The third and final phase of Centriphery in Denmark planned to take place in May/June 2020 will be postponed to October 27th – November 22nd 2020 due to the COVID-19 situation.
We, unfortunately, have been forced to cancel a lot of planned workshops with local citizens. The involved artists have to redefine some of their planned participative activities, that was ready to be executed in May.
The artists are now working on new artistic approaches that include virtual meetings with the citizens and how to be present in Sydhavnen with the locals in the wintertime in Denmark where people tend to be more introverted.
But no obstructions are too big for us and this project! To be continued when we know how the world looks like in the autumn 2020 and which activities we will be able to do.
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.
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.
Photo / Lars Grunwald
