The Children of Deportation Center Sjælsmark Move Out

In the winter of 2019, visual artist Camilla Blachmann started a workshop at Deportation Center Sjælsmark where children and young people have been able to immerse themselves, and have been challenged and encouraged to let their imaginations run free.

Working with the children, we discovered that art gave them a language to talk about their chaotic stories, hopes and dreams. What started out as decorating a single wall at Sjælsmark has now become a wealth of drawings, paintings and entire rooms, all documenting and bearing witness to one of the most serious problems of our time: the story of the abandoned refugee children at Sjælsmark.

In collaboration with journalist Liv Krasnik, we’re exhibiting the story of Sjælsmark’s children at Kunsthal Charlottenborg from the 4th of February 2019, where the children from Sjælsmark will paint directly on the walls and display the works they’ve created throughout 2019. On being trapped at Sjælsmark, the joy of the center closing, the fear of ending up somewhere worse. On hope, love, and community. What it’s like to be a child in a prison.

The opening takes place Tuesday 4 February 5-9pm. The exhibition is on view 4 February — 8 March 2020 at Kunsthal Charlottenborg.