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'Denmark dealing with it's colonial past'

Denmark has a hidden entanglement in colonialism. From the sixteenth to the nineteenth century, Denmark established colonies in the West Indies (now the U.S. Virgin Islands), the Danish Gold Coast (present-day Ghana), Greenland, the Faroe Islands and parts of India. The process of political decolonization mainly took place throughout the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. [1] However, Denmark only formally ended its colonial empire in 2009, granting Greenland the Self-Rule Act. Although rarely discussed in the public Danish sphere, the country actively participated in the transatlantic slave trade. The last few years, an academic debate emerged on whether the Danish colonial past is tackled sufficiently or too neglected by scholars. Nowadays, there is still no active remembrance of the colonial past in the popular memory of Danish people. Recent demands for reparations in the former Danish West Indian colonies have questioned those established silent narratives. Instead of challenging those distorted discourses, Denmark selectively reframed them. Despite a growing recognition of colonial injustices, Denmark has not adopted any official policy of regret, fostering a certain silencing of the different colonial experiences.[2]

Danish Colonial Empire (18 Century)


Official apologies

It has been registered that Denmark has made their apologies to Greenland three times. The first apology in 1999 was made for making Inuit people move away to make room for an expansion of the U.S. Airbase. A national apology has been given on taking away children from Greenland in the 1950’s for a ‘social experiment’ in 2020. Lastly they apologized for forcing Inuit people to move away from their families and homes in 2022. However, there are no records to be found of apologies of the Danish involvement in the transatlantic slave trade and their past with the Danish West Indies.[3]

Public debate

From 2017 on, the Danish media brought up new attention to the former Danish West Indies. A centennial for Transfer Day was brought up, the day the Danish West Indies were being transferred to the United States. That year the public debates about Denmark’s relation to colonialism were raised. Whether Denmark should make their apologies for mistakes they made in the past or not. [4] That period of Transfer Centennial caused an increased focus on the shared colonial histories between Denmark and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Former Prime Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen acknowledged the Danish involvement in the ‘transatlantic triangle trade in the Danish West Indies’ during his New Year’s Day speech. He called it ‘a gruesome and shameful chapter’. Using the former term ‘Danish West Indies’ implies nostalgia and a linguistic extension of the power imbalance they have.[5] The prime minister did, again, not formally apologize. He did a second speech on Transfer Day on March 31 in the same year.[6]

Public awareness and education

Mette Bock, then Minister of Culture in Denmark, said a formal apology should be given by the people that gave out the offence. “One cannot apologize on behalf of others” because otherwise it would not have the same meaning. In 2017 the Ministry of Culture put extra subsidies in projects that would tell the story of Denmark’s role in the slave trade. This was their way to confront the past sins being made by the Danish nation back then.[7] For the ‘100th-anniversary’ of the Virgin Islands being sold to the United States, the DR (national state channel) developed an educational game called Historiedysten (The Historic Battle). The game was made to engage Danish 5th- 6th graders in knowing more about the Danish colonial past.[8] However, scholars' critique was that the leading narrative in the game was one of white innocence.[9] The narrative in the game is based on colonial records that were created by Danish colonisers wherein they used outdated terms such as Triangular Trade. In that way the perspective of the game is from a coloniser and students take that perception. The innocence is also being kept in place by comparing the Danish colonial past to other European nations, in that way the Danish actions appear less violent.[10] In 2022, the Danish state channel DR aired a four-episode documentary series on Greenland and Denmark and its shared history called “The Story of Denmark and Greenland — For Good and Bad." The documentary was part of a big spring theme, in order for DR to put the effects of the Danish colonization on Greenlandic people on the public agenda. One of the most important themes is the systemic Danish overtaking of Greenlandic society from 1721 to the 1960s.[11]

Museums and cultural institutions

In Denmark there were various exhibitions whose main aim was to portray its colonial past. One of them named “Voices from the Colonies” took place on October 13th, 2017 in the National Museum of Denmark.The exhibition was about Denmark's colonial history in the West Indies, India, West Africa and Greenland. It was significant, because its main focus was not plain historical events and trade relations, but it was stories of the people. Personal stories of 34 people affected by the Danish colonial past were portrayed during this exhibition. Apart from this, the exhibition also showed historical exhibits such as: a whip used in the West Indies or a church bell with Greenlandic inscriptions, once used to spread Christianity in predominantly shamanist Greenland.[12]

