In the summer of 2012 visAvis went to the Roskilde Festival. We wrote articles every day which were then displayed on our newspaper-wall. In this way we were able to maintain a dialogue with the festival-goers. These are some examples of what was produced during the festival.
Kipanga: How many times have you been at Roskilde Festival?
Jens: It’s my third time here.
Kipanga: For how many days will you stay here?
Jens: All the days. I will stay here eight days in all.
Kipanga: How is it in your camp?
Jens: It’s lovely. The atmosphere is amazing.
Kipanga: Do you know that there is also other kinds of camps in Denmark?
Jens: What?
Kipanga: I am talking about asylum camps, where people can’t do anything.
Jens: Yes, I know. That’s sad.
Kipanga: Would you like to stay in the Roskilde camp for maybe five years,
like people do in the asylum camps?
Jens: No, no, no… One week is enough for me. Not more than that.
This is a different kind of camp.
It is not just that the risk of trivialization is very high. It is even worse: To put it bluntly there seems to be a tendency that makes this year’s Poor City look like Asylogical Garden, The Great Asylum Lottery or maybe an Asylum theme park with one ticket for all rides. Don’t miss todays special: “Meet a real asylum-seeker” and “Join the quiz to win the right to asylum in Denmark”. It rings hollow when around the campsite the promise of: “Make isolation history – Go to poor city and make a change” can be seen from orange statements on billboards of 2 by 5 meters.
You are not here because you are running from war. Here you can live for fun.
We were actually just discussing what this is. If the area is only meant for a certain group of people.
There is no way back. The nature of the labyrinth. I get lost and meet the same dead end several times. The blood pressure is rising. Airplanes are rumbling (in the sound-installation) above our heads. I am startled when by chance I run in to a group of refugees moving around the labyrinth. Insecurity. I don’t know what sight awaits me behind the curtain. The back-room of a truck.
The chronicles of Roskilde – part 4
An old Russian proverb says: The things are good only when they end well. In my last essay here on Roskilde, I will try to summarize all the things we have been able to make in this short period of time. It was indeed a real warm-up. On the first day, Roskilde met us with a classic scene from a cheap horror-movie: pouring rain and biting wind. But this does not scare us and we were able to bring the organization of our office to the success, even though 35 mm of rain had fallen this day. But numbers (35 mm for instance) alone does not have any meaning, unless you are occupied with money (like some individuals are). And it was all done on time. All these days we have tried to share our feelings and experiences with our readers. After I started to write this article, I suddenly realized, that my mission is impossible. This atmosphere is impossible to convey into words – it must be experienced. Therefore, I would like to end by saying thank you, my lovely and beautiful visAvis team for the collaboration and supporting each other.
vis(Avis) Love, Patrik.
