Odense Flower Festival
There were several great synergies between the festivals that made sense to unite under one festival.
H.C. Andersen's Universe
When Odense Flower Festival became a part of H.C. Andersen Festivals in 2019, it was decided that the future themes would be based on a creative foundation based on the universe of Hans Christian Andersen. The creative foundation for the festival has been developed by Professor Emeritus cand. phil. Johs. Nørregaard Frandsen, former head of the Hans Christian Andersen Center at the University of Southern Denmark Odense.
Odense Flower Festival in H.C. Andersen Festivals
Hans Christian Andersen seeks tranformation and movement everywhere in his art. For him, life is a journey that crosses boundaries, borders and patterns, seeking beauty in unfolding. As an artist, he has a deep respect for and empathy with everything that grows and transforms. In his stories, there is developmetal power in both human imagination and in the nature of things and nature. Flower and plants, nature, often represent the imagination's ability to sprout and blossom while representing love, respect and beauty in Andersen's stories.
When we carefully read Andersen's fairy tales, we discover how we gain access to a deep diversity of meanings in otherwise dead things. Andersen breaks patterns in his art, just as he himself was a pattern breaker throughout his life. The break with the familiar creates new possibilities and space for the human. His linguistic genius unfolds in language like flowers unfold on a spring day with scents and colors and new shapes.
There is therefore a straight line between the celebration of the universe of flowers, because they are the crowning achievement of the plant that produced them, to an artistic universe like that of Hans Christian Andersen. The flower represents beauty and excellence, but also the law of transformation. For the flower must die and set seed so that life continues in a constant cyclical movement.
Many flowers and plants appear in the fairy tales of Hans Christian Andersen. Some are attributed with human qualities and thoughts, some are overly refined and lack humillity, such as the fir tree in "The Fir Tree". Others are modest like the daisy in "The Daisy", others are philosophical and so on. Fairy tales such as "Little Ida's Flowers", "The Snowdrop", "The Flax" and "The Buckwheat" also have flowers and plants as 'main characters'. In stories like "The Dryad" and "Thumbelina", it's the very power of nature and the world of flowers that is crucial.
In my opinion, it is a good idea to let a celebration of the enormous diversity and ambiguity of flowers on the fertile island of Funen and the celebration of the island's and the city's great poet meet under H.C. Andersen Festivals. It is a union that creates unique experiences and transcends boundaries by insisting on strong sensory experiences with a powerful language and a splendid bloom of flowers.
Summary from Professor Emeritus cand. phil. Johs. Nørregaard Frandsen, former head of the Hans Christian Andersen Center at the University of Southern Denmark Odense.