In the National Museum of Denmark, the “Taking care” project took place. It was a large-scale European cooperation project led by the Weltmuseum Wien with a goal of generating new knowledge, addressing colonial traumas, and fostering cross-cultural collaboration to create a more sustainable future. Throughout 2022, the National Museum of Denmark hosted creative, hands-on workshops and experimental exhibitions as part of its contribution to the Taking Care collaboration.[13]

In the National Gallery of Denmark (SMK) from 6th of May till 30th of December 2017 there was an exhibition - “What Lies Unspoken”. The display featured a sound collage of contemporary conversations and discussions, examining works from the SMK collections that portray people of African descent or connect to Denmark’s colonial history. It proposed a new perspective on some of the Danish art pieces including works from the SMK collections that represent the colonial past more from the colonised people’s perspective.[14]

Art initiatives

One of the most famous art bottom-up initiatives prepared as condemnation of Danish colonial history is The Sinking of the bust of Frederick V, King of Denmark (1746–1766). It was removed from the ceremonial hall of the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts and submerged in the nearby Copenhagen harbor.In February 2021 "Anonymous Visual Artists” made a video of them sunking the bust in Copenhagen Harbor.[15] The event was held in solidarity with artists, students, and communities worldwide who continue to experience the lasting impact of Danish colonialism in the U.S. Virgin Islands, India, Ghana, Greenland, Iceland, the Faroe Islands, and Denmark. It aimed to encourage art institutions and other entities built upon and shaped by the colonial era, to acknowledge and address this history. The activists made their intentions clear - “ By sinking Frederik V in the canal, we want to articulate the ways in which the colonial era is made invisible, but still has direct consequences for minorities inside and outside the art academy. We want an art world that relates to and takes responsibility – not only for the actions of the past, but for the ways in which colonialism is still active today”.[16] 

Frederik V i rustning og med elefantordenen 02

Another art project installed in memory of the Danish colonial past is “I am Queen Mary”. It is a transnational public art project by two artists united by their shared Caribbean heritage and colonial histories - La Vaughn Belle from the U.S. Virgin Islands and Jeannette Ehlers from Denmark.This artwork was unveiled in March 2018 outside the West Indian Warehouse in Copenhagen to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the sale and transfer of the Danish West Indies to the United States. Its incentive was to honor Denmark's colonial legacy in the Caribbean and those who resisted it. In 2020, the Danish government approved the permanent installation of “I Am Queen Mary” in front of a former colonial warehouse in Copenhagen, recognizing the artwork's transition from a temporary display to a significant landmark in the city.[17]

Activists actions

Humanity in Action organised Colonial Dialogue - Weekend Workshop in 2022. This project aimed to tackle ignorance, prejudice, privilege, and post-colonialism by fostering a constructive dialogue among Danish youth about their relationship with Greenland. It was launched with the involvement and assistance of Greenlandic activists, showcasing culture as a form of resistance, empowerment, and a means of sparking debate and reflection. Over the course of a weekend, William Nordmark Nielsen and Sofie Malm Henriksen led a learning-focused event for approximately 200 students at Grundtvigs Højskole. The weekend addressed common prejudices and educated the students about the unequal relationship between Denmark and Greenland.[18]

