Julius Blomsgade, Copenhagen
June 1, 2006
Integration Manifesto was a Roskilde Festival Test-Site carried out by kids and young people, mostly immigrants living in the street.
In 2004 Karoline H. Larsen had a vision in front of the red house full of immigrants. She wanted to do ‘something beautiful’ together with people living in the red house. Thursday 1st of June 2006 was day of manifestation.
Eban, Osama, Emba, Svend, Liv, Sophia, Jonas, Esram, Mikkel, Daniel….and many more whose names we didn’t get, joined the creative action.
We left the Test-String-Wall as a memory-mark of our non-traditional integration game between young danes and immigrant kids.
Photographer: Marco Germinario
Creative actions by: Jens Dan Johansen, Sara Møllegaard Flyvbjerg, Mette Woller, Karl Mcllquham Schmidt, Andreas Christensen, Julie Hennecke Hartmann, Sara Gornitzka, Mille Rude.
When passers-by asked ‘What are you doing?’ They were asked, what do you believe you are seeing? A question to mirror peoples’ reflections on public space. A question to start a dialogue between strangers on public space.
Next day, Karoline went to the test-string-wall again. A woman past by and said she had passed earlier that morning and thought it was ‘so beautiful’.
In this site ‘Beauty’ means SURPRISE, INVITATION TO PARTICIPATION, COLLECTIVE MAKING OF SOMETHING, CO-PLAYING, NO MATTER WHERE YOU COME FROM, NO MATTER YOUR SKIN COLOUR, NO MATTER YOUR NAME. ’Beauty’ as a revealer of people’s inner healing resources? ‘Beauty’ as something different from what is already there. Beauty as a mirror for people’s reflections/moods. ‘Beauty’ as strangers meeting.
