Danish Index of Tapestry X
Prototype:
Print on fabric installed on scaffolding (hight 500 cm)
288 cm x 705 cm
In 1990 a number of Danish companies, foundations and organizations decided to donate 17 Gobelins to Queen Margrethe II of Denmark in connection to her 50th birthday and a forthcoming restoration of the 40-meter long, 14-meter-wide and 10-meter-tall Great Hall – the heart of Christiansborg Palace, which is also working as the house of the Danish Parliament. Known as the Royal Reception Rooms, the Great Hall is used for highly official events, making the room with the tapestries the face outward to the world, in the portraying of Denmark.
The Danish artist Bjørn Nørgaard was commissioned to design the 17 colourful tapestries, including portraits of the Queen and her family, a series of minor tapestries and as the main inspiration to Danish Index of Tapestry X, 9 impressive gobelins which depict a chronical representation of Danish history starting from the Viking age and up to the end of the 20th century.
Circulating events from late 19th century and up till the year of 2020 Danish Index of Tapestry X is seen as a hybrid that reflects on topics that are not mentioned in the Queens Gobelins depicting the periods from 1800 and to the end of the latest Gobelin. Compared with the illustrations used in the original tapestries Danish Index of Tapestry X uses photographs from people who witnessed the history and the heritage of the Danes. Topics that today play a crucial role of the mirror of Danish history, society and identity, thanks to new waves of feminism, #MeToo, environmental movements, postcolonial theories and Black Life Matter. By emphasising tabooed, forgotten or dark stories, new research, overseen persons and pioneers which were not depicted in the originals, Danish Index of Tapestry X questions the understanding of Danish identity and how we wish Danish history to be remembered.
Map_of_Danish_Index_of_Tapestry_X
Biography
Joachim Fleinert is a Copenhagen based visual artist known for being the receiver of The Victor Fellowship from Hasselblad Foundation in 2011. Besides his MFA in Photography from HDK-Valand, Fleinert holds MA in Photography from London College of Communication at University of the Arts London, and BFA from Högskolan För Fotografi in Gothenburg. His artworks have been exhibited among other places at venues and institutions such as Pingyao International Photo Festival (CN), The Hasselblad Center (SE), Fotografisk Center (DK) and The Photographers’ Gallery (UK).
Artist Statement
In Joachim Fleinert’s work he explores elements of found or archived imagery, that he converts into cohesive collages in recognizable shapes and figures, sculptures, video- and interactive- installations. His research is often a result of journeys related to his personal life and story or is an investigation into something undefinable. Whenever the pictures are found physically in the urban landscape, in connection with an investigation by the use of local or digital archive, the images enable him to work across time, space and perspectives. Joachim Fleinert’s method makes him able to lift up topics such as: national symbols and identity, human rights, consequences of freedom of press, memory, the importance of the archive and its fragility.
