Saa er by som borger, saa er by som art – by Linh Le
Seven rituals as a tribute to the diversity of life on Earth
TIME AND PLACE:
Sat. 16 July 10-14 / Christiansborg Slotsplads
Sun. 17 July 12-16 / Israels Plads
Mon. 18 July 14-18 / Copenhagen Town Hall Square
Tues. 19 July 14-18 / Landemærket by The Round Tower
Wed. 20 July 14-18 / Havnegade at Inderhavnsbroen
Thurs. 21 July 15-19 / Kongens Nytorv
Fri. 22 July 12-18 / Nytorv at Domhuset/Court House
WHAT: Performance ritual
DURATION: 4-6 hours – but you can come and go as you please
FREE
A pile of 10 tons of soil. In the middle of the square. Who lives here?
In the middle of the crowds in the busiest and most touristy places in Copenhagen, performance artist Linh Le creates a nature zone with her traveling pile of soil – a new place every day for seven days. Here she brings different species to life and gives them space, life and visibility in the middle of a city that otherwise does not give much space to species other than humans.
Researchers are talking about a biodiversity crisis and a sixth mass extinction, in which the extinction of species is happening 10,000 times faster than before. We humans take up too much space. The vibrant and diverse landscape lacks space.
In rebellion against human dominance, Linh Le explores in a pile of life-giving and nourishing soil how she can connect with other species and create the best possible conditions for encounters and communities between species.
You can meet seven species in seven different places in Copenhagen. Linh’s seven searching and vulnerable rituals are a tribute to all living things, to the beauty of species and to the diversity of life on Earth.
Let yourself be captured by Linh Le’s meditative transformation as she connects the human body with its own essentiality – as a surreal dream vision in the midst of the city’s chaos. The transformation ritual, which takes place between Linh, the pile of earth and the species mask, lasts 4 hours, but you decide for yourself how long you stay.
BACKGROUND
In Denmark, 17% of the species are at risk of extinction. 389 species have been assessed as regionally extinct and have already disappeared from Danish nature. Worldwide, over 37,000 species are threatened with extinction, equivalent to 28% of all species.
At Copenhagen City Hall, you will find the inscription “Saa er by som borger” – as a reminder to politicians that the city must reflect the citizens and their wishes. But the citizens of the city are not just people. They also count plants, insects, birds, and thus the city must make room for these species (‘art’ in Danish).
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Linh Le works with performance, dance, video art and climate activism. Artistically, she works to create spaces for intimacy and healing related to topics such as migration policy, climate and biodiversity crisis, isolation, alienation, dreams and desires. She is educated in Aesthetics and Culture from AU and Performance Design & Plan, City and Process from RUC.
Linh Le is the prototype of a new generation of artists who, with their own bodies, are exploring the possibility of finding a balance between a growing desperation and maintaining the belief in a different way of being human / species.
As a child of freedom fighters who came to Denmark as boat refugees from Vietnam, and as a witness to their struggles in Danish society, Linh Le is strongly called to free herself through dance, to challenge the norms, to transcend boundaries and explore how the body can act, transform and demand space for the less heard voices.
Linh Le is co-founder and member of the performance climate activist group Becoming Species, which in close alliance with Extinction Rebellion and Embassy of the Species has made several performative actions in public space to amplify nature’s diverse voices. This project is inspired by the work of Becoming Species and Embassy of the Species.
CREDIT
Concept and performance: Linh Le & fellow species
Species masks: Randi Kjær
Photos and video: Frej Pries Schmedes