THE ROOTLESS
LILLIAN THELIN | AGE 45
Lillian Thelin grew up on Amager with her parents. When her mother died, her father could not cope with the children, so she and her sisters went to stay in a boarding house for a few years.
She found a man from Greenland and had a daughter with him. The daughter was removed from their home when she was four and a half months old because there was too much drinking, rowing and noise. They were also thrown out of their flat and lived on the street for a while.
Lillian lost her husband a few years ago and now lives in flat in Sydhavnen in Copenhagen.
Lillian died in 2015.
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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.
