The idea is simple…
11 artists give away their secret places in Copenhagen
A secret place might be a part of the town, a parc or a museum. It could be a bar, a sculpture or a church – a bench, a walk, everything. It is not necessarily astatically – but always places of great importance for the artist.
Every chapter is dedicated to an artist who introduce the specific spots in words and pictures.
The artists are
Thomas Boberg, poet and writer
Christoffer Boe, film director
Kirsten Hammann, writer
Mette Sia Martinussen, cook
Khaled Ramadan, artist and architect
Tuva Semmingsen, operasinger
The two designers Lisa Grue and Wendy Plovmand, together called Underwerket
Malene Landgreen, artist
Anne Neye Poulsen, actress and scriptwriter
Thierry Colonel, multiartist
For the artists the secret places are full of meaning. Emotions, memories and experiences are linked to the spots. We borrow their stories and experience the places in a new way - and we get inspired to search our own places. People are the city - because we connect places and stories, tell them and keep the city alive. Cities have to be re-created again and again. Only people can do that.
Every chapter is dedicated to an artist who introduce the specific spots in words and pictures.
The artists are
Thomas Boberg, poet and writer
Christoffer Boe, film director
Kirsten Hammann, writer
Mette Sia Martinussen, cook
Khaled Ramadan, artist and architect
Tuva Semmingsen, operasinger
The two designers Lisa Grue and Wendy Plovmand, together called Underwerket
Malene Landgreen, artist
Anne Neye Poulsen, actress and scriptwriter
Thierry Colonel, multiartist
For the artists the secret places are full of meaning. Emotions, memories and experiences are linked to the spots. We borrow their stories and experience the places in a new way - and we get inspired to search our own places. People are the city - because we connect places and stories, tell them and keep the city alive. Cities have to be re-created again and again. Only people can do that.
The book…
Is a hard cover artbook with a collage of pictures and words in 204 pages
It a graphic book in two versions; a Danish and an English, numbered, kept in a box, provided with a belt of paper, edited in four colours
gives possibilities for concentration and experience for both the curious tourist and the born Copenhagener
Is full of secrets telling about peoples meeting with the world, about charging the places with meaning, about everyday life in Copenhagen, about memory, childhood and places that does not exist any more
Is not a traditional guidebook with answers – but an invitation to discover the town yourself – finding your own secret places and enjoying the special experiences and possibilities
It a graphic book in two versions; a Danish and an English, numbered, kept in a box, provided with a belt of paper, edited in four colours
gives possibilities for concentration and experience for both the curious tourist and the born Copenhagener
Is full of secrets telling about peoples meeting with the world, about charging the places with meaning, about everyday life in Copenhagen, about memory, childhood and places that does not exist any more
Is not a traditional guidebook with answers – but an invitation to discover the town yourself – finding your own secret places and enjoying the special experiences and possibilities
Quotes
The places carry our story. If we visit the places they tell the story.
Wendy Plovmand, Underwerket
Encounters with nature in the city speak to me at the deepest level and bring memories of my childhood into focus. I feel at home with the trees here and it takes me back to the trees of my childhood. When I’m here, I’m reminded of personal stories and memories of being unhappy and then happy again. My story is linked to places. When I come to the places where I have experienced something special, I think, Phew, it’s all over now! Kirsten Hammann
If it’s a dull day, I feel like I’m living in an arse! I’m constantly on the look-out for places with light. And look, inside the Magasin department store, it’s just like a sunny day! I wander from one door to the next and back again. A long walk in the sun, where everything is so clean and pretty. Things are relaxed and beautiful. The light is strong on the shiny floor; I don’t have time to keep the floor shiny at home.The makeup ladies smile at me and it’s a nice feeling – almost as if I were at a clinic where the staff were only there to take care of me. Thierry Colonel
Encounters with nature in the city speak to me at the deepest level and bring memories of my childhood into focus. I feel at home with the trees here and it takes me back to the trees of my childhood. When I’m here, I’m reminded of personal stories and memories of being unhappy and then happy again. My story is linked to places. When I come to the places where I have experienced something special, I think, Phew, it’s all over now! Kirsten Hammann
If it’s a dull day, I feel like I’m living in an arse! I’m constantly on the look-out for places with light. And look, inside the Magasin department store, it’s just like a sunny day! I wander from one door to the next and back again. A long walk in the sun, where everything is so clean and pretty. Things are relaxed and beautiful. The light is strong on the shiny floor; I don’t have time to keep the floor shiny at home.The makeup ladies smile at me and it’s a nice feeling – almost as if I were at a clinic where the staff were only there to take care of me. Thierry Colonel
The tango is a fantastic place for disappearing. When I dance, I’m in a lovely place – close to myself and in touch with my emotions, and close to another person. It’s like those moments of great openness when you just sit there and let your thoughts flow.
