Mapping TRoA Fjordbyen Arctic Street Food of the North Urban Art Studio 1000Fryd Studenterhuset Casa Anne Maries Vej MovableHuset Center for Dansk Jazzhistorie Marienhaab Nordjyllands Kunstnerværksted Klaverstemmeren Cykel 20 Artbreak Hotel Det Hem’lige Teater Blok X Aalborg Fødevarefællesskab Aalborg,Råt&Godt AAAA (Aalborg Artist’s Association) Aalborg Surreal Dunkelfolket f.eks. Projekt Vækstlag 9000 Hal9k DenmarkTrekanten Mapping of the Movable is a digital guide that locates and gives a voice to self-organized spaces, subcultures, and commons within the city of Aalborg. It introduces twenty-eight existing groups that are activating the city in different ways through urban actions, activities, social gatherings, the arts, crafts, or activism. The guide is centered on conversations with the different communities about their everyday rhythms, Introduction social aspects, self-organized structures, decision-making processes, and challenges or (un)fulfilled dreams. The conversations also highlight the complex networks they continually reproduce as part of their dynamic relationship to the city. This is relevant since Aalborg is undergoing a post-industrial transformation into a knowledge and cul- tural city, similar to many others across the globe. Mapping of the Movable, Aalborg, Denmark, 2021 This project is conceived by artist Maj Horn together with the contemporary art initiative f.eks. based in Aalborg. Mapping Artistic Practice of the Movable is a multi-layered artistic investigation that and Project Development: Maj Horn has taken shape over several years through performative interactions, public workshops, city walks, conversations, Curation, Event organization, and digital gatherings. The communities that are a part of and Facilitation: f.eks. / Scott William Raby this guide have been selected through an organic flow of interactions, where project participants have suggested the Local research and collaboration: Kamilla Mez, Casper Clasen featured organizations. The core of the investigation has and Nikolaj Legaard been about local knowledge sharing and enabling self-re- flective conversation where invited audiences contribute Process Photography: f.eks. / Rikke Ehlers Nilsson with experiences, questions, and reflection. Design: Ľubica Segečová Although the project poses many social, political, and eco- nomic questions, it reveals three important qualities that Editing: Maj Horn and Scott William Raby define local organization: longevity, degree of professionalism, and accessibility. Some groups have been in existence for decades - the oldest is from the 70’s - yet there are many Meisner Christensen at Kunsten Museum new initiatives as well. Another aspect is professional status of Modern Art for her much valued input - is it leisurely, to make a living, or somewhere in-between? and thoughtful feedback. The final shaping factor is accessibility – is it open to the public, partially closed, or does it cater to a subculture with different accessibility needs? Overall, many of the places and spaces are flexible in both form and function as many of these characteristics overlap. Mapping of the Movable seeks to unite different groups through an alternative vision for urban engagement by f.eks. is a non-profit, artist-run initiative that creates experimenting with different performative strategies. We critical and speculative engagements bringing artists, hope the guide creates visibility for important layers of the audiences, and society closer together in new ways. city, while mapping different communities, inspiring new The f.eks. team consists of artists and organizers initiatives, and increasing awareness of Aalborg’s commons Scott William Raby and Rikke Ehlers Nilsson, with and the people that reproduce them. help from research assistant Mille Holtegaard. There are many warm wishes and sincere Mapping of the Movable is kindly supported by The thank you’s owed to everyone who helped Danish Arts Foundation and Aalborg Arts Foundation. make this project possible. Moreover, would not be possible without the dedi- For more information: cated, ongoing dialogue and participation www.majhorn.dk with: 1000fryd, AAAA, Aalborg Surreal, www.f-x.dk Artbreak Hotel, Arctic Streetfood, Blok X, Casa Anne Maries Vej, Cykel20, Det The publication is written in both American and British Hemlige Teater, Dunkelfolket, Huset, English as reflected in its collective transcription and Klaverstemmeren, Kunsten Museum translation by different non-native English Speakers. of Modern Art Aalborg, Nordoplyst, The As such, an International English incorporating both Greenlandic House, North Urban Art Stu- forms was utilized to keep the individual styles and dio, TRoA, Råt&Godt, and Vækstlag 9000. expressions intact, but favoring American English Furthermore, much appreciation is due due to the Editor’s familiarity with Standard Amer- to curator and post-doc researcher Signe ican English. p. 6 map↗ 1000Fryd Det Hem’lige Teater Projekt Vækstlag 9000 Studenterhuset p. 42 ↘ p. 140 ↘ p. 246 ↘ Aalborg