The esteemed celebration of Aarhus, ‘Aarhus Festuge’ has commenced, marking its 55th year as part of the community, widely bringing local and international influences together. Introducing its brand-new theme ‘Mind the Gap,’ 2023 is dedicated to exploring the importance of community and coming together.
Beginning this year, the latest theme ‘Mind the gap,’ can be interpreted in unusual ways. Whilst it is most apparent to think of London transport, the concept is more underlying. As the administrative director of Aarhus Festuge, Gemma Brotherton-Ratcliffe tells us “It can mean several things, but there’s a gap generally in the world today [gaps between] the rich and the poor, the right wing, the left wing, and we have to watch out that we don’t make this gap too big, otherwise we will not have a well-functioning world.”
As with previous festival themes, ‘Mind the Gap’ was chosen with the idea of leaving room for interpretation. “It’s a very wide concept because we want as many people as possible to tap into it […] we have a position that allows us to experiment, we have the possibility to go out and challenge.”
Public perceptions surrounding this year’s theme have in some ways been conflicting. As Gemma says, “We have a wide target group, making it very difficult to target everybody […] either we are high cultural or not cultural enough. We cannot please everybody, so our aim is to be there. I think there would be a huge gap if we were not there.”
She continues, “In small spaces, beautiful things grow [underground music, for example] and we have to look after these niche artists and give them a place to grow.” The festival is celebrated for bringing together international artists from a vast variety of cultures. Artists are due to perform at this year’s concert, ‘M56;10’ which is scheduled to take place on Thursday, with free admission for all.
For the local people of Aarhus, the integration of new cultures attracts mass audiences and is recognised as an important annual tradition. Olav, a member of the information desk at Aarhus Festival explains “The people local in Aarhus and from the whole [of] Jutland and Copenhagen come here, as it is opened by the Queen of Denmark.” There is a conscious effort made to ensure there is something for everyone of all ages and nationalities. “There is a lot of music, with jazz or blues, and of course beer.” He continued, “In the morning, it is primarily for children, and then we have [classical] music for older people. In the evenings, you can see in the city, people going to have a beer, talk with a friend, it is a good atmosphere in the town. We have no problem […] people talk friendly to each other.”
‘Mind the Gap’ is scheduled to continue for the next three years to come, renewing in 2025 following the trend of previous themes. On speaking about plans for next year, Gemma concludes
“We have not got to next year, but we will be working very closely with ‘mind the gap’ over the next couple of years.”
Reported by Chloe Wong and Olivia Grace Watts
youtube.com/watch?v=kVhp1iXJOew