Urban Art Association

Denning "Ungdomshuset (the writing's on the wall) , by origo on Mar 20, 2009 16:23:46 GMT 1, A long time ago I asked Guy for a very personal favour, I know he is a busy man but I kinda thought that it was in his spirit, and that he would find the compassion and the energy for the cause.

Until last year we had something called the "Youth House" (Ungdomshuset in danish) here in Copenhagen/Denmark where I live. It was first and foresmost a house full of creative people, people who loved alternative art and music. The house was established as a Youth House back in 1982, we had something called the BZ culture which was a movement who was pretty hardcore. They invaded empty houses and used them as places where they could grow their culture and their beliefs.

The government grew really tired of the problem and offered the movement a house, this was how the "Youth House" was born. The government made it pretty clear that this house was theirs to use, if they promised to stick to the hosue and leave the rest of Copenhagen alone.

During the past 10 years the house was in constant threat of being shut down, not because it wasn´t being used but because we (unfortunately) have grown to become a republic country, the last 25 years here have been runned by republic politicians resulting in alternative places being shut down.

Now, the "Youth House" have always been something special in the mind of the Copenhagen citizens, whether you liked the place or not it was something who belonged in Copenhagen more specifically Nørrebro which is a part of Copenhagen known for it´s multicultural and ethnical style.

The whole thing ended with the government sold the house to a homophobic, antisemtic, alternative hating christian sect. The eviciton itself caused a lot of riots here which some of you might have noticed at that time, and Nørrebro was almost a war zone in a week or so because of the riots here. The eviciton was pretty dramatic with choppers surrounding the house, and special forces going down the roof of the house with teargas and guns. The people that was in the house at that time, was actually sleeping.

On 16 March, 2007, Danish police admitted to having mistakenly used a potentially lethal form of teargas canisters. The gas, known as Ferret 40, was used against crowds during the riots following the demolition, although the launching mechanism is designed to penetrate doors and walls

It´s needless to say where my sympathy was, I believe in a coloured society, I think that a society is heading in a wrong direction when it´s heading in a streamlined, grey direction. I was really moved that week, not only because of the house but because of the fact that the city I love and live in had lost a very big part of it´s identity, it´s spirit and soul.

The house had a lot of social activities, free kitchen for everyone, they produced music, concerts, etc. People like Nick Cave, Björk, Green day have played there. When you think about these people started with an empty house, they certainly managed to create something very unique and special build on ideals and love. Today you can see the tag"69" all over Copenhagen, the adress of the house was Jagtvej 69 and it will always have a special place in the history of Copenhagen.

Now the place called "Christiania" is under the same threat and it´s very easy to see the pattern here.

Anyway, Guy painted this piece for me. It´s based on a picture of a very good friend who got arrested in these days. I respect and admire her courage for believing in her ideals and beliefs.

A very big thanks to Guy for this wonderful and lovely piece, it will always remind me of the things I believe in, the things that I stand for and the strenght of youth.

The actual piece and the photo that inspired it. The piece is called "Ungdomshuset (the writing's on the wall)"





A link to the story behind the "Youth House".

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ungdomshuset

And a video about the house.

A long time ago I asked Guy for a very personal favour, I know he is a busy man but I kinda thought that it was in his spirit, and that he would find the compassion and the energy for the cause.

Until last year we had something called the "Youth House" (Ungdomshuset in danish) here in Copenhagen/Denmark where I live. It was first and foresmost a house full of creative people, people who loved alternative art and music. The house was established as a Youth House back in 1982, we had something called the BZ culture which was a movement who was pretty hardcore. They invaded empty houses and used them as places where they could grow their culture and their beliefs.

The government grew really tired of the problem and offered the movement a house, this was how the "Youth House" was born. The government made it pretty clear that this house was theirs to use, if they promised to stick to the hosue and leave the rest of Copenhagen alone.

During the past 10 years the house was in constant threat of being shut down, not because it wasn´t being used but because we (unfortunately) have grown to become a republic country, the last 25 years here have been runned by republic politicians resulting in alternative places being shut down.

Now, the "Youth House" have always been something special in the mind of the Copenhagen citizens, whether you liked the place or not it was something who belonged in Copenhagen more specifically Nørrebro which is a part of Copenhagen known for it´s multicultural and ethnical style.

The whole thing ended with the government sold the house to a homophobic, antisemtic, alternative hating christian sect. The eviciton itself caused a lot of riots here which some of you might have noticed at that time, and Nørrebro was almost a war zone in a week or so because of the riots here. The eviciton was pretty dramatic with choppers surrounding the house, and special forces going down the roof of the house with teargas and guns. The people that was in the house at that time, was actually sleeping.

On 16 March, 2007, Danish police admitted to having mistakenly used a potentially lethal form of teargas canisters. The gas, known as Ferret 40, was used against crowds during the riots following the demolition, although the launching mechanism is designed to penetrate doors and walls

It´s needless to say where my sympathy was, I believe in a coloured society, I think that a society is heading in a wrong direction when it´s heading in a streamlined, grey direction. I was really moved that week, not only because of the house but because of the fact that the city I love and live in had lost a very big part of it´s identity, it´s spirit and soul.

The house had a lot of social activities, free kitchen for everyone, they produced music, concerts, etc. People like Nick Cave, Björk, Green day have played there. When you think about these people started with an empty house, they certainly managed to create something very unique and special build on ideals and love. Today you can see the tag"69" all over Copenhagen, the adress of the house was Jagtvej 69 and it will always have a special place in the history of Copenhagen.

Now the place called "Christiania" is under the same threat and it´s very easy to see the pattern here.

Anyway, Guy painted this piece for me. It´s based on a picture of a very good friend who got arrested in these days. I respect and admire her courage for believing in her ideals and beliefs.

A very big thanks to Guy for this wonderful and lovely piece, it will always remind me of the things I believe in, the things that I stand for and the strenght of youth.

The actual piece and the photo that inspired it. The piece is called "Ungdomshuset (the writing's on the wall)"





A link to the story behind the "Youth House".

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ungdomshuset

And a video about the house.