Rundetaarn  2 June – 1 July

Director and photographer Helga C. Theilgaard interviewed, filmed and photographed more than 70 residents of Ertholmene (the islands of Christiansø and Frederiksø) and created a fascinating pictorial narrative about life, happiness, and sorrows on this little, windswept spot in the Baltic Sea. 

Like peeling an onion

One summer, Helga C. Theilgaard sailed from Bornholm to Ertholmene. She was attracted by the history of the islands and the imposing fortress walls, but the islanders and the inclement surroundings finally provided the most striking impressions.

She returned to the two islands in the winters of 2004 and 2005, lived in the old prison on Christiansø and spent a total of four months getting to know the locals. "It was difficult in the beginning. Only three or four people would actually talk to me. But they gradually allowed me into their homes", she relates. "I experienced the island as a closed community. And getting close to that community was like peeling an onion. I slowly got deeper and deeper under the skin". 

Ruth's pickled herrings

The pictorial narrative from Rundetaarn shows with all clarity that Helga C. Theilgaard really did succeed in getting close to the islanders and was able to depict a culture that is slowly dying out.

The faces in the big portraits are painfully honest and the interviews recount tales of everyday life and the people on the island: of educator Rikke, who is taking over the shop where "Ruth's pickled herrings" are sold, of Kurt who dreamt of leaving the island and sailing the seas, and of Yrsa, who still lives in the house she was born in.

And standing in the heart of the exhibition with the cries of gulls, creaking floorboards, spindrift, and the howling of the wind, pictures and sounds merge and it is like being among the residents of these two tiny, rocky islands. 

An old stronghold

King Christian V built a military fortress on Ertholmene in 1684, which gradually turned into a lively little community. When the last military personnel left the island in 1863, some of the people who had been soldiers there returned to take up fishing. This was the foundation of the civil society on Ertholmene.

Today the islands are scheduled and everything looks as it has done for centuries. There are about 100 permanent residents on the islands, which are visited by about 65,000 tourists during the summer months. 

For more information on the exhibition:

Helga C. Theilgaard. Mail@helgatheilgaard.dk