Der er foregået en begivenhed på Det Kongelige Danske Kunstakademi, begivenheden fandt sted i Charlottenborgs lokale, der idag kaldes Festsalen, og som har udsigt udover hele Kgs. Nytorv. Begivenheden var denne; at gipsstatuen af akademiets grundlægger, Frederik V, blev fjernet fra sit podie og smidt i kanalen bag Charlottenborg.
Af Anonyme kunstnere
Begivenheden fandt sted i solidaritet med alle de kunstnere, studerende og mennesker over hele verden, der har måtte leve med efterdønningerne af den danske kolonialisme i US Virgin Islands, Indien, Ghana, Grønland, Island, Færøerne og Danmark. I et ønske om komme kunst – og andre institutioner, hvis fundamenter består og er skabt af denne kolonitid, i tale.Charlottenborg blev bygget i 1670’erne af U.F. Gyldenløve. Gyldenløves’ skib Friderich menes at være blandt de første Dansk-Norske skibe til at transportere slave-gjorte afrikanere over Atlanten; fra det danske fort Christiansborg i Ghana til Dansk Vestindien (idag US Virgin Islands). Murbrokker, der indgik i bygningen af Charlottenborg, blev brugt som ballast i skibene, og er derfor også at finde i bygninger på St. Thomas.I 1754, på opfordring af hofmarskal Adam Gottlob Moltke, skænkede Frederik V. Charlottenborgs lokaler til det Kgl. Danske Kunstakademi. I samme periode blev hele Frederiksstaden og området fra Kgs. Nytorv og hen til Amalienborg opført. Kunstnere og arkitekter skulle uddannes til at opføre de nye palæer, til at male portrætter og skabe skulpturer af den nye elite. På den anden side af kajen – hvor fra vi smed Frederik V i kanalen – står statuen ‘Freedom’ af den amerikansk-ghanesiske kunstner Bright Bimpong. Statuen forestiller en person, der blæser i en konkylie og som har en sukker-machete i hånden. Den blev skænket som en folkegave fra US Virgin Islands til Danmark i 2016, op til markeringen af Transferday (som er 100 året for danmarks salg af de vestindiske øer til USA). Den står som minde om de slavegjortes kamp for frihed på St. Croix og deres oprør mod den danske kolonimagt, der medførte, at Guvernør Von Scholten i 1848 måtte erklære de slavegjorte for frie. Ved at synke Frederik V i kanalen ønsker vi at italesætte de måder, hvorpå kolonitiden er usynliggjort, men stadig har direkte konsekvenser for minoritetsgjorte mennesker indenom og uden for kunstakademiet. Vi ønsker en kunstverden, der forholder sig til og tager ansvar, ikke kun for fortidens handlinger, men for de måder hvorpå kolonialismen stadig er handlende idag.
The Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts’ founder has been thrown into the harbor. An event has taken place at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts. It took place in Charlottenborg Palace, in the room which today is called the Festsalen (The Assembly Halll), from where there is a view over the entire Kgs. Nytorv. The event was this; that the plaster statue of the academy’s founder, Frederik V, was removed from his podium and thrown into the canal behind Charlottenborg. The event took place in solidarity with all the artists, students and people all over the world who have had to live with the aftermath of Danish colonialism in the US Virgin Islands, India, Ghana, Greenland, Iceland, the Faroe Islands and Denmark. In a desire to call attention to the arts and other institutions whose foundations exist and were made possible by this colonial era.Charlottenborg was built in the 1670s by U.F. Gyldenløve. Gyldenløves’ ship Friderich is believed to be among the first Danish-Norwegian ships to transport enslaved Africans across the Atlantic; from the Danish fort Christiansborg in Ghana to the Danish West Indies (today the US Virgin Islands). Rubble, which was part of the building of Charlottenborg, was used as ballast in the ships, and is therefore also to be found in buildings on St. Thomas.In 1754, at the request of court marshal Adam Gottlob Moltke, Frederik V. donated Charlottenborg’s premises to The Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts. In the same period, the whole of Frederiksstaden and the area from Kgs. Nytorv and to Amalienborg was built. Artists and architects were to be trained to erect the new mansions, to paint portraits, and to create sculptures of the new elite.On the other side of the dock — from where we threw Frederik V into the canal – stands the statue ‘Freedom’ by the American-Ghanaian artist Bright Bimpong. The statue depicts a person blowing in a conch and holding a sugar machete in his hand. It was donated as a public gift from the US Virgin Islands to Denmark in 2016, in relation to the celebration of Transfer day (which is the 100th anniversary of Denmark’s sale of the West Indies to the United States). It stands as a memorial to the enslaved fighters’ struggle for freedom on St. Croix and their revolt against the Danish colonial power, which forced Governor Von Scholten to declare the enslaved free in 1848.By sinking Frederik V into the canal, we want to articulate the ways in which the colonial era is invisible, but still has direct consequences for minority people inside and outside the academy. We want an art world that takes responsibility, not only for the actions of the past, but for the ways in which colonialism is still active today.
