In conjunction with the opening of the exhibition, the curators organized a Forum, which was a collaboration between Overgaden and the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts in Copenhagen. Here, some of the exhibiting artists and curators was joined by local art historian Mikkel Bolt Rasmussen and curator Tone Olaf Nielsen.
Bolt Rasmussen started the afternoon by tracing the history and reasons for Denmark to become leader amongst European countries seeking to limit immigration through the propagation of fear of the other, especially of those people coming from countries where a majority of the population is Muslim. Like most others present in the room, he expressed a somewhat optimistic sentiment towards the then upcoming election in the country.
The Danish parliamentary election of 2011 took place on September 15th in order to elect members of the Danish parliament. As a result, the centre-right coalition led by the Liberal Party lost power to a centre-left coalition led by the Social Democrats, making Helle Thorning-Schmidt the country’s first female Prime Minister. Though less conservative than her predecessors, she ran on a platform which included a commitment to current, and recently tightened immigration policies.
After Bolt Rasmussen’s talk, Olivia Plender conducted perfomative Audience Survey, involving the participants and audience alike, regarding their views on everything from precognitive dreams to democracy. It turns our that some attendees have seen UFOs but almost nobody believes that they are living in an equal society.
The day concluded with a panel discussion featuring Tone Olaf Nielsen, Ólafur Ólafsson, Pia Rönicke, and the curators, moderated by local curator Maria Kjær Themsen, where a more general and open-ended discussion regarding the meaning of the word ‘community’, and what real change is possible to achieve within and through the field of contemporary art. This is a discussion which the participants will be able to continue, when the curators co-edit a publication departing from the project.
Thanks to the contributions of artists and other thoughtful participants, Terms of Belonginggarnered attention from a number of Danish and International newspapers, art publications, and even a television spot, including a preview article in Kunsten.nu by Mia Yates, a column in Kunstkritikk.dk by Jacob Lillemose, and a Critics’ Picks in Artforum by Stephen Squibb.
The exhibition closed on November 6th 2011, however the project will continue in our forthcoming publication, supported by Nordic Culture Point.
-Curators Aileen Burns & Johan Lundh