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These are some of the Quirky Children, by visual artist Lisa Oakes. Follow onInstagram, Twitter, FB @lisaoakesart
Christiania (technically Freetown Christiania) is a small commune/enclave in the Christianshavn neighborhood of downtown Copenhagen in Denmark. It's on Amager Island, a short walk across the bridge from Nyhavn.
To call it a curious place is an understatement. It's...anti-government/anti-establishment, drug-infested, gentrified, touristy, dirty...quirky. You will most likely see tour groups wandering through here.
So what is this place? This is the location of former military barracks. In 1971, a fellow named Jacob Ludvigsen declared this as an open place outside of government. Strangely...it stayed that way. These 19 acres were given special treatment and have essentially been a counterculture haven for the last 50 or so years.
This also came with problems, though. In the 1980s, motorcycle gangs fought their way in to control the drug market. A group called the Bullshit Motorcycle Club fought off a chapter of the Hell's Angels to dominate the drug market here. (The non-biker residents were -- and are -- very much pro-weed and anti-heroin.)
In 1987, police found a dismembered body under the floorboards of a Bullshitter bike club inside Christiania. (I...shit you not?). That was enough for the police to get them to disband and biker jackets were banned inside Christiania forthwith. To end the decade, the Danish Parliament legalized Christiania in 1989.
A quick summary of post-80s history here:
April 2005, a gang shot and killed a man and wounded three others in Christiania. It was drug-related.
May 2007, the police, with an outside group tried to enter Christiania to destroy a building. They were met with fierce resistance, resulting in tear gas being thrown by the police, rocks and fireworks from the inhabitants, and 50 arrests as a result.
April 2009, a 22 year-old man had part of his jaw blown off by a hand grenade tossed into crowds at Cafe Nemoland. Four others were injured.
August 2016, a fellow known to be involved in the drug trade here shot two police officers (one in the head, though he survived) and a civilian. He was caught shortly thereafter, being shot, and dying from those injuries. Crime against the police is very rare in Denmark, and this was widely condemned. As a result, the main "street" in Christiania -- Pusher Street -- shut down all of their street stalls selling cannabis two days after this episode.
August 2023. Local residents put up concrete barriers and bars at both ends of Pusher Street to try to deter the influence of gangs. Also, on the 26th of the month, two masked gunmen opened fire in Christiania. They killed a 30 year-old man and wounded 4 others. The police stated this was gang-related.
2024? You can still easily buy weed here. A cigarette with tobacco & weed will run you about $15 USD. You can also get a hamburger at Source Burger (part of the gentrification). How long will this edgy hippie vibe last here? Hard to say. The times they are a-changin'. I think.
It's just a glass box with a spiral staircase in the middle of it and a place I'd like to own. The coffee was some of the best I've had to boot! Unique is a good word to describe it here (in La Conner) or anywhere else.
#18 for Project 365
Taken from inside the car. :D
I can't seem to not set my camera at an angle every time I take pictures. :)) Angles make photos so much more interesting. Not to mention that it gives people headaches.
Original painting in Gouache, Prints of our full range of transport images can be obtained from our web-site at :www.transport-art-collections.co.uk
Quirky things often catch your eye and make for interesting art. Make a photo of something that makes you go "Hmmm" today.
Added cable for hair and a spring for a mouth and voila a person :)
Thanks Darrel & Gordon