RED DOOR MAGAZINE 26

RED DOOR 26
THE RESILIENCE ISSUE
SPRING 2021
REDDOORMAGAZINE.COM

RED
ILLUSTRATIONS BY
LEONARDO FLORES
T
PHOTOGRAPHY SPECIAL BY
GERMAN ORTEGON
THE POETICS
OF OBLIVION

INTRODUCING:
IN THE EYES OF THE
BEHOLDER
BY MARTIN ANDERSEN
26
FEATURING
THE ART OF
DOOR
DAVID VAN GOUGH

14-23
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
FEATURED Artist:
David Van Gough
POETRY BY:
ILLUSTRATIONS BY:
Leonardo Flores
EYES OF THE BEHOLDER:
Illustration by Martin
Andersen
Poem by Armando
Salgado
MILICA DENKOVIC pg. 36
ARMANDO SALGADO
pg.40-41
EFRIN GONZALEZ pg.37
RYAN ROWLAND pg.37
38-39
MIND IN MOTION
by Iskra Dinkova
41-43
08-09
NEON REBEL... pg.10-11
People have the Power
RED DOOR FEATURE:
currently on exhibit
REFRAMING THE HUMAN
SPIRIT: Jason Box ... pg.47
WRITE4WORD:
Going Hybrid... pg.24-27
PHOTOGRAPHY SERIES
After the War
BY German Ortegon
VERSOPOLIS:
The Festival of Hope pg40
Special thanks
to the Red Door
correspondents,
partners,
collaborators
and patrons
for making this issue
a reality,
resilient, voluntary and
loving,
...made
in a pandemic,
but made of poetry.
Onward we go!
NEVERSTOP!
28-35
Editor in Chief,
Designer and Art Director:
ELIZABETH TORRES
M A D A M N E V E R S T O P
madamneverstop.com
Cover: This thing of darkness I acknowledge mine
by featured artist David Van Gough

SUBMIT CONTENT to
RED DOOR MAGAZINE:
Red Door Magazine releases digital issues quarterly with
an emphasis on visual art and poetry. It also includes multimedia
art, essays on adventures and activism, as well as
relevant media articles. The magazine always features a
poetry selection, prose, and occasional interviews by established
and emerging artists. We’re here to give you a
handful of essential pieces you can digest in one sitting.
We’re currently seeking visual art, music, film reviews,
travel and media articles, poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction.
Simultaneous submissions are always ok, and if
you have a piece accepted elsewhere, please let us know
by adding a note to your submission.
Please send your content to reddoorny@gmail.com
________________________________________
File specifications: Your article may be a maximum of two
pages, and we accept a maximum of 5 poems per submission.
Please include a small biography of up to 10 lines about
you. All this must be included as .doc files.
All images must be attached as .jpeg images in a resolution
of 1080 x 1080 px or its equivalent in format so it can
be used for print and hi-res for web.
ISSUE #27:
THE OCCULT ISSUE
SUBMISSION DUE DATE:
APRIL 23, 2021
LEARN MORE AT:
WWW.REDDOORMAGAZINE.COM
ISBN: 978-87-94003-01-8

About the
illustrators:
The illustrator featured on this issue is Argentinean Artist Leonardo
Flores. He is active in the áreas of editorial illustration, drawing
and concept art for cinema and TV. His illustrations are published
in diverse publications such as the magazines SÀPIENS, JAÇ,
CUINA, LA MAREA and the newspapers LA VANGUARDIA, EL PAÍS
and PÚBLICO. He has created hundreds of book covers for publishing
houses such as Random House Mondadori, Planeta, Minotauro,
Timun Mas, Suma de Letras, Ikusager, Ara Llibres and others.
Visit his website: http://www.leonardoflores.com/
The new segment of this magazine, titled “In the Eyes of the Beholder”
is a collaboration with Danish Artist Martin Andersen, who
was given the challenge of reading through the various poems
received for this issue and interpreting one in a visual collaboration.
The goal being to build a collection of these bilingual poetry
/ art fusions to build a publication as part of the upcoming
Red Press project, as well as exhibitions at Red Door and online.
To learn more about Martin, visit:
facebook.com/tuschmartin
instagram.com/skyggelaegger

