DE AFVISTE/THE REJECTED in Brorson’s Church, April to May 2015

Preface

From April to June 2015 Karen Land Hansen exhibited her works in Brorson’s Church in Nørrebro in Copenhagen. The exhibition was planned in the context of marking the fifth year since the clearance of the church, by the police, of a group of rejected Iraqi asylum seekers. The group had sought refuge in the church.

As the pastor in Brorson’s Church I experience how the happenings before and around the police´s clearance of the church have left deep marks, both in the population in general, in the local residents and in our congregation. It was a hard night for the people who experienced it. In particular for the group of Iraqis, but also for the employees and volunteers, who were active in the church during that period, as well as for the policemen involved. It was also hard on the church´s understanding of itself as a holy place, a place where people can seek refuge. A place devoted to Christ, who himself was poor, excluded, rejected and a refugee.

Karen Land Hansen’s collages became part of everything that took place in the church during the period of the exhibition, they created the context for the services, baptisms, weddings and funerals. The fact that they incorporate motifs from the church, and that they were made specifically for their place inside the church made them an integrated and natural part of the church space.

We chose to keep one of the collages in the church beyond the exhibition. It depicts the silhouettes of the Iraqis standing in a semicircle around the old alter of the church, during the police clearance operation. The collage reminds us every day of that particular night, which fewer and fewer of the young people coming in the church now, remember. But at the same time it reminds us of exposed and marginalized human beings, of another faith than ours, forming a circle around a holy place in the hope of safety and protection. It reminds us each day that we have to be a church for them.

Nicolaj Stubbe Hørlyck, pastor at Brorson’s Church, Copenhagen

DE AFVISTE i Brorsons Kirke, april-maj 2015

Forord

Fra april til juni 2015 udstillede Karen Land Hansen sine værker i Brorsons Kirke, på Nørrebro i København. Udstillingen blev planlagt i forbindelse med markeringen af 5-året for politiets rydning af de afviste irakiske asylansøgere, der havde søgt tilflugt i kirken i 2009.

Som præst i Brorsons Kirke oplever jeg, at hele forløbet op til og omkring politiets rydning af kirken har sat dybe spor, både blandt befolkningen generelt, beboerne lokalt omkring kirken og hos os som menighed. Den nat var hård for dem, der oplevede det. Både for irakerne og for dem, der var ansat eller aktive som frivillige i kirken i den periode, og for de betjente, der var på arbejde den nat. Samtidig var den også hård ved kirkens forståelse af sig selv som et helligsted. Et sted, hvor man kan søge tilflugt. Et sted, der er forbeholdt dyrkelsen af den Gud, der selv var fattig, udstødt, afvist og flygtning, da han i mennesket Jesus viste os sit sande væsen.

Karen Land Hansens billeder var med i alt, hvad der foregik i kirken, i den periode som udstillingen varede. De dannede baggrund for gudstjenester, barnedåb, bryllup og begravelser. Det, at de rummer motiver fra kirkerummet i netop Brorsons Kirke, og at de i størrelse var lavet, så de passede præcist til det sted, de hang, gjorde dem til en integreret og naturlig del af kirkerummet.

Vi valgte at beholde et af billederne i rummet. Det forestiller silhuetterne af irakerne i ring om kirkens gamle alter under politiets rydningsaktion. Billedet minder os dagligt om den konkrete nat, som færre og færre af de unge, der kommer i kirken, nu husker. Men samtidig minder det os om udsatte mennesker af en anden tro end vores, der slår ring om et helligt sted i håb om sikkerhed og beskyttelse. Vi bliver dagligt mindet om, at vi har et ansvar for at være kirke for dem.

Nicolaj Stubbe Hørlyck, Børne- og Ungdomspræst Brorsons Kirke www.brorsons.dk

 

Translation Sovay Berriman and Karen Land Hansen