DEAR FRIENDS


I wish you all a Merry Christmas and a better New Year without continued destructive Putin forces intervening in our lives.

 

Even if I try to run from this year's great tragedy I am reminded of it during my morning run along the harbor of Copenhagen. The header on Facebook that I made at the time Putin massacred the city of Mariupol.

THE FAMILY
 

First, a little about family, which of course belongs in annual Christmas letters, as I learned from my father's Christmas letters to his old schoolmates..... 

.....our son Daniel, who as I said last year stopped his hitchhiking trips to pretty much every country in the world when Corona closed it. He graduated this year as a "social worker" and has become wildly enthusiastic about this new way of traveling. Now he rides his bike around the city to visit all sorts of lonely people and can't get enough of listening to their fascinating life stories. He is particularly fond of Jewish nursing homes and can spend hours recounting the harrowing Holocaust stories told to him by "105-year-olds with razor-sharp memories".

But his own memory is also incredible. When Vibeke’s American cousin Christina Kiaer taught a year at KU as a professor, he surprised her at a party at our house by knowing Ukraine and Russia better than she did, with razor-sharp descriptions of which streets and museums are where - from Kiev to Vladivostok (even in Chechnya, he had lived in the main cities). For Christina is a professor specializing in Russian and Soviet art and has traveled extensively in these countries herself. I attended several of her eye-opening lectures on the racism of the Soviet Union hidden beneath the loudly proclaimed platitudes of "international solidarity" of the time. 
 

.....our daughter Lalou has also stopped traveling the world as a psychologist for traumatized children and women in vulnerable areas such as Somalia, Mali, Iraq, Rohingya, Gaza, as well as in India, Rwanda, Malawi and Zimbabwe.

But now that she unfortunately has so many violence-affected clients in her Copenhagen psychology office that she has had to close off the intake of new ones.

 

....my wife Vibeke still appreciates her new life as a retiree while I am not quite so happy with all the projects she suddenly sets in motion at home and abroad and think that "surely I can't help but participate a little."  During our two Interrail trips to Italy, she suddenly fell in love with a three-story house in a small mountain village "for no money" and is now thinking of buying it. "No money?" I ask, "but for the same money we can stay in 60-70 new exotic hotels in new romantic towns every day - even with breakfast, self-made beds, cleaning etc.

 
....our niece Cecilie Holdt  in August was running for the parliamentary elections why I had to move out to help my brother Niels Jørgen to hang up her election posters.
 

....our adoptive daughter Anna Davolio is also part of the family, having stayed with us for two years as Daniel's first girlfriend at the age of 16. So we frequently had her father, Morten Meldal, at our parties, and with our continuing friendship with the family, we were naturally proud when Morten won this year's Nobel Prize in Chemistry. Here he and Anna are seen at the Nobel Prize ceremony and when he was looking a little hipper with us.
Back then, I admired him most for researching the deadly Chagas beetle at Carlsberg laboratories, which scared both me and Bolivia's peasant families so much that they moved into these toilets we built for them during my 27 years of work with Care - in Bolivia with Prince Joachim.  See in my movie here with him how we did climate mitigation in Care a whole 7 years before the Koyoto Protocol!!!

 

.....our royal family.... Well, speaking of which, since Prince Joachim has been under a lot of criticism lately, I am, as always, moving out in defense of "my family" - our children's 24th grand cousin.
So please read here my defense  of him, which he himself is very fond of: Approximately from page 36 here in "On Saying Yes to the Royals" (in Danish).

.....our dog Tajo.....celebrated his 10th birthday in our summer cottage on April 26. Here it also celebrated its 1st birthday along with 11 of its siblings and half-siblings, some of whom are already dead like its friends here in Copenhagen - many of cancer. I have a theory that Tajo stays in good shape because every morning for 10 years she has run 5 miles with me - also to keep my cancer away.