What do you mean
new reality?
Certain subjects and phrases have entered our
vocabulary recently at such a generous speed that
repeating them almost sounds like stale bread. I
I’m referring precisely to this term of “new normal”
or “new reality”, or when they say “envisioning
the future” or “adapting to change” and “being
adaptable under the current circumstances”.
It seems to me that the reason why I get irked
by these words when I hear them on the news
or being said when announcing some sort of
masterclass or webinar, is because they’re being
said by people in fields of work and lifestyle so
very used to stability and predictability, that they
never ever expected change. Although this could
be easily misinterpreted, what I am trying to get
at is the importance of the artist in its community.
Whereas at the beginning of the pandemic it was
made clear that our roles were not considered
precisely “essential” by anybody, by now it was
us who helped flip this current existence in one
way or another into a hybrid, livable, chewable,
acceptable phase of life.
One thing artists have always been exceptional at,
is exceeding the expectations and making magic
out of dank places and times. It is the cycle of a
society visible in big cities: abandoned areas turn
into artists’ spaces and collectives, which then turn
into galleries and hip hangouts with cool shops,
which then turn into gentrified IN spots of a city,
filled with cafes and restaurants, too expensive for
artists to live in... so off go the bees, toward their
next assignment.
I’ve been having this conversation with many
of you and what our role is in this current time,
when funds and spaces and contact is so limited,
but opportunities to those who can see them are
endless. How do we balance grief and trauma
with outbursts of creativity and the buzzing of
monologues from every corner of the internet?
I think the keyword is resilience. Our ability to
maintain balance as the ground disappears from
our feet. We do this through poetry. Through
conversations about the things that really matter,
such as climate, community, equality. Through
art and music and film, so that in their own
spaces, those who are new to this can see/hear
and understand, that we’re here to stay. That this
“new” reality is precisely what we were made of. A
struggle, a wish, a desire, a thorn close to the heart,
yet... a vision.
For this issue of Red Door I present you the surreal
art of David Van Gough, in contrast with German
Obregon’s photographs of his series “After the
War”, and climatologist Jason Box’ suggestions
on how to reframe our human spirit. Then there’s
the poetry. And a new segment on Red Door, In the
Eyes of the Beholder, which invites collaborations
between visual art and poetry.
See, we prevail. In this new year and in these new
circumstances, Red Door and each one of its
friends, each one of you creators and supporters,
is still here, so full of energy and ideas for projects,
proposals and great new content created while we
simultaneously dealt with a pandemic. The stuff of
fiction books, i tell you. But here we are.
Please remember to check out the Patreon
campaign and consider giving your support,
because even though magic is being made,
support indeed is very much needed.
Thank you for your support, and welcome to the
resilience issue!
-Madam Neverstop

RED DOOR: Currently
on exhibit:
From the perspective of certain
independent businesses in Denmark,
such as bookshops,venues
and, say, galleries, things have
been uphill for the past six months
due to the second lockdown enforced
by the government, which
didn’t allow for any shop to be
open. In the unfortunate case of
the gallery, due to having had to
relocate in the previous months
to opening (and closing, and
opening again) this also meant
no compensation nor support for
the bills which kept on ringing.
However, it is now, finally, possible
to open Red Door again, for
an astonishing crowd of 3 people
at a time. Meaning the current
exhibitions and shows scheduled
are based on the flexibility
and adaptability that is required
of this situations. For this reason,
the 25th of March artist Andreea
Vlad takes over Red Door to turn
the space into an incubator where
for 24 hours, she will make a selfportrait
every hour, giving birth
to a body of work called 33/24
in celebration of her 33rd birthday.
On the following days it will
be possible to schedule viewings
of the show until the 1st of April,
when Red Door returns to its regular
programming. Throughout the
spring, the walls of Red Door will
be decorated with two pieces by
the American artist Jon Read, as
well as a series of signed prints
by two American Artists known
for their wit, their psychedelic influence
and their works which
became signature images for
specific times in our society. The
first one being Mark Bryan with
a series of political commentary
posters that criticized the previous
US president waaaay before
it became a trend to do so, and
the American artist Cal Schenkel,
whose covers of the album Trout
Mask Replica for Captain Beefheart
and the albums Uncle Meat
and Burnt Weeny Sandwich for
Frank Zappa are now available in
limited numbers for music lovers
and art collectors residing in Denmark.
Additionally, smaller original art
by Kirsten Reynolds, erotic illustrations
by Jose Osorio, and a
series of object books, books in
translation, poetry and comics
are also available at the gallery
as well as on the online shop:
www.reddoormagazine.com/
shop
SPEAKING OF RESILIENCE...

