Monumental Motion
At Copenhagenize Consulting we are thrilled and humbled that we are growing by leaps and bounds and are involved in so many fascinating urban planning and communications projects around the world.
There needs to be space, however, for our roots. Photography and culture. I'm pleased to announce a photo exhibition called Monumental Motion - in association with the Danish Foreign Ministry's Public Diplomacy Office - that is ready to travel around the world. It was no easy task narrowing over 10,000 photos down to 50 that somehow highlight the diversity of our bicycle culture but now it is done.
The photographs are ready to be shown and I'm ready to attend the openings to give an in depth talk about the finer points of Copenhagen's bicycle culture. Here is the press release from Copenhagenize Consulting:Monumental Motion - A cycling life in the capital of Denmark
Press Release - 22 July 2011
Cities and nations are often defined by the monuments they erect. Monuments and structures that stand as historical records of great moments or periods in history. Denmark and Copenhagen are no exception. However, one of the greatest monuments is our bicycle culture and the vast network of bicycle infrastructure that we have erected as a living legacy of sustainable living and livable cities. Each and every day in Copenhagen, hundreds of thousands of citizens go about their daily lives on bicycles. Each of them everchanging bricks in a vibrant, architectural structure of human-powered movement. Wind turbines are a poignant symbol of modern Danish society but the constant mass motion of our cycling citizens is organic, dynamic and, perhaps, the greatest monument Denmark has ever erected. In this unique photo exhibition, photographer and CEO of Copenhagenize Consulting, Mikael Colville-Andersen, highlights 50 photographs that define a cycling life in The City of Cyclists. For over 4 years he has documented bicycle culture in the Danish capital and, surprisingly, he is the first person to do so in such great detail in 125 years of the bicycle. The result is 50 photographs - chosen out of over 10,000 - that tell a story of how the bicycle plays an integral role in Copenhagen life. Our relationship to our bicycle is often the same as to our vacuum cleaner. Everyone has one, everyone uses it, but the vacuum cleaner and the bicycle are merely efficient and practical tools for making our everyday lives easier. 21st century cities will be defined by their efforts to reestablish their once prominent liveable qualities. The focus is increasingly on making our cities nicer places to live. The role of the bicycle in this noble effort is undeniable. It is the most important tool in our urban toolbox. With this photographic series, Mikael Colville-Andersen hopes to highlight the variety of ways that Copenhageners of all age and wage brackets use the bicycle in their daily lives. The exhibition premieres in Ljubljana, Slovenia in September 2011. Mikael Colville-Andersen will travel to the various cities where the exhibition will be shown and give a unique talk about how the bicycle plays its role in Copenhagen - and can do so anywhere else. If you're interested in having the exhibition shown where you are, please contact the Danish embassy, consulate or Danish cultural institute in your region for more information regarding the exhibtion.