But most of all it loves the Interrail - 4 in total to Italy with train journeys of up to 17 hours without a hitch. He loves the hotels of the south (where he immediately takes to the bed), restaurants (where they always immediately bring the water bowl before the menu) and even the supermarkets of Italy, where he walks around sniffing the other dogs and finding his own treats on the shelves. One bakery in Lucca, however, snuck it out when four of the other bakery dogs got into a fight inside while the customers just laughed. So, the question is why have we in Denmark introduced such dog-hostile rules?

 

 

....and finally my partner Christina Sun...
whose apartment has been my American headquarter and home for 25 years in New York as a lecturer "over there".
She suddenly made a surprise return visit to us this fall.

A LITTLE ABOUT MY "WORK"

.....as an involuntary retiree


 

Tajo didn't care much for Trump either.

After the clown Trump had entertained and fascinated me for four years as the great time waster on CNN, FOX and BBC, I thought I could take some time off under Biden and have time for books again. But then came the new shock of Putin's invasion, bringing back memories of when the Soviets invaded Czechoslovakia.

I even wrote a few articles about how we might have avoided it and about my own relationship with Putin (with whom I shared a boss as a so-called KGB agent).

Late I forget how Putin raped the minds of us at this very lecture on "The Occupation" by my friend Christoffer Emil Bruun here in St. Paul's Church. Shortly afterwards, my pastor Kathrine Lilleør received a lot of criticism for starting, together with Søren Pind, this arms collection for Ukraine, which has so far yielded 55.6 million DKK. But what is the difference between giving support as a taxpayer and even more as a private fundraiser, when in both cases the money goes directly to the Ukrainian state, which even we non-violent supporters (of individual perpetrators of violence) must admit that we see no other constructive solutions to defend?

LATEST ABOUT MY NEW BOOK "ROOTS OF OPPRESSION"

The war in Ukraine has also consumed the thoughts of my literary agent in the US, 80-year-old Charlotte Sheeley, who, as a Jew of Ukrainian descent, finds it hard to bring the thoughts of the war to her books, which she, more than anyone, has made New York Times bestsellers. She wrote to the owner of New York's black newspaper, Elinor Tatum:

"I am still reading Jacob’s book and of course keep comparing it to Alexis de Tocqueville’s study of America and the early days of its “democracy”.  Jacob’s book is an important document that deserves a Historical/University/Museum show as well as book publication and it comes my way at the most complicated time we’re living through.  So as the world situation evolves, I will keep this printed version safe and will bring people to it. I have serious fear for our planet especially Europe and wonder where Jacob might be.  I will email him too to get his permission to do what I can to help him bring this study to a wide audience. We are all in this situation together and I have grave doubts we will survive this.  I am grateful you have exposed me to this long-term study by an astute cultural outsider.” 
Charlotte Sheedy

Another problem is that the war has also triggered a sharp rise in paper prices, which means that publishers cannot afford to publish the large "art photography book" I have produced. So, for now you can read it here in 10 languages (I promise you Kurdish/Turkish friends to finish the Turkish version before the New Year too):

http://www.american-pictures.com/roots/  

 

 
One very interesting new analysis of my work was published in the film magazine Ejjumpcut in October by J. Ronald Green, Professor Emeritus of Film Studies, Ohio State. I learned a lot from it.


 

EXHIBITIONS AND HOLIDAYS

So, this is how the war in Ukraine intervened in my life, which was also threatened by other forces shortly after. At a memorial exhibition for the artist Jørgen Haugen Sørensen, (whom Vibeke and I had stayed with both in Portugal and Italy), I met my cancer surgeon from 2015, the Russian-Ukrainian Vladimir Karas. I said, "Come home with me, because just tonight we have the Russian-savvy author Marie Tetzlaff for dinner. He enthusiastically agreed, having read one of her Tolstoy translations, which we now added to a pile at home with her other works, reaching an impressive half-meter high pile. Marie had already heard from Vibeke that Vladimir "is the man who saved Jacob's life but ruined our sex life".