PHOTO above
The Elephant in the Room
one of the signed prints by
artist Mark Bryan currently
on exhibit.
>> PHOTOS left & right:
Signed prints by artist Cal
Schenkel now available at the
gallery for the music collectors.
09

People Have the Power
In some ways this Neon
Rebellion feels like a continuing
conversation that was started
in Summer 2020 in issue #23 of
Red Door, The Neon Rebellion
piece ( The Things We say Today
Are The Things Our Children
Will Inherit) broke down Racism
+ looked at The Black Lives
Matter Movement, with respect
to what was happening locally …
Here we are a global pandemic
later, + through what has been
an absolute goatfvck of a year,
here in Australia people are
STILL calling for a change of
date to celebrate Australia Day
+ some are calling to abolish
the date completely. There is an
undeniable growing population
asking for this to happen but
there are still huge lies that
people like to tell that keeps
upholding the systemically racist
ideal so they can still enjoy the
privileges + benefits that come
from continuing this narrative.
The Prime Minister being one
such beneficiary + is an utter
numpty.
While last year at the height of
the BLM protests he tried to say
Australia had no history of slavery
which meant that we didnt
really have any relevance in the
Black Lives Matter conversation,
basically erasing the plights
+ struggles of our Indigenous
nation.
010
Yesterday he dropped another
pearler:
“Australia Day is all about
acknowledging how far we’ve
come. When those 12 ships
turned up in Sydney, all those
years ago, it wasn’t a particularly
flash day for the people on those
vessels either. What that day,
to this, demonstrates is how far
we’ve come as a country and I
think that’s why it’s important to
mark it in that way.”(1)
“Wasnt a particularly flash day
for the people on those vessels
either.” I mean FFS.
Likening sea sickness to
genocide is hardly the same
thing. Downplaying the atrocities
experienced by Indigenous
people that day with those
colonisation ships landing, or it
seems flat out denying history
is at the heart of why the date
hasn’t been changed or the
experiences + feelings of First
Nations people honoured + the
growing number of Australians
who want to support them.
No matter what bullshit public
rhetoric the PM wants to extol,
here we stand a nation divided.
Its echoing the condition in the
U.S. + the Trumpisms that people
rightly voted out.
Its time for Australia to address
this ugliness here too, if the PM
wants to say we’ve come so far +
we are united. Its utter bollocks.
So where do we go from here?
Green Party Senator Lidia
Thorpe, the first Indigenous
Senator, a Gunai – Gunditjmara
woman offers a most honest +
grounded, clear thought stream
on this day … “We know people
feel uncomfortable about calling
Australia Day, Invasion Day.
But just sit for a moment with
it because that’s how we feel
about you celebrating this day,
that means a day of extreme loss
and trauma.
If we go back to 1788 to 2021,
thousands upon thousands of
Aboriginal people have died.
We started with the Frontier Wars,
where Aboriginal people died
fighting for this country against
colonisation and invasion and
women and children were
murdered by simply trying to
save their Country and stand up
to those invaders that came onto
our shores.

This is not about being divisive,
this is not about being racist, this
is about truth telling so that we
can move forward together and
be a united country.
Having the flag at half -mast is
very important. It is a symbolic
gesture that sends a very clear
message to all Australians
that something is wrong here.
Why are we celebrating what
they say this country is about
when this country’s first people
are mourning? If we have
all Australians reflect on 26
January, as a day of mourning,
just as people do for the Anzacs,
that brings people together,
people heal together, people
reflect on loss through war.That’s
what we do on the 26th of January.
So we invite all Australians to
stand with us, walk with us.
We can make this day a
beautiful day of healing and
acknowledging our painful past,
so that we can walk together and
find a way to celebrate together
through this journey of truthtelling
and healing.” (2)
Humans have an innate capacity
for resilience in the face of
adversity. As do animals. Our
survival instincts kick in.
We are born fragile + weak +
needing the support of a loved
one to feed and care for us +
community to help us live +
learn + thrive. We are creatures
out in the wild natural world that
have learnt how to cooperate
with it enough to survive.
In the indigenous way.
However, modern Man (who
lies out of harmony) likes to
think he conquers the world +
its beasts so he can lord over it +
its resources as though they are
there just to serve his arrogance
+ unending greed … + yet we are
seeing with climate change + all
manner of natural disasters the
kickback of a world that cant be
tamed or ruled over + eventually
she always unleashes her power
+ man will be wiped out like
ants, as has happened in ages
gone by... Right now we are in
powerful times.
Things are hinging on us
needing to change our ways for
a better path forward.
We see what happens when there
are experiences that cause fear ,
pain + trauma, we are left broken,
damaged with behaviours that
harm ourselves + our community.
Even with all that has been done
to First Nations people there is
still an invitation being extended
to walk alongside them, to learn,
to be in community + help them
heal. Help all of us heal.
Surely with this sense of
community + cooperation we
could thrive more. It seems a no
brainer. Building resilience as a
collective action means having
more inclusive institutions,
offering services that are
culturally adapted and based
on the real needs of all members
and families in society and by
respecting the specificities of
ethnocultural groups. Starting
with true history, it builds a just,
diverse, and inclusive society.
There is substantial scientific
evidence that people under
go epigenetic changes when
exposed to chronic stress
+ trauma + it is also passed
down genetically through the
generations. Many people suffer
PTSD intergenerationally + are
subject to racial discrimination
+ judgement as a byproduct of
seeing those repeated patterns
forming further biases. (3)This
is the ugly truth of where we are
in Australia. Along with all the
statistics I spoke about back in
issue #23.
We are not the lucky country. Or
the greatest country in the world.
Or any of the other cardboard cut
out tourism poster crap.There is
a deep wound in the very fabric
of our nation that needs healing
+ our indigenous mob despite all
of that has been done to them,
are offering their hands to walk
beside them in peace + asking
for us all to support a new way
forward together.
Honouring + respecting +
listening to First Nations people
is just a first step in moving
towards a unified country. They
also hold the keys of wisdom to
understanding how to work with
the land + the cycles of nature
that are being upset through
climate change. It is sheer
arrogance, ignorance + greed for
those in power to not listen + not
want the best for all.
As a unified collective we can
turn things around. Believe.
1. Pedestrian/tv/news/scott-morrison 2. instagram/nitv_au/lidiathorpe
3. Journal of Clinical Epigenetics ISSN 2472-1158
4. People Have The Power/pattismith/dreamoflife
011

