The project in Denmark
In Denmark, the Centriphery project moved into the district of Sydhavn, located on the outskirts of Copenhagen. In close collaboration with the local partner Sydhavn Theatre, the residents of Sydhavn, four handpicked international artists, and local artists initiated events during autumn 2019, spring and autumn 2020.
Artists settled in Sydhavnen three times
The international artistic team was present in Sydhavnen three times during the project in Denmark. The first phase was a research period called Coffee across Sydhavnen, September 17th – 22nd 2019. The artistic team rolled into the district with a table on wheels serving freshly brewed coffee meeting the locals and inviting them to share their stories.
February 17th – 22nd 2020 the four artists gathered again in Sydhavnen. The week was an intense immersion into their individual artistic practice seen in connection to each other. They further developed and refined the concepts for participatory activities in Sydhavnen.
The third and final phase of Centriphery in Denmark should have taken place in May/June 2020 but was postponed to October 26th – November 21st 2020 due to the COVID-19 situation. Therefore we, unfortunately, was forced to cancel a lot of workshops with local citizens and the involved artists had to redefine some of the planned participative activities. The artists worked on new artistic approaches that included virtual meetings with the citiz
Sydhavn is Buzzing – final residency in Oct-Nov 2020
The international artistic team and local artists gathered again in Sydhavnen in October 2020. With a colourful caravan as a mobile centre,(painted for the project by a local artist, Jan Danebod), the artistic team moved around to selected spots in the area of Sydhavnen on Saturdays in October and November. At these local spots, they invited the citizens of Sydhavnen to participate in artistic activities to celebrate the community, local stories and diversity in the district.
Sydhavnerne was among others invited to join origami workshops in and around the colourful caravan and take part in the mission of folding ten thousand Sydhavn toads and thus contribute to the creation of the installation “Camper full of Toads” – a magical universe of thousands of folded toads. We also shared the folding technique online through our instructional film – which we made for the locals in Sydhavnen.
During the project, Sydhavnerne could also bring their own stories and interpretations of their district and participate in various workshops, which were part of the activities that took place. You could among others be part of site-specific stories, participate in self-defence workshops for women and create narrative 3D mini-landscapes. Some workshops were aimed at selected people, such as a movement workshop for students in the local special school, Strandparkskolen.
More info about all activities during the project here.
Culmination Saturday, November 21st 2020
A full program with exhibitions of cinematic Sydhavn stories, texts, mini-landscapes, incubators, dance, poetry, debate, Living Poster and thousands of folded Sydhavn toads rounded off the project Summende Sydhavn on Saturday, November 21st at 11-16. The participatory activities and events took place in and around the pavilion at Karens Minde Kulturhus in Sydhavnen. A lot of Sydhavners stopped by and participated in the program – thankyou everyone who helped make it a festive buzzing day.
The toad carriage is still to be found at Sydhavn Teater and Karen’s Minde Kulturhus – and we hope the locals from Sydhavnen will continue to meet to fold toads – because you can fold anywhere and anytime with everyone, young and old.
Find more information and documentation from Sydhavn is Buzzing here at summendesydhavn.dk
MORE ABOUT THE BACKGROUND OF CENTRIPHERY IN DENMARK
Strong roots in Sydhavnen, Denmark
In Denmark, our project is based in the district of Sydhavn, located on the outskirts of Copenhagen. It is an old working-class district, which evolved out of the harbour industry of the past. Today, the heavy industry has moved, and the district is divided by an approach road between an old part and a new part, which at first sight have very little in common.
In the old working-class neighbourhood, the social cohesion and solidarity of the citizens constitute a clear narrative for many people, in contrast to the new neighbourhood, into which the residents have just moved, where the narratives must be created from scratch. One of our local ambassadors Kaj Thelander Jessen has lived in the old working-class neighbourhood since 1978. He talks here in September 2019 about his early expectations for the project.
Meet also our other local ambassador Mai Ji Pedersen – here she talks about what it means to be local ambassador – and what imprint she hopes the project will have in Sydhavnen.
September 2019
The artists’ residencies in Sydhavnen
The four artists in the project work in close collaboration with the residents of Sydhavn and the local partner Sydhavn Theatre with strong local roots. The first research phase in September 2019 was called Coffee across Sydhavnen. This week the artists moved around in the different areas of Sydhavnen with a coffee-table meeting the locals over a cup of freshly brewed coffee.
February 17th – 22nd 2020 the four artists gathered again in Sydhavnen for a week of intense immersion into their individual artistic practice seen in relation to each other. They further developed and refined the concepts for participatory activities, scheduled to take place during the spring and as part of the third artist residency, Sydhavn buzzing.
performer, director and choreographer Cornelia Scheuer (AT) and the actor Bart Bijnens (NL). Photo / Lars Grunwald