 

But it was a truly unforgettable evening here just after Putin's invasion of Ukraine. They both have a deep insight into the deeper mechanisms behind the war and we all decided to meet again. As I walked Vladimir to the train, he asked, "Jacob, did you remember to check your PSA number?" No, having done it for 5 years after prostate cancer surgery and being told "you're as good as cured" I had forgotten to do it for two years. "You need to get that done immediately!"

Shortly after I got my PSA number, which was now 0.2 which is way too high when you have had your prostate removed, and he now confessed to Vibeke and me, "Jacob, I really didn't expect you to live this long, since it was the most aggressive Gleason 9 you had." Vibeke and I had already been told by the doctors before the operation in annus horribilis that "it kills you". At first Vladimir thought I should have radiation treatment, but I said I'd rather postpone that until after the summer holidays, when I'm opening a big exhibition in Italy, "Vedi Napoli e poi muori", as it's called.

 

On the Interrail trip to Cortona we stopped at the home of my old friend Jörg Meyer (better known as the Stasi spy who was exchanged with Willy Brandt's Stasi secretary to the GDR and mentioned on page 454 here in "On Saying Yes"). He told me that he had also had prostate cancer but had been completely cured by his wife Gerlinde. Besides being a doctor, she is one of Germany's leading naturopaths, to whom people come from all over Europe. She had put together a gluten-free vegan diet for Jörg, who now made the most delicious vegan meals for us during our stay. We particularly loved his homemade rye bread and got the recipe for it, for which we have now imported all the ingredients, including Teff flour (from the famous Ethiopian pancakes). All our neighbors are thrilled and now want the secret recipe for "The Spy's Rye Bread" themselves.
 

So ever since we came home, we have now been vegans, which was not so difficult when we were already vegetarians and I had already long intended to give up planning a whole cheese with caraway and liters of ice cream every day - for the sake of the climate to prevent the drought and starvation of the cows in the Horn of Africa from the killing methane gases of our domestic cows. And what has been the result? Both Vibeke and I, the solidarity vegan, have lost 6-7 kg and feel much better (probably mostly because the spy diet also included zero alcohol and sugar). Sure, it sounds boring - and caused some resistance among our alcohol-in-large-quantities-drinking friends - but they too can confirm that "Jacob hasn't gotten any duller in a parched state" (which isn't saying much, either). But do not change diet to save your own life (because doctors don't believe in such miracle cures.) Only to save your children's lives and future.

Well, while we're touching on defunct East Germany, on the Italy trip I had my first lecture in the famous old Bauhaus University, where I felt quite high standing in the same rooms where Paul Klee, Wassily Kandinsky and Walter Gropius once taught in the historic city, Weimar, where Goethe, Schiller and Liszt also wrote their famous works. But also, high because after 4 hours of lectures, my students followed me out to the city's beautiful old market square to continue the lecture a few hours after the university closed. The progressive era of the Weimar Republic was shut down by Nazism, as you know, but nobody can get me to shut me up!

This was then also rumored down to my exhibition in Cortona, where they consequently only gave me an hour's speaking time in the town's beautiful theatre to explain my "art", as it was called in this art photo festival.

 

Here my German curator Lars Lindemann had the crazy idea to put me in the town's "ghetto" - the old, abandoned station building. He had never been able to forget my exhibition in New York in 2009, so I was happy that he now revived me again as I didn't think there were any more museums in Europe to exhibit in after my many exhibitions from 2006-2009.

Apparently, I hadn't had enough in Italy back then, because the reviewer of Italy's most important intellectual magazine asked in his laudatory article, "why had we heard nothing about Jacob Holdt before?" And the Museum of Modern Art in New York asked the same question. Lars Lindemann, as picture editor of the great GEO (a German parallel to National Geographic), even had this 24-page review made.

 

But whether I was outside the law and right down in my rundown "downtown" ghetto :-) or up in the heat of this wonderful old town of Cortona's ancient palaces (where I realized once again that I don't belong on the cobbled marble floors), - well, the heat was unbearable in this - the Italian summer climate disaster of 45 degrees, just lying in bed all day long, waiting for the evening's many parties with the other photographers who frequently told me they had seen my lectures in their youth, and some of whom can be seen here from my photo travelogue.
 

