In response to the lack of female representation in public monuments, Denmark’s Ministry of Culture has created a plan that would lead towards more diversity in public art. Although experts think this is a step in the right direction, they are raising concerns over some parts of the Ministry’s plan.
By Ona Šniukštaitė and Emma Nijs
Back in March of 2024 ‘The Guardian’ wrote that the Danish Minister for Culture Jakob Engel-Schmidt stated that Copenhagen has more statues of mythical beasts and horses than women. On August 14th the Ministry for Culture shared a press release where they shared a three-step plan that would tackle this issue.
First on the list was Denmark’s Museum of Art in public spaces (KØS), which has been given the responsibility of mapping female statues in Denmark.
Assistant Professor Amalie Skovmøller of the Department of Arts and Cultural Studies at the University of Copenhagen expressed concerns about the mapping process. “Every municipality in Denmark has different ways of dealing with art in public spaces. And as far as I know, none of them have a complete register over the statues that have been put up over the past 150 years or so. So it’s kind of a big thing to start counting statues.”
The KØS museum declined an interview but offered a statement: “As a national museum for art in public spaces, it is positive to see that even more people are now engaging with the art that helps define our urban spaces and self-understanding. We look forward to participating in the work and conversation about representation, history and artistic renewal in our shared spaces.”
Statues as a gateway to more serious questions
Professor Amalie Skovmøller shared her thoughts on the comments made by the ministry. According to her, it’s good that there is a discussion on what people see when they walk around the cities in Denmark. But she also thinks that the issue goes deeper: “I like the idea that we use the statues as a gateway into some of these difficult questions. But I don’t think the solution is just to raise more statues of women. I think it would be more interesting to have a discussion of how do we use these public spaces and how can we set the spaces free to allow communities to take part in creating public art and public statues.”
A similar opinion was shared by the Director of the Women’s Council in Denmark, Helene Forsberg-Madsen: “I really appreciate that the Minister understands that we need representation also in the statues in the capital and around the country in general. But of course, we also have to understand that representation in statues is not enough. It also has to come with, like, an effort to make representation in everyday life and in the art practice of our time.”
Helene Forsberg-Madsen considers this process a step in the right direction because the representation of women in art greatly affects the way people perceive women. “In general, it’s very important that we see ourselves represented. It obviously gives young women and girls more of an idea that they will be able to do extraordinary things in their lives and they will be able to maybe make their way in art or whatever they are doing.”
A relevant topic back in 2022
Similar discussions on female representation in Danish art have been happening a few years ago. Back in 2022 Giulia Frittoli and David Zahle, partners of Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG), created an installation titled 50 Queens.
“With 50 Queens, I hope we can raise awareness about the importance of gender equality and social diversity in our cities and public spaces to inform how we can improve our urban communities of today and plan for more equal cities of tomorrow,” – said the senior landscape architect Giulia Frittoli.
The Danish Ministry of Culture has made a press release on their official website where they revealed a three-step plan that would lead toward more statues of women. Firstly, the KØS will map statues in public and identify which women are portrayed. Then, a team of university experts will recommend which women should be commemorated. And lastly, the Minister of Culture will fund a sum of money that will finance the installation of statues of women.
This story is for an audience in Lithuania who reads articles about culture on https://www.lrt.lt.