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Denmark is to handle a nationwide lack of feminine statues because the Ministry of Tradition reveals that the capital, Copenhagen, has extra statues of legendary beasts than of ladies.
In line with the Danish authorities, lower than 10 per cent of statues in public areas are of ladies – that’s solely 31 of 321 statues and busts in Danish cities.
The tradition minister, Jakob Engel-Schmidt, has pledged 50 million Danish kroner (£5.7m) to rectifying the gender imbalance and representing extra Danish ladies in public artwork.
“The numbers nearly communicate for themselves,” stated Engel-Schmidt.
There are presently solely 5 named statues of ladies in Copenhagen out of 101 statues, whereas 26 are devoted to animals and 70 have a good time males.
Engel-Schmidt stated: “In Copenhagen, there are extra statues of fairy animals than ladies. That is completely insane.
“Is it actually the mirror picture the subsequent era ought to develop up in? Particularly contemplating what number of essential achievements in society are resulting from ladies.”
The Ministry of Tradition and the brand new committee of specialists intend to map which ladies have been “missed within the public area” as inspiration for future initiatives addressing “historic inequality in city area”.
Engel-Schmidt appealed to Twitter/X for statue proposals: “Will the subsequent era actually develop up in cities with extra statues of legendary beasts and horses than of ladies? No!
“Due to this fact, I wish to ask a crew of specialists to level out precisely which ladies should be redressed within the panorama. However please assist with some enter right here. Who’re we lacking and the place?”
Not too long ago, statues have been constructed within the nation to commemorate actress Betty Nansen and author Lise Nørgaard, who died in 2023.
The tradition minister has instructed that pastry chef Karen Volf; Nielsine Nielsen, Denmark’s first feminine doctor; and Bodil Begtrup, the nation’s first feminine ambassador, could possibly be memorialised by the brand new committee.