Laura Arena
Lessons from an Ancient Tree
and a Dolman
012

On the land of Masia del
Flaquer, I spent mornings with
an ancient tree and evenings
with a dolmen.
Within the tree, I accessed a
portal of wisdom that lives deep
inside us all, in which we spend
a lifetime trying to remember.
Together, we pondered the
ideas of mutual understanding,
harmonious relationship,
reciprocity, the balance of
give and take, and the art of
remembering.
Within the dolmen, I connected
to the essence of being, joy,
love, and compassion. We wrote
together instructions on how to
live; ‘Sing the songs, play the
drums, use your voice, love
without fear, laugh (it holds
vibration), trust (stop asking for
validation), be active and move
the body, listen (really listen),
join hands and dance, love
thy body, connect to the earth,
connect to the sky, eat well and
live well, share, write and cocreate,
build communities.’
In conversation we questioned;
‘How do we connect to the
land?’ ‘How do we connect to
someone else’s land?’ ‘What
lessons can we learn?’ The
importance of knowing in order
to know the other.
On the day my ancestors
surrounded me on the island of
the tree, I was reminded that I
am a survivor and a warrior. I am
the tree, and the earth supports
me, and my roots dig down
deep. In my mind’s eye, I see
the season change, the water
filling the low places with the
dead fallen leaves for they cycle
to begin again, for I too, begin
again, again and again.
Girona, Catalonia
Laura Arena is an American
(NYC) artist, activist, energy
healer, designer, and curator
currently based in Berlin.
Her work encompasses
photography, video, installation,
writing, and social interventions
with a focus on storytelling,
human rights causes, gameplay,
and social engagement work.
www.lauraarena.com
013

DAVID
VAN GOUGH
014

David Van Gough is a Necrosurrealist artist
originally from the UK, now living and working
in California. Using allegory and alchemy to
chronicle a heightened sense of mortality, and
the subconscious mind, his work is an emotional
and spiritual excavation for purpose.
An Honoree Artist of 2010 at the San Diego Art
Institute, his work has been hosted in a succession
of solo and featured showcases on both
sides of the Atlantic, including major exhibits at
the Oceanside Museum of Art, Stephen Romano
gallery (NY), Gregorio Escalante and Copro gallery
(LA) Bash Contemporary (SF) and Dark Art
Emporium His Hyaena gallery exhibit “Man/son
and the haunting of the American Madonna”
was featured as part of the critically acclaimed
documentary “Serial Killer Culture” by John
Borowski, now streaming on Amazon Prime.
In 2019, his work was used as the official “Uncanny”
trophy award for the Phenomena horror
cine festival in São Paulo. Currently he lives and
works from his studio in Julian, CA, where he is
preparing his next solo exhibit ”Infernal-The Denouement”,
the third series in a trinity of works,
to be shown at the Dark Art Emporium, 2021.
Artists are a
solitary lot by
virtue of what
we do, only ever
venturing out
of our caves at
showtime.
The themes of your art are very strong and
surreal. How do you work on the concept
of a piece?
I think what I do, and what I’m good at, is
synthesizing my ideas and feelings into context.
I often consider myself more of as an
anthropologist than an artist, because what
I tend to do is frame my ideas through a historical
prism. It’s possibly akin to wandering
through a museum of artifacts, and relating
something to myself so to forge a relic of my
emotions . For instance, I was reading about
Egyptian canopic jars and my Father had just
passed (Christmas Eve, 2020) and it struck
me, because it felt like that was what I was
doing symbolically--filling a vessel with my
guts, making some reliquary