DUCK RESIDENCE

DUCK RESIDENCE is a biennial group exhibition held from 2014 in Jutland, Denmark. I was honoured to be part of the 2021 edition helt in and around the 3 lakes: Jordbro Engsø, Hjarbæk fjord and Sondersø. That years theme “Nordens Lys “ and “Residence” ignited Skib Søger Havn – a series of boatsails near the shore of Jordbro Engsø. 

I see the sail as a symbol of a journey, of freedom and also of identity; regardless of nationality or family, fluid and in constant motion, influenced and shaped by the meetings and the places where you dock. They symbolise the passage from home to a new home and create a union between the two. And with that they symbolize ‘hope’.
At the same time, the stalling of the sails refer to the despair and the violent act of restricting something or someone that is made to move and deserves to thrive.

They are a reflection of the emotional turmoil one experiences when migrating to another country. The influence of the cultural shift is huge, especially on ones mental health and even physical health.  Adding the trauma of involuntary migration, evokes questions about the unrealistic expectations and lack of empathy found in the host countries. The weight of it is hard to bare at times and should be addressed.

As a daughter of immigrants, you’d think i was prepared when i moved from Holland to Denmark, but i wasn’t. Moving to another country and another language presented me with a whole lot of challenges i had not expected. From citygirl to countrygirl at 40+, felt like a master reset that pushed me back to square one. It decked me at times but also provided the blank slate and chances to go after some dreams. I’ve been lucky.

But more important, it confronted me with my own history, our family’s history that they ignore. I recognise the similar but also the different challenges my mother had to face. Her moving from a poorer country to a western country with her brown skin compared to me moving from Holland to Denmark with my white skin. It matters and it opened up my world to the social and cultural phenomenon of migration on a personal level, following my own experiences and the experiences of the many migrants i met here in Denmark.

Skib Søger Havn, therefor is a personal work; a sweet and bitter patchwork of my experiences and moods when moving to DK, in color, form and material.

Both countries, Holland and Denmark, have a complicated history of being explorers braving the oceans to find answers to questions like: who and what else is out there? But when we experience migrating ourselves, we are faced with the realisation, confusion and loneliness of not easily being able to answer questions like: who are we and where do we belong?

In our time where different nationalities and cultures flow through nearly every family-bloodline and migration has brought millions of people across borders, these questions are relevant and more complex than ever.