noisedfisk

The Danish Cultural Canon

2006.01.25

— Music

I’m not sure what I should think of the Danish politics at the moment. After announcing a housing programme for Christiania, the Danish government has just unveiled a list of “must-hear/read/like”, the “nation’s cultural canon“. The list includes the 108 so-called most representative works of Danish culture over 2500 years (!!!) in seven different categories: architecture, visual arts, design and handicrafts, film, literature, music, drama, as well as a special children’s canon…
As we may imagine, this canon raised debates among artists and journalists: who should be listed, who shouldn’t, and above all, what’s the point? The minister of culture, Brian Mikkelsen, said: “I had never in my wildest dreams imagined the debate that has already taken place… Therefore the cultural canon is already a success. The presentation today, however, is only the beginning. The goal is precisely to create a debate about our culture’s role in globalisation.”
The movie “The Idiots” is on the list… That was enough for Lars Von Trier, the film director, to prepare a special gift for Brian Mikkelsen: “Dear Brian, thanks for nationalising our culture. Here’s something in return” read the opening credits to a video broadcast. The film begins with the Danish flag being lowered to the tunes of the country’s royal anthem. It then goes on to show von Trier cutting out the white cross at the centre of the flag, then resewing the four panels together. The film ends with the all-red flag being raised while “The Internationale” is played…

Source: Copenhagen Post and www.dr.dk

• Comments