Greenland

Greenland, as the world’s largest island, has a long colonial history, mainly of Danish-Norwegian settlement, that started as early as 1721. Even if Greenland was officially incorporated into the Kingdom of Denmark in 1953, abolishing its status as a colony only reinforced economic and political dependence on Denmark. Colony to province did not remove power inequalities.[19] Nevertheless, the 1960s saw a generation of politically engaged Greenlander students claiming equality and anti-imperialism through cultural and political engagement. In 1964 was created the Council of Young Greenlanders (Unge Grønlænderes Råd). This youth organization promoted Greenlandic language, Inuit cultural heritage, and was at the root of main debates on self-governance and independence in both Denmark and Greenland. In the 1970s, the debate shifted towards more awareness of the Inuit cultural heritage and traditions, now considered as the frame and basis of Greenlander identity. It then distanced itself from older discourses of ‘modernization’ for equality. In this context, one of the most significant Arctic research missions of the 20th century was launched: the Knud Rasmussen's Fifth Thule Expedition. Led by Knud Rasmussen, a Danish-Greenlandic polar explorer and ethnographer, the expedition aimed to document the language, culture, and traditions of the Inuit from Greenland to North America. The decade also saw the rise of a political process of decolonization with the [Home Rule Act] of 1979, delegating more political autonomy and self-rule to Greenland. Later on, the [Act] of 2009 aimed at expanding Greenland’s control over internal affairs. It also recognized the right to self-determination and Greenlandic language as official, and gave the territory more control over its natural resources, among other measures. Considered insufficient, in 2014 the Greenland Reconciliation Commission (Forsoningskommissionen) was established to address the historical injustices and colonial legacies. It pursues the goal of creating dialogue, sanctioning past harms, and strengthening relations between Greenland and the Danish state.[20] Despite those efforts, Greenland, as a “sovereign nation-state in the making”[21], still faces struggles regarding autonomy and sovereignty, emphasizing Danish colonial legacy. Greenland-Danish relationship is part of a wider sovereignty game in which Denmark tries to be the leading yet innocent player. In 2012, Denmark invested in military surveillance to ensure control over Greenland’s borders. The creation in 2012 of the Joint Arctic Command in Nuuk, a military unit, is a clear example of Denmark pushing to enhance its control over Greenland sovereignty through concrete actions of patrolling Greenland waters. Denmark has also constantly opposed external diplomatic and economic interference, preventing foreign investments such as China involvement in airport projects in 2018. [22] More recently, in 2019 and 2025, Denmark rejected the proposal for external acquisition of Greenland by the USA.[23] This underscores Denmark’s multifaceted approach to maintain sovereignty using military, economic and diplomatic actions. It is part of the wider discourse of the “Community of the Realm”[24] and Denmark’s self-depiction as the keeper, not the ruler. This vision still challenges the Greenlandic movement towards independence.

Emergence of new narratives

Denmark still has relations with its former territories in the North Atlantic and on the other hand they are also restoring their past with Tranquebar on the East Coast and Ghana. However, the colonial world in Danish academics and literature remains an occasional interest. Edgar O. Lake, U.S. The Virgin Islands poet is an exception. The absence of the Danish language on the Faroe Islands, Greenland and other parts makes it even more complicated to find links with the colonial past in archives. The U.S. Virgin Islands deal with the opposite problem. Because most of the records were written in Danish and the archives of the Virgin Islands have been split between Denmark and the United States there is a very limited perspective and access for Virgin Islanders when they attempt to know more about their history. [25] Being dependent on Danish records while being oppressed by the Danish colonizers made it very difficult for the Virgin Islanders to write and revisit their own history. They had an oral tradition of remembrance and that being non-existent, now leaves a whole gap of perspective.[26] Hence there is little known and written about the Danish colonial past. The last few years there is new historical archival research being made that focuses on colonial relations. [27] Kult is one of the examples of scholars bringing out a reinterpretation of Denmark’s Colonial Past as a journal on postcolonial Denmark. The journal brings together several discussion fields. It was established in 2004 and is based in the research group Intercultural studies at Roskilde University.[28] Also there has been a renewal in education around Danish colonial history. New manuals and books have been written. Danish students however, still learned in 2020 about the abolition of slavery, the term emancipation is missing in the narrative. There is still a need for non-Danish protagonists to avoid dehumanizing the history of slavery.[29]

