prsentation kongelig akademi rev 7
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I am the author of a book on European Painting, which I am currently <strong>rev</strong>ising. Therefore, I know<br />
the importance of being both theoretically sound and inventive in designing innovation and<br />
contributing to cultural development. Updating my artwork has also led me to the EU's cultural<br />
policy, whose strategic framework is currently being <strong>rev</strong>iewed. I want to contribute to the reflection<br />
on how the EU should relate to cultural policy given the treaty framework. Art is part of the<br />
political, spiritual, and economic development of cities, three purposes that are probably the basis<br />
for why we have the cities in which most humanity lives today. Many of us in Europe believe that<br />
something new needs to happen and that Europe needs an initiative, but how do we move from<br />
Ahnung to thought, from theory to action?<br />
I visited China in 2019 and was quite shocked by how the cityscape, with its many generic<br />
buildings and the lack of cultural facilities, felt. In China's Inner Mongolia, Ai Wei Wei and Herzog<br />
Meuron have been working on the construction project Ordos100, where architects have put a lot of<br />
knowledge, time, and energy into designing the type of houses. The project's failure is an important<br />
lesson for the outside world, if not for the Chinese, who may well perceive life in high-rise<br />
buildings as desert migration from and to a life with a villa, Volvo, and dog. This movement was<br />
effectively ended for political, economic, and commercial reasons.<br />
I also experienced a case of agoraphobia in a square in Minsk, built in a Stalinist monumentalism<br />
style, where it felt like I was disappearing as a human being - it was an eerie experience. It a world<br />
apart from the golden harmony and decorative elegance characterizing Lithuanian Baroque. This<br />
reminds us that we are servants and that man come first. There is the human situation and human<br />
character.<br />
Then, there is - to quote Joel Kotkin - the Human City.<br />
By that, I do not mean that we should let the nation-states of Europe use themselves until they fall<br />
over exhausted and Asians take over. On the contrary, I think we should take a self-conscious<br />
approach, declare ourselves European, and build Europe politically, economically, and culturally<br />
before the suburbs of the world retaliate. Andres Duaney published The Smart Growth Manual over<br />
a decade ago. Perhaps we should define the elements and put together an integrated urban theory<br />
with the working title, The European Urban Manual. What is the conceptual infrastructure of this<br />
study?<br />
My career goal is to develop my leadership as a European public policy representative.<br />
Right now, I live in Kolding, Denmark's 8th largest municipality, which is stagnant and has several<br />
suppressed social conflicts and a well-grown, self-absorbed, and power-hungry bureaucracy, as well<br />
as full-time politicians in the city council who are too busy to think. However, it is also a region<br />
with a wide expanse of nature where people get along as human beings. There is certainly a vibrant<br />
church in Kolding, but this may not be a busy town. Alternatively, as they say, out in West Jutland:<br />
“If the mission does not get you, the fox will”.<br />
Of course, I am interested in getting my foot into the door and contributing to the city's development<br />
as one of several possible routes to the job market. I'm sure I deserve it.<br />
In Copenhagen, Europe meets Scandinavia and the Baltic Sea meets the Arctic. In winter, cold<br />
Siberian winds occasionally blow across harbors. In Southern Jutland, the Wadden Sea provides<br />
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