a royal baroque greeting.
The group continued on their journey by paying a visit to a shawarma kiosk, handing out flowers to the owners and patrons as a gesture of good will and friendship, in welcome contrast to the increasing xenophobia in the city. The tour ended at the artist’s residency, where Dorrer had earlier discovered a free space — a swimming pool that could be secretly accessed from her building — which had unfortunately been closed and prompted a discussion that concluded the event about the importance and possibilities of free spaces in light of increasing restriction and regulation of urban space in Copenhagen.
During a panel discussion in conjunction with an exhibition of the Atlas Group at the Art Gallery of York University in 2004, Marie Joelle Zahar, professor of Political Science at the Universite de Montreal commented on the value of the ambiguous approach to the subject matter of the work. Responding to the semi-fictitious scenario presented by Walid Raad allowed her a degree of freedom to speak beyond her position as a political scientist. This was in marked contrast to her experience in more conventional situations, where she was required to maintain her position against those of others.
Dorrer's work provides a similar escape or pressure valve to the polarized positions that have defined recent conflicts in Copenhagen. While not denying the importance of defending one’s position, Urban Pilgrims allowed a degree of ambiguity and personality to open up a space for dialogue and understanding. As Denmark comes to terms with the outcomes of the implications of the events of 2007, Dorrer’s call for a softer approach, allowing for accepting difference and dialogue over enforced normailization. deserves to be considered.
[1] Lazer, Anna & Karol Slenklewicz. “Why are our demonstrations…” in Public Preparation. Rael Artel & Airi Triisberg, eds. Public Preparation, Tartu. 2007
[2] www.urbanpilgrims.org
Tomas Jonsson is an artist, curator and writer with an interest in issues of urban growth and transformation. Tomas is pursuing a Masters in Environmental Studies at York University in Toronto, and is currently participating in the Border Cities Kolleg at the Bauhaus Institute in Dessau, Germany.
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