In 2010 the social housing area Mjølnerparken on Nørrebro in Copenhagen became a fixture on the Danish government’s so-called ghetto list. The area’s tough reputation has haunted it for decades: gang conflicts, social problems, cultural challenges and juvenile delinquency have made Mjølnerparken known as an exposed residential area in negative development. Since 2010 the ghetto criteria have been tightened twice. Restrains that withholds Mjølnerparken on the ghetto list.

According to the new legislation Mjølnerparken is, and will always be, a ghetto – at least until it is sold. Family homes will be reduced to 40 percent. The implication of this is that 156 of the 260 apartments must be disposed of if Mjølnerparken is to comply with the new ghetto law. The initiative has caused great indignation, especially among the housing’s residents, who are obliged to leave their homes. Even though the housing company Bo-Vita has offered voluntary re-housing for the residents, who must be vacated as a result of the sale, most of them will become homeless. They cannot afford to pay for the new apartments, which they have been offered.

In the wake of this problematic issue about the sale of Mjølnerparken artist Molly Haslund will work with the themes ’relocation and affiliation’ as well as related questions such as: what does it mean to belong – and to move? And which emotional responses are attached to these states of mind? The first part of the exhibition consists of a month-long research period in April followed by a publicly available part in June. During spring and summer 2020 the artist’s work will be further developed and can therefore be experienced in several stages.

Based in ANA and on the basis of her research Haslund will produce and construct a performance text on the topic ‘to move’ during April. The starting point for Haslund’s research is ‘the spoken language,’ which forms around the topic. The performance text will therefore be created from sound recordings and transcriptions of conversations (which will take place via Skype, e-mail and telephone due to Covid-19) as well as autobiographical notes. In parallel, Haslund will work with models for sculptures, which later, in connection with the artist’s exhibition in ANA in June, will be a part of a larger installation and a final performance, which will merge the performance text, Astrid Noacks Studio and the audience.

Haslund’s performance will be staged several times during the period 8th of June – 14th of June.

Dates and times will be announced later.

Saturday the 25th of April Molly Haslund and architect and Ph.D. scholar at KADK Anne Pind were supposed to participate in Radical Reading Room in ANA, as a part of Copenhagen Architecture Festival. Due to Covid-19 the festival has unfortunately been postponed. At a later date Copenhagen Architecture Festival will therefore invite Molly Haslund and Anne Pind to a ‘radical reading’ with emphasis on the present gentrification and grooming of the city of Copenhagen. Here, following the overall theme of the festival, The Welfare City in Development, Haslund will present some of the texts she prepared during her research period in April.

A new date will be announced later on.

Molly Haslund holds an MFA from the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts ((2000-2005)) and has studied at Glasgow School of Art, Scotland (2003-2005).

The exhibition programme at Astrid Noack’s Studio is supported by The Danish Arts Foundation and Nørrebro Lokaludvalg.

Johan Tirén is invited to do a site-specific exhibition project at Astrid Noack’s Atelier. The project consists of two parts, a shorter residency in May, followed by an exhibition in October 2020. The idea is that the experiences, and findings from the research stay in May, is developed into a public project to be shown in ANA or in the surrounding public space of Ydre Nørrebro.

In the project with the preliminary title “While the city grows” Tirén will from an artistic point of view look into some of the key issues and questions we face in todays urban development. For whom are we building the “new” city, what happens to the people and the businesses that are already in place? And if everything is planned, where do we find the openings that the unplanned is offering us today?

Johan Tirén (b. 1973) holds an MFA from Malmö Art Academy (2004) and has studied at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts (1998–2003). He works in different media, such as drawing, graphics, video, and text, and uses his research-based artistic practice both inside the art institution and outside, for instance in city planning processes with a special focus on social problematics concerning sustainability and planning. He strives to be open and precise in his artistic work, looking for a political acuity that does not loose sight of art’s poetic qualities. Tirén has exhibited widely, for instance at Göteborg International Biennial for Contemporary Art, Galleri Tom Christoffersen, and Overgaden, and has together with colleague Anna Högberg done public commissions for Statens Konstråd and Örebro Kommun.

The exhibition programme at Astrid Noack’s Studio is supported by The Danish Arts Foundation and Nørrebro Lokaludvalg.