Malene Landgreen
1989. I was 23 the first time I went through this gateway and it’s a day I’ve never forgotten. I took my application along to The Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts and I thought, I want to be a part of this. It was a lovely day. It’s always been good weather whenever positive things have happened in my life. It’s a very nice day to die was what went through my head. I’d prefer to die on a nice day! They have to take me; I’ll have to go in through that door. I’ll have to go the distance, I thought. To hell with language difficulties and cultural differences. As long as I can be part of it – as long as I get in. This gateway was the difference between in and out. Khaled Ramadan
Allotments have been a part of my life since the day I was born. My grandfather died when I was six, but I have strong memories of life in his allotment garden house. It was the most terrific free space with the very best of stories. You could feel the grass between your toes. And there were bitter gooseberries, curled parsley, rhubarb and plums; the four ingredients I value most to this day. Each year, when I pick the year’s first damsons for marinating, my grandfather is there in my memory, clear as a bell, so I’m scarcely aware of whether it’s then or now – and that’s what taste and scent can do for you. Preparing food brings memories into focus. Mette Martinussen
I hated living in Hørsholm and I couldn’t wait to get away from there. But now it strikes me there’s something awfully provincial about this patisserie. It’s all enclosed; it’s as claustrophobic as the suburbs. It’s funny to think I was so preoccupied with escaping from provincial life, but as soon as I got close to the big city, I hid in a mini-province because the capital was too scary. Anna Neye Poulsen
Now I’m lifting the veil on a secret of identity and then I’ll be released from it. I’m passing this secret on to other people. There are only so many secrets you can keep. I’m made up of too many old secrets and I need to let some of them go to make room for new ones to take their place.
Cities are not big, cold spaces, but throbbing, vibrant places where we have memories of our first kiss, first encounter, tremendous quarrels, strife and bust-ups with our nearest and dearest and acquaintances. Wandering around the city is a life-giving experience – we change as we move through the spaces of the city. The transformation becomes part and parcel of us. Christoffer Boe
1989. I was 23 the first time I went through this gateway and it’s a day I’ve never forgotten. I took my application along to The Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts and I thought, I want to be a part of this. It was a lovely day. It’s always been good weather whenever positive things have happened in my life. It’s a very nice day to die was what went through my head. I’d prefer to die on a nice day! They have to take me; I’ll have to go in through that door. I’ll have to go the distance, I thought. To hell with language difficulties and cultural differences. As long as I can be part of it – as long as I get in. This gateway was the difference between in and out. Khaled Ramadan
Allotments have been a part of my life since the day I was born. My grandfather died when I was six, but I have strong memories of life in his allotment garden house. It was the most terrific free space with the very best of stories. You could feel the grass between your toes. And there were bitter gooseberries, curled parsley, rhubarb and plums; the four ingredients I value most to this day. Each year, when I pick the year’s first damsons for marinating, my grandfather is there in my memory, clear as a bell, so I’m scarcely aware of whether it’s then or now – and that’s what taste and scent can do for you. Preparing food brings memories into focus. Mette Martinussen
I hated living in Hørsholm and I couldn’t wait to get away from there. But now it strikes me there’s something awfully provincial about this patisserie. It’s all enclosed; it’s as claustrophobic as the suburbs. It’s funny to think I was so preoccupied with escaping from provincial life, but as soon as I got close to the big city, I hid in a mini-province because the capital was too scary. Anna Neye Poulsen
Now I’m lifting the veil on a secret of identity and then I’ll be released from it. I’m passing this secret on to other people. There are only so many secrets you can keep. I’m made up of too many old secrets and I need to let some of them go to make room for new ones to take their place.
Cities are not big, cold spaces, but throbbing, vibrant places where we have memories of our first kiss, first encounter, tremendous quarrels, strife and bust-ups with our nearest and dearest and acquaintances. Wandering around the city is a life-giving experience – we change as we move through the spaces of the city. The transformation becomes part and parcel of us. Christoffer Boe