So, after just three days we fled north to the Biennale in Venice, Munich, the Moon Valley, Norway, etc.

At the end of September we tried again with a camping trip in Norway - from where we were dramatically thrown out the first night in Kristiansand two years ago because of Tajo's expired rabies vaccination.
 

But again, don't travel with a dog in the Nordic countries. Not once were we allowed into restaurants with Tajo and instead had to sit out in the car mostly in pouring rain or cold and eat our vegan meals. Yet in surroundings so beautiful I've never understood why Danes go to the US for nature experiences.

Back home in the summerhouse area, we had made lovely new friends in Christian Lund and Lærke Rydal, who organize the Louisiana Literature Festivals and publications and are as passionate about gardening as Vibeke. This year's festival was about to go down the drain, however, as they both had such a hard Corona just before we had to bring them food.

Christian is also the one who does the interviews with all kinds of artists for the Louisiana Channel, which is watched by hundreds of thousands, not least in the US. So I was happy when he also did a long interview with me, but when I came up with several hours of videos and pictures that I thought should spice up my boring talk, he said, "Well Jacob, now I have to do a 3 hour series instead of the usual 30 minutes." That's why the finishing editing is dragging on - also because in the middle of it all Christian and Lærke had a daughter.
 

 
This autumn we went south again - first to my new exhibition in Paris organized by fashion clothing manufacturer Andrea Sportono, and then to Florence to negotiate with Italian publishers. Now that the weather had turned cold, we suddenly loved both Paris and Florence and visiting old and new friends there. Also see the Paris exhibition here.

 

MY WORK IN THE UBUNTU HOUSE

In April I celebrated my 75th birthday with an open house at Ubuntuhuset. That's how people can vote with their feet rather than by force and obligation. As usual, I noticed more who did NOT come than who did, and asked afterwards "Why didn't you come?" To which friends typically replied, "Well, I did. You just didn't notice me in the crowd."

I had asked people to contribute to help the groups working in the Ubuntuhuset, but from the many gifts to me I could see afterwards that many wanted to make sure with the proof of the business cards that I would discover that they had actually turned up, as they know all too well my lack of presence :-)

However, the most donations went to the "100% for the children" based in the the Ubuntu House for their work with street children and to fight "menstrual poverty" in Africa by using menstrual cups to strengthen gender equality, so that young girls can be educated rather than worrying about the monthly cost of hygiene products. Thus they help set girls free, precisely the theme Kathrine Lilleør preached on Christmas Eve about the woman in Luke 8:43 who had menstruated for 12 years and therefore been ghettoized until Jesus set her free with the words, "Go in peace."
Well, while our Ubuntu women are bringing the Lord's works to life, Katherine is (just) preaching the Lord's Word - however the living Word without a script. She thus can do what I loved about the best black pastors in America - not least my favorite in Harlem, Dr. Calvin Butts, who sadly passed away this fall.

The Ubuntu House's other major group, Özlems Cekic's "Bridge Builders", is also gaining momentum across the country and has now expanded its permanent staff to around 10. I have joined the committee that selects the winners of the various Bridge Building projects across the country and have even given lectures to them.

 Also, the Jewish peace group "New Outlook" is still active in their bridge building dialogues in there, and one of their most fun events this year was the dialogue between Jewish and Muslim motorcycle club members.

 

"But you have to leave the motorcycles down in the yard!" I simply demanded, when in my time in Bandidos I saw them pulling their Harleys into the rocker's castle - a membership that Svend Brinkmann (famous psychologist and auther) unfortunately had ruined, when I was stupid enough to drag him in there myself in this TV broadcast.

