Jung Feng

The first time I returned to China I didn’t recognise Shanghai, my hometown. Everything had changed during the years I had been away. All I recognised was my own reflection. This was where I found out that Odense is my real hometown. I grew up in Odense. Even though many Danes think I am a tourist, I feel Danish.

In my opinion freedom of expression must be inviolable, but it is aesthetically repulsive when you use it to bully others, which is what I think the Danes did with the caricature crisis regarding the Muhammad drawings. Instead it should be used to criticise our system of power and the inequality we see in the society.

The reason why I fled China back in the days was because I refused to be oppressed. As an underground poet I used my poems to question the injustice and the societal structures that were used to deny the people the opportunity to express themselves freely. Here in Denmark I use my plays to express my thoughts and attitudes. I actually think that art is a better way to deliver criticism than politics that often carry an unpleasant tone. For example it is wrong to use freedom of speech as an excuse to step on others. The agenda of DF, the Danish People’s Party, makes me sad because it undermines the tolerance and humanism in the country, but so do the young immigrants’ crimes, because they show the same lack of tolerance and humanism. I think that DF and the young criminal immigrants reinforce each other. It is a tragic development and I fear for the end result.

52 years / male / in a relationship / artist / Copenhagen / from China / came to Denmark in 1992 / residence permit same year