Project Description

Illegal Injection Room at Halmtorvet, Copenhagen

One of the great social and urban problems for citizens and companies at Vesterbro (part of Copenhagen near Central Station) is the public injection of illegal drugs. The problem is however biggest for the drug addicts themselves as they have to inject under stress and generally miserable conditions. This causes mistakes when injecting, infections and overdoses. On this basis I initiated the design of a physical injection room.

Danish injection room at present.

By co-operating with drug addicts and related organisations, architect student Steffen Nielsen and I designed a physical model for how an injection room could look like. The room was usable both functionally, health and cleaning wise.

The bomb shelters at Halmtorvet next to the central station was the physical frame for the project. This is one of the three preferred places for injecting. In Danish a bomb shelter is called a "protection room" which I adopted as a title for the project.

The idea with the project was to "translate" all the debate, reports, expert panels and media coverage about injection rooms from the last 6 years into a physical presence. From the written and spoken language into a visual and physical one. To have an actual functioning injection room was another way of facilitating the debate.This is one of the great possibilities of functional art; to give thoughts and concepts a physical form, and thereby raise more facets of a given problem.

The strategy of the whole project was to use the physical presence and that it was an art work to raise a debate in the media in order to activate politicians and drug and health experts. Also to let them use my art work as an initiator for talking about the subject.

With app. 8 TV News broadcasts, 5 on the radio and 25 newspaper and magazine articles this was successful. We got both local and parliamentary politicians engaged in the debate as well as the work for a change of law.

The injection room was open from Saturday 25 May to 9 June 2002. In this period it was open daily from 16.00 - 20.00 as well as Sundays from 12.00 - 14.00.

Kenneth A. Balfelt

Projekt Beskrivelse

Ulovligt fixerum på Halmtorvet

Et af de store sociale og bymæssige problemer for borgere og virksomheder på Vesterbro og specielt Halmtorvet er gadenarkomanernes fixen og efterladenskaber i den forbindelse. Problemet er dog størst for narkomanerne selv, idet de må injecere under stressede og usle forhold med fejlfix, infektioner og overdoser til følge. Jeg har derfor iværksat et kunstprojekt, der rent fysisk deltager i debat om løsningen af dette problem.

Amputeret ben som følge af fejlfix/Amputated leg caues by injection mistake.

Ved at indgå et samarbejde med stofmisbrugere og relaterede organisationer, arkitektstuderende Steffen Nielsen og jeg kommet med en fysisk model for hvordan et fixerum kan se ud. Fixerummet er anvendeligt både funktionelt, sundheds- og rengøringsmæssigt.

Beskyttelsesrummene på Halmtorvet (ud fra nr. 7) er den fysiske ramme for projektet, hvor narkomaner idag fixer ovenpå højen.

Dansk fixerum p.t.

Dette at have noget fysisk og faktisk at forholde sig til, kan give debatten om fixerum et nyt holdepunkt. En af de store muligheder i kunsten er netop af give tanker og koncepter fysisk form, og dermed formidle flere facetter af en given problemstilling.

For at få etableret fixerum i Danmark skal det gøres lovligt vha. en "4-meters lov". Dvs. at stofmisbrugere skal have lov til at gå fra indgangsdøren hen til sygeplejersken med ulovligt stof. Får vi en sådan lov, ligesom bl.a. Tyskland, Holland, Schweitz, Australien, Portugal og senest Norge har det, er vi klar til at etablere fixerum!

I forbindelse med projektet har jeg været i kontakt med narkotikapolitisk ordfører for Socialdemokratiet Sophie Hæstorf Andersen, MF, Martin Lidegaard, MF, Radikale Venstre, Bo Asmus Kjeldgaard, SF, Familie og Arbejdsmarkedsborgmester, Københavns Kommune samt Frank Hedegaard, SF, Borgerrepræsentationen. De ønsker alle at få gennemført fixerum/brugerrum, og har enten deltaget i åbningen, pressemødet eller den generelle følgedebat fra mit projekt.

Fixerummet havde åbent fra lørdag den 25. maj til den 9. juni 2002. I den periode har det dagligt åbent fra 16.00 - 20.00 samt søndag 12.00 - 14.00.

Kenneth A. Balfelt