100% FOREIGN? – touring Denmark 2018-19

Personal stories in text and image of 250 citizens with refugee background were collected and displayed when 100% FOREIGN? embarked on a tour of 20 towns in 2018-19

All portraits can be accessed on www.100pctfremmed.dk

100% FOREIGN? added a new chapter to Denmark’s history by collecting and displaying personal stories from and about Danish citizens with refugee background – stories about being an individual in today’s Denmark.

100% FOREIGN? is a documentary art project, which by end of 2019 comprised 250 portraits, 250 interviews and 250 voices belonging to 250 statistically selected citizens, who since 1956 have arrived in Denmark as refugees. Behind the project is Metropolis and curator/photographer Maja Nydal Eriksen.

The exhibition 100% FREMMED? with the first 100 portraits from the greater Copenhagen area was created for Metropolis in 2017. It was shown at Copenhagen Town Hall as well as at several outdoor venues in Copenhagen and was visited by more than 100,000 people.

Thanks to support from Nordea-fonden, the exhibition traveled to 20 towns across the country in 2018 and 2019. In each town, new portraits of local citizens with refugee background were added to the exhibition. Thus, the history of Denmark was updated with alternative and diverse stories.

On its tour around the country, the exhibition was accompanied by some of the people portrayed. They shared their stories and led debates and educational events, all of which added other perspectives and stories to the Danishness debate.

FOREIGN OR DANISH?
It is becoming increasingly difficult to create a story which is characteristic for Denmark, while at the same time promoting the community. Opinion-makers regularly try to capture Danishness through references to certain kinds of food, leisure activities, historical events and Danish landscapes, but we rarely ask those who are at the centre of the debate what they mean. 100% FREMMED? has done exactly that.

Thus, the exhibition presents a number of very different stories about living in today’s Denmark. They show how one’s nationality is just one of many reasons to feel foreign, and they focus on what we have in common across social, cultural and national boundaries.

THE PEOPLE BEHIND THE STATISTICS
The people featured in the exhibition have been selected on basis of figures from Statistics Denmark in order to represent the 167,000 people from primarily 40 different countries who have been granted asylum in Denmark since 1956. The oldest participant arrived from Hungary in 1956, and the most recent ones escaped from the civil war in Syria.

The portraits show the people behind the statistics and they serve to remind us that behind the figures there is an infinite number of fates. The original 100 photos were done with Tivoli as backdrop with Tivoli as a place that connects global and Danish culture.

The 150 new photos portray the participants in settings characteristic for these towns, often with a cultural/historic influence and connections between the national and the global. For example the Vikingship Museum in Roskilde, Dybbøl Banke in Sønderborg, and the beach in Skagen. In doing so, 100% FREMMED? contributes with a contemporary story about Denmark as a supplement to the traditional depiction of romantic nationalism.

All portraits can be seen on www.100pctfremmed.dk

CREDITS

Produced by Metropolis/Københavns Internationale Teater
Exhibition concept and photos: Maja Nydal Eriksen
Interviews, texts, research: Mette Katrine Balle Jensen and Sisse Nat-George
Additional interviews and texts: Fadime Turan, Hans Karup, Anne Marie Winther, Hans Sejlund, Anna Klitgaard, Claus Schjødt, Malene Fenger-Grøndahl, Lone Mørch, Flemming Sørensen, Helge Rahbek, Marianne Eskildsen, Jakob Marschner, Janus Kodal, Rune Weitling, Gorm Rasmussen, Shosha Raymond and Kurt Balle Jensen
Exhibition layout: Elisavet Papageorgiou
Tour coordination: Louisa Thorning Blindbæk
Exhibition is supported by Statens Kunstfond, Københavns Kommune, Sportgoodsfonden, Interkulturelt Center and Knud Højgaards Fond
Thanks to  Dansk Flygtningehjælp, De Danske Sprogcentre, Rådet for Etniske Minoriteter, Københavns Universitet and VerdensKulturCentret

Tour and activities 2018-19 supported by Nordea-fonden and the individual municipalities and collaborators.

Follow the project on www.100pctfremmed.dk / #100%fremmed?

EXHIBITIONS 2018-19
6 April-6 May 2018: Roskilde Kulturstrøg, between Roskilde Bibliotek and Byens Hus
9 May-17 June 2018: The harbour front at Multikulturhuset, Sønderborg
19 June-15 July 2018: Dansk Centralbibliotek for Sydslesvig, Flensburg
18 July-7 Aug. 2018: Marielyst Strandpark 3, Guldborgsund, Falster
10-26 Aug. 2018: Østervold, Randers
29 Aug.-18 Sept. 2018: in front of Kulturhus Kappelborg, Skagen
20 Sept.-10 Oct. 2018 – Gabels Torv, Aalborg
12 Oct.-4 Nov. 2018 – On the square between Rødovre Municipality and Rødovre Library
15 March-2 April 2019 – Sundparken, Horsens
4-28 April 2019 – Rådhusparken, Aarhus
29 April-19 May 2019 – Hjultorvet, Viborg
20 May-12 June 2019 – near Vejle Libraries and Vejle Kunstmuseum, Vejle
12 June-2 July 2019 – Herning at Tinghushaven
5 July-5 Aug. 2019 – Bornholm / 5-19 July at Store Torv, Rønne / 21 July-5 Aug. on Gudhjem Harbour
8 Aug.-1 Sept. 2019 – Aabenraa
6-18 Sept. 2019 – Frøslev Lejren
20 Sept.-8 Oct. 2019 – Esbjerg
12 Oct.-15 Dec. 2019 – KunstCentret Silkeborg Bad