Odense Things to Do

The first thing you see when you arrive to Odense by train is the huge shopping centre right at the station. It's relatively new, and has lof of funny little shops and the big cinema Biocity, which is a chain.
Right next to the centre is the library which is really convenient, if I forgot to hand in the books or need to kill some time reading papers.

check pictures on this page: http://www.time2look.dk

Every year there is a film festival in Odense. It's for documentaries, short films, animated films and experiemental films. All films are free and they are divided into categories, for instance surrealism or generation conflicts,
This years festival just ended.
The quality of films are very high and there are some very interesting films amongst them.

Odense Zoo is located close to the city center. The main reason for my visit was to see the Sea Cows – The manatees, which they don’t have in Copenhagen Zoo, where I worked. It is unique animal from South America. They are not related to other aquatic mammals and they are the only exclusively herbivorous aquatic mammal. The manatee’s closest relative is the elephant.
In Odense Zoo there are 4-5 Sea Cows in a big aquarium, and at feeding time, you’ll see them rushing around to catch the lettuce the workers through in the water. They eat a lot of it.

Have you ever heard of The Pillar Of Shame or My Inner Beast? The two most famous projects of the artist Jens Galshoeit, two of many. It is art in defence of humanism (AIDOH).

PILLAR OF SHAME:
This event marked the initiation of an art happening that will spread over the Planet over the next ten years. Once a year, a Pillar of Shame will be mounted as a memorial of a severe infringement against humanity. The Pillar which is an original dark sculpture eight metres in height depicting more than 50 painfully twisted human bodies.
The sculpture will be mounted to serve as a continual reminder of a shameful act which must never reoccur
There have been such events in Hong Kong, Mexico, Brazil and Italy.

MY INNER BEAST:
In twenty big cities a sculpture of a pig in human clothes was set up without the knowledge of the authorities as a symbol of the increasing racism.
Locations in Denmark:
Odense Tornbjerggaard Gymnasium (High School) Bus 71
Aarhus in Frichsparken (park).
Herning Team Teatret on Betaniagade 6-8
Struer
Locations elsewhere: Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Holland, Italiy, Norway, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland

THE SILENT DEATH:
On UN's social summit in Copenhagen Jens carried out the happening The Silent Death with the aim of highlighting the double standards of the rich world.  We are solemnly proclaiming the inviolability of the right to life, but at the same time we accept a global imbalance with thousands of children as victims each year.
750 figures of children (a total of 15 tons) were fettered to benches, lamp posts etc. all over the City. In addition 13,000,000 certificates, one for each child doomed to die of hunger and lack of medicine in 1995, were distributed.

CONCLUSION:
Visit the interesting workshop in Naesby north of Odense.
At least visit the homepage or find out where you can find some his sculptures -
Might want to contact the workshop before hand - see if you can get soemone to guide you around to explain.
PLEASE DO NOT MISS!

If you are staying in Odense or just on Fyn (the Island) around August, you gotta go to the center city for the weekend of the Flower Festival (this year from August 12 to 15). Then take your time to walk around in streets and enjoy the beauty of the thousands of flowers decorating the city! Not at least the town hall square 'Flakhaven'.

Look for more photos in my travelogue...

The area where the Andersens Hus is located can be considered a perfect example of urban restoration. During the seventies, some architects worked to restore and in some cases rebuild the old houses from the 18th and 19th centuries. The result is now a perfectly rebuilt district that used to be the poor's ghetto during the past years.

In the eastern part of the historic center there's a maze of narrow streets with plenty of old houses. In Nedergade 2 there's Den Gamle Kro ("the Old Inn") dating back to 1683, one of the most beautiful buildings of the city.

This irregular square can be considered as the center of the city. It's a lively space where people enjoy sitting on the benches and park their bicycles. The Radhus building is located here. It blends the neo gothic with some italian renaissance taste. Built in 1883.