Tonni Hansen: Art for us all ~ together

Art plays an enormous role in our society, particularly at a time when the internet constantly challenges our sense of what is right and wrong.

Art freezes the moment when we stand before it. It demands our full attention and keeps us in a state of contemplation and tranquillity. It gives rise to reflection, contemplation, and even ‘aha’ moments and new insights.

Art is an essential part of our daily lives and personal development; that is why it is also important for art to open itself up to the wider world and, through its appeal, inspire even more people to discover its significant dimensions.

Art has something to offer everyone; it’s just that not everyone realises it. For me, art has broadened my horizons and given me new insights and inspiration. But it was by no means on the cards that art would be something that would touch my life.

As a lad from Langeland, growing up in a family where art consisted of a painting of a bellowing red deer by a forest lake hanging on the wall, it was by no means on the cards that I would turn to art. Fortunately, art found its way to me.

In the 1970s, Alfio Bonanno organised ‘Kunst Extemporalen’, which meant that artists came to Rudkøbing and created their works right on the street. My friends and I almost literally stumbled across several of the artworks as they took shape, and we followed their progress. Eventually, we had to sneak over to see the whole exhibition and the finished works.

This is where my interest in culture was born, but only because it came to me rather than me having to go to it. Today, I realise how much poorer my life would have been without art.

Langeland would also have been much poorer without our many fantastic artists and craftspeople, who have fostered a vibrant arts scene since the 1960s.

We may well be poor when we look at the council’s finances, but in return we are very rich in spirit, culture and nature. Everywhere on Langeland, we encounter and are influenced by the art and culture that enrich our daily lives.

With support from the Islands’ Art Fund, we in Langeland Municipality have been working over the past year to raise awareness of Langeland’s art and the island’s artists. Our mission has been to make art accessible to both the people of Langeland and the tourists who visit the island. The magazine you are holding is the result of this work and, together with a podcast series, maps, new signage and a comprehensive online art portal (langeland.dk/kunst), forms Langeland’s new Art Route.

I hope this will bring art into the lives of many people.

Welcome to the Island of Artists,

Langeland.