 

Unfortunately, the growth of these groups has meant that there was no longer room for Crossing Borders  inside, which is why they have moved out of the Ubuntu House. I am very sad about this, as I loved the colorful world they brought together of young people from all continents, so many they almost sat on top of each other in the rooms. It was a deja vue of the festive years when I hosted up to 66 Arab and African refugees in there, here on video.

One day, when Amira Mousa, who works in the women's department there, told her Algerian father about the place, he said, "Well, that's where me and my friends lived when we came here as refugees in the 80s."

It meant a lot to Amira, a firebrand, that she is now doing her own integration work in the very place that helped her father become integrated and Danish once upon a time.

 

But see all our other events and the back story here:

www.american-pictures.com/ubuntu/

AND FINALLY TO A REAL

CHRISTMAS STORY

Because suddenly, something fun has come out of the Muslim friends we have invited every year around the table on Christmas Eve as seen here. In August, Hawar Yasmin Shuan passed her Artificial Intelligence exam at the University of Southern Denmark with an excellent 12. Her project was based on icons in 12th-century French Bibles, although she is Muslim and does not know French or Latin. So now she has been invited by the university to do a PhD and has chosen as her research project to subject my 22,000 American photos to artificial intelligence analysis. I have already been to three meetings in Odense at South Danish University, who are enthusiastic about the project, for which they have already started applying for half a million dollars.

 

The idea is that since my images have become historical and cover a side of the US that no one else has covered, they should be made easily accessible and searchable by museums, researchers, historians, sociologists, the Library of Congress, etc. With artificial intelligence, for example, one can see differences in patterns of how the black, long-lost shacks in, say, Alabama differed in furnishings and tools from those in North Carolina, and with facial recognition see family patterns of the children I photographed in the 1970s and continued to follow for 50 years. I noticed, for example, that the cover photo of my old book with Robert Kennedy and M.L. King was found only in homes in Georgia and that the particular molding furnace, which my Danish predecessor Peter Sekaer had also photographed 50 years before me, was found only in shacks in the Carolina area (see it on page 379 here).

 

Funnily enough, we therefore need all the work that two of our other Muslim girls around the Christmas table did during the years they lived with us as 16–18-year-olds while fighting not to be thrown out by the refugee authorities. For then Visala Manieva sat and typed all the approximate dates from the paper frames around my slides into digital meta tags while her sister Mila sat and transcribed and digitized thousands of pages of my handwritten diaries and letters to my father - often in handwriting so small and dense that I cannot even decipher what I wrote, as seen here. Now, suddenly, we need them for accurate dating and location of the images in the research project.

(Since then, both Mila and Visala themselves have gotten such high positions that the refugee board finally let them stay in the country - and Mila together with her husband Lasse have been able to buy a large farm on Funen - an integration success that goes from from Mila's thanks to the Danes in 2012 (for giving her family asylum) to her new view  from the top financial institution Nykredit in 2022).

 

"Jacob, what does "redneck" mean? Mila asked me in 2013 when I was away. It's a redneck who gets red in the neck from the sun while working in the fields, I replied. And she's learned that now after getting a lump in her neck working on the tractor as a farmer. Here are Hawar and Christina Sun having breakfast with Mila (pictured) on her Funen farm, where she and Lasse are planting nuts.

Under Hawar's supervision, I myself will get the whip over my neck from here to eternity writing backstories for each of the 22,000 photos, of the kind I've already started posting here on Instagram at the urging of my curators, where you can follow me (and correct my mistakes if you're one of my aforementioned American friends... ....because this Danish Christmas letter is now being sent to them too).

So, yes, I wanted to end with this uplifting Christmas story about the benefits of integrating with those who shall carry on our welfare state after us with so-called "Danish values", which they only acquire if we invite them into our homes ....and Christmas warmth.

Merry Christmas

and

happy New Year

 

Jacob Holdt
Gernersgade 63, 1319 Copenhagen K
Tlf.  20-324412  jacob@holdt.us
www.facebook.com/jacob.holdt/
www.american-pictures.com

Follow my picture update stories here:
www.instagram.com/jacobholdtofficial/

See the show American Pictures part one and two