p. 268 ↘ AAAA (Aalborg Dunkelfolket Aalborg Artist’s Association) p. 152 ↘ Fødevarefællesskab Nordjyllands p. 58 ↘ p. 256 ↘ Kunstnerværksted p. 270 ↘ f.eks. Aalborg Surreal p. 164 ↘ Center for Dansk p. 74 ↘ Jazzhistorie Trekanten p. 258 ↘ p. 272 ↘ Huset Artbreak Hotel p. 182 ↘ p. 88 ↘ Fjordbyen North Urban Art Studio p. 260 ↘ p. 274 ↘ Klaverstemmeren Arctic Street Food p. 196 ↘ p. 104 ↘ Kunsthal NORD p. 262 ↘ Nordoplyst Blok X p. 208 ↘ p. 114 ↘ Hal9k p. 264 ↘ Råt&Godt Casa Anne Maries Vej p. 220 ↘ p. 124 ↘ Marienhaab p. 266 ↘ TRoA Cykel20 p. 230 ↘ p. 134 ↘ p. 10 map↗ Scott William Raby: A major aspect of the project is to engage with the city of Aalborg - it’s public spaces and how those are being changed Contextualizing or transformed through gentrification, urban renewal, and the commercially driven, hyper- the Movable branded transformation process of the city. Could you share some reflections about Aalborg, what you thought was interesting about it, and A Conversation between Maj Horn, Scott William Raby, how the city’s qualities shaped or inspired your and Signe Meisner Christensen investigation? Maj Horn: One crucial factor for the project is the city’s size. Over the past few years of research, the scale of the city allowed the project to gather a large amount of places into the process, and The intention of this exchange is to share, unpack, and I don’t think that would be possible in Copenha- open up the methodologies and implications of artist Maj gen, for instance. The scale, or something with Horn’s public art project Mapping of the Movable - a project the manageable size of Aalborg is important, she has been developing in different forms and formats but also the city is large enough that things are since early 2019 with the contemporary art initiative f.eks. happening and there are many different cultural across various locations in Aalborg, Denmark. All three and other initiatives there. The location is also of the participants are involved in the project in different important, in that it takes two hours from Aar- capacities. Maj Horn is the artist who initiated the project, hus to get to Aalborg, so it has its own cultural Scott William Raby is the lead curator and organizer with scene since it is farther removed from some the art initiative f.eks., and Signe Meisner Christensen is of the other larger cities in Denmark. Further, a theorist, curator, and post-doc researcher co-organizing the notion of Aalborg being a former industrial the digital publication launch in affiliation with Kunsten city that is transforming into a cultural city is an Museum of Modern Art in Aalborg. important characteristic. On a different note, the walking distance that Aalborg has reflects This conversation on Mapping of the Movable took place on that it is a dense, former medieval city as well. December 16th, 2020. It was moderated by Scott William Raby. Another interesting quality is that many of the Contextualizing the Movable p. 12 map↗ organizations already collaborate with each relation to your project from f.eks.’s perspective, other, so there are these pre-existing links there’s been a tremendous amount of partic- between many of the initiatives. Maybe the ipation and eagerness from the community, last characteristic to mention is the role of the from different groups to want to engage with municipality, because it is very clear that the your project of trying to map and understand municipality in Aalborg is supporting the cultural the different self-organized communities and scene or the self-organized initiatives in many spaces. I’m not sure if it’s a residue of the kind ways. This is mainly financially, but also with of traditional working class character of Aalborg physical infrastructure, buildings, and spaces. or the fact that it is a smaller city and is a bit That has been quite a surprise how much the more isolated, so in a way it’s perhaps more role of the municipality has been playing in our cooperative in the way that people reflect and conversations with the different organizations. work here, but that’s been a standout feature. From our perspective, the participation has been SWR: How does the digital publication or the very engaged, very dynamic, very welcoming, broader project itself reflect the unique history very warm, and very sharing. After working in of Aalborg and how does that help us under- many different international contexts and cities, stand your project in context? How does history I think it’s hard to find that particular character, facilitate the project and what qualities of the and your project captures and highlights these city itself allows for this project to take place? qualities. From the perspective of an artist-run organiza- MH: Of course this is important when working with tion working in Aalborg with public space and socially engaged art. It is one thing to ask people art projects that have a participatory character, if they want to - just to give a silly example - peel are temporary or ephemeral, react to the urban an orange.