Atlantica - 01.04.2006, Qupperneq 11

AT L A N T I CA 9
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Gimme Shelter
Copenhagen’s amphibious mascot made international headlines yet again
this spring when word got out that the City of Copenhagen was thinking
about moving its famous Little Mermaid statue further out to sea.
This is far from the first time that this 125-centimeter bronze statue, which
has sat in the same spot at the Langelinie Pier since 1913, has captured the
world’s attention. A perennial victim of violent vandalism, the Little Mermaid,
based on Hans Christian Andersen’s fairy tale, has been decapitated three
times, dismembered, painted, blown by explosives into the water, and given
various props, such as an anti-Turkey sash and a sex toy to hold.
What is remarkable about the latest wave of news surrounding Denmark’s
favorite half-fish is that, in fact, there is no news. The City of Copenhagen
hasn’t decided whether or not to move the statue; and even if they do, it would
probably only be one or two meters further out to sea.
“We really haven’t decided on anything yet,” explains Jens Peter Munk, who
is in charge of Copenhagen’s public art. Munk says the city received an inquiry
from the tourist board to see if the mermaid could be relocated. Being so close
to shore, people like to prop their kids up on her shoulder for photos, creating
potentially dangerous situations for the statue’s hundreds of thousands of
visitors each year and annoyances for the Danes who have to make sure they
don’t fall into the harbor. “We don’t want to fence her in,” Munk went on to say,
“so we just have to suffer these things.”
With the last bout of vandalism occurring in March (the aforementioned sex
toy was placed her in hand on International Women’s Day), one has to wonder
why the world – tourists and hooligans alike – are so fixated on this wistful
girl. A gift to the city after Carlsberg heir Carl Jacobsen attended a ballet of
“The Little Mermaid,” nobody claims that the commissioned statue by Edvard
Erikson is a great work of art. So why all the fuss? And, maybe more to the
point, why all the violence in this Scandinavian haven of gender equality?
“You have to be a sociologist to understand it,” says Munk. “Unfortunately, I’m
just a poor art historian.” KM
009 airmail Atlantica 306.indd 9 25.4.2006 11:39:02