colaboration | CHARLOTTE ØSTERGAARD

Together with performance artist and climate activist Linh Le and dancer Alessandra Grieco I was on a two weeks ISLAND CONNECT residency at BIRCA/Bækkelund – international residency for artists in august 2023.

ISLAND CONNECT is a collaboration between Susanne Danig, BIRCA/Bækkelund International Residency Center for Artists placed on the island of Bornholm in Denmark and Sardegna Teatro (together with the local partner FuoriMargine) placed on Sardinia in Italy. The aim of ISLAND CONNECT is to addresses interconnectivity through the ecology of environment, of social justice, of spirit and intellectual dimensions. By embracing the natural surroundings of Bornholm and Sardinia the residency want to create a vision for an ecological future that allows intersection, communication, generosity and sharing.

Photo: Susanne Danig

Over the two weeks we explored the diverse nature of Bornholm with Susanne Danig as our generous host and guide. Susanne shared some of spectacular sites and the more secret places of Bornholm … the explorations set us off on a journey exploring the Bornholmian light.

During the residency we had days with sun and star and other with fog that blurred the vision. We walked in the night to explore the darkness but was surprised of who much light we (humans) produce. We had an immersive showing with a few local artist as our guests … and much more happened that are still thoughts and ideas in-process.

I made the following videos as a tribute to the amazing nature of Bornholm that generously accepted our presents and to my dear travle companions Linh, Alex and Susanne.

A tribute to shadow landscapes

A tribute to those that live in the shadow landscapes

A tribute to the elements that knows

And on the personal note ….. I had a blast cooking dinner over a bonfire

…. and I found a new passion: trying to capture the shadows.

More to come in the future!

July 30th I was invited to participate in Wa(l)king Copenhagen created and organized by Metropolis.

My contribution Community Walk became an wonderful experience of 12 hours of physical and verbal conversation about community (fællesskab), 12 hours of following and leading, 12 hours of being connected, 12 hours of being approached, ignored, commented on, yelled at and 12 hours of moving in and reacting on the city and the environment

Every hour we livestreamed on Wa(l)king Copenhagen’s facebook.

In the program (danish) I wrote the following:

I en tid hvor vi opfordres til at holde distance er Community Walk en undersøgelse af, hvordan vi skaber fysisk nærvær. Hvordan mødes vi, når vante ritualer som håndtryk og knus frarådes? Hvordan anerkender vi hinandens nærvær, når vi individuelt og kollektivt udføre social kontrol i angsten for en invaderende skjult fjende?

Over 12 timer undersøger jeg sammen med 12 gæster nærheden og distancen i fælleskaber, hvor 5 handliger og en klædning er vores fælles omdrejningpunkt. Hver time møder jeg en ny gæst i det centrale København, hvorfra vi forbundne vil vandre mod næste gæst. Hver gæsten inviteres til at fortolke de 5 handlinger.

En gul klædning forbinder mig og vandringsgæsten. Gennem klædning undersøger vi, hvordan vi kan mærke vi hinandens nærvær. Samtidig navigerer og forhandler vi i fællesskab, hvordan vi kan holde distance til hinanden og til andre. Foranlediget af steder og mennesker, vi passerer i byens rum, reflekterer vi fysisk og verbalt over begrebet fælleskab. Hvordan har fælleskabet det – har vores fælleskaber forandret sig?

5 Community Walk handlinger:

Handling 1 – Velkomst-ritual; Hilsen i nærheden men på distance

Handling 2 – Afklædnings- og Iklædnings-ritual; Overdrager klædningen til den nyankomne

Handling 3 – Afskeds-ritual; Afsked med forrige gæst

Handling 4 – Vidnesbyrd-ritual; Som et vidensbyrd på samtalen og/eller af den fysiske oplevelse vandringen har afstedkomme, reflekterer den afskedstagende gæst over begrebet fællesskab.

Handling 5 – Vandrings-ritual; Forhandling og navigation gennem byen

Community Walk foregår d. 30 juli kl 11-23 i det centrale København. Ruten repræsenterer steder jeg under lockdown mødte/gik tur med andre, hvor jeg savnede nærværet af andre og steder hvor byens rum pludselig var affolket. Publikum er velkomme til at møde og følge os på afstand.