THE ROOTLESS
GRETHE LARSEN | AGE 61
Grethe Larsen grew up in Vejle and after her confirmation, she work in an artist group that travelled around Europe. When she was 18, she fell head over heels in love with a man with whom she had two sons and they were married for 13 years before she found out that her husband betrayed her.
They were divorced and Grethe got a job in a sewing factory, where she sustained a bad work injury. Later, her house burned down, she became homeless and went to Copenhagen, where she lives in a women’s shelter in Hvidovre.
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The Rootless
‘The Rootless’ is a project about homeless people in Denmark, which is intended to further understanding of the situation of the homeless by focusing on their lives and living conditions through a photo exhibition and the nationwide publishing of a book.
‘The Rootless’ are a group of 30 people who has somehow been pushed out of society either by or without conscious choice and who need more help than that which is provided by the efforts of our society. A large part of the problem is the fact that we do not look the people we are supposed to help in the eye.
Most of us would rather not face the reality we are confronted by through these people. Most of us fail to grasp the relations that take place in the streets and that makes it challenging for us to understand the homeless rather than turning our backs on them. This project tries to diminish the distance between us and homeless people by giving them facial features and telling their stories.
‘The Rootless’ was exhibited in 2010 as an outdoor exhibition in 6 larger cities in Denmark and had its Inaugural exhibition at the art festival Lys over Lolland (Light Over Lolland) same year.