  1. ^ Gunvor Simonsen, (2024). The Danish Atlantic WorldObo. https://www.oxfordbibliographies.com/display/document/obo-9780199730414/obo-9780199730414-0409.xml
  2. ^ Andersen, A. N. (2013). “We Have Reconquered the Islands”: Figurations in Public Memories of Slavery and Colonialism in Denmark 1948-2012. International Journal of Politics, Culture, and Society, 26(1), 57–76. http://www.jstor.org/stable/42636435
  3. ^ https://www.politicalapologies.com/?page_id=1118
  4. ^ Jensen, L. (2019). Commemoration, Nation Narration, and Colonial Historiography in Postcolonial Denmark. Scandinavian Studies, 91(1–2), 13–30. https://doi.org/10.5406/scanstud.91.1-2.0013
  5. ^ ‘Policy of Memory.’ Kult, vol. 16, 2020, pp. 71. http://postkolonial.dk/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/4-Tringa-Berisha-final.pdf
  6. ^ ‘Policy of Memory.’ Kult, vol. 16, 2020, pp. 74. http://postkolonial.dk/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/4-Tringa-Berisha-final.pdf
  7. ^ https://www.thelocal.dk/20170105/denmark-struggles-to-come-to-grips-with-its-slave-past
  8. ^ ‘Denmark’s Innocent Colonial Narrative’. Kult, vol. 15, 2018, pp. 58. http://postkolonial.dk/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/8_Berisha-Birisawa-Muasya_final.pdf
  9. ^ The theory by Gloria Wekker in White Innocence: Paradoxes of Colonialism and Race (2016).
  10. ^ ‘Denmark’s Innocent Colonial Narrative’. Kult, vol. 15, 2018, pp. 63.
  11. ^ https://www.courthousenews.com/denmark-and-greenland-time-to-debate-colonial-history/
  12. ^ Voices from the Colonies. National Museum of Denmark. Retrieved March 5, 2025, from https://en.natmus.dk/museums-and-palaces/the-national-museum-of-denmark/exhibitions/voices-from-the-colonies/
  13. ^ The Taking Care-project (EN). Nationalmuseet. Retrieved March 5, 2025, from https://natmus.dk/historisk-viden/forskning/the-taking-care-project-en/
  14. ^ What Lies Unspoken. (2017, May 6). SMK – National Gallery of Denmark in Copenhagen (Statens Museum for Kunst). https://www.smk.dk/en/exhibition/what-lies-unspoken/
  15. ^ Marking histories, defacing violence. Danish colonialism before and after the sinking of the bust of Frederick V. Retrieved March 5, 2025, from https://publicsquare.dk/artikel/marking-histories-defacing-violence-danish-colonialism-before-and-after-the-sinking-of-the-bust-of-frederick-v
  16. ^ DET KGL. DANSKE KUNSTAKADEMIS GRUNDLÆGGER SMIDT I HAVNEN — I DO ART. (2020, November 6). IDOART.DK. https://www.idoart.dk/blog/det-kgl-danske-kunstakademis-grundlaegger-smidt-i-havnen
  17. ^ I Am Queen Mary. I Am Queen Mary. Retrieved March 5, 2025, from https://www.iamqueenmary.com
  18. ^ Colonial Dialogue. (n.d.). Humanity in Action. Retrieved March 5, 2025, from https://humanityinaction.org/action_project/colonial-dialogue/
  19. ^ Gad, U. P. (2014). Greenland: A post-Danish sovereign nation state in the making. Cooperation and Conflict, 49(1), 98–118. http://www.jstor.org/stable/45084245
  20. ^ Rud, S. Colonialism in Greenland: Tradition, Governance and Legacy. 1st ed. 2017.
  21. ^ Gad, U. P. (2014). Greenland: A post-Danish sovereign nation state in the making. Cooperation and Conflict, 49(1), 98–118. http://www.jstor.org/stable/45084245
  22. ^ Rahbek-Clemmensen, J. (2020). Denmark and Greenland’s changing sovereignty and security challenges in the Arctic. In Routledge eBooks (pp. 176–187). https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315265797-15
  23. ^ Mabbett, D. (2025). Buying Greenland. The Political Quarterly. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-923x.13507
  24. ^ Gad, U. P. (2014). Greenland: A post-Danish sovereign nation state in the making. Cooperation and Conflict, 49(1), 98–118. http://www.jstor.org/stable/45084245
  25. ^ ‘Denmark’s Innocent Colonial Narrative’. Kult, vol. 15, 2018, pp. 58. http://postkolonial.dk/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/8_Berisha-Birisawa-Muasya_final.pdf
  26. ^ ‘ Policy of Memory.’ Kult, vol. 16, 2020, pp. 69. http://postkolonial.dk/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/4-Tringa-Berisha-final.pdf
  27. ^ Jensen, L. (2015). Postcolonial Denmark: Beyond the Rot of Colonialism? Postcolonial Studies, 18(4), 446 - 447. https://doi.org/10.1080/13688790.2015.1191989
  28. ^ http://postkolonial.dk
  29. ^ ‘Systemic Colonial Aphasia and Civic Education in Denmark and St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands’. Kult, vol. 16, 2020, pp. 47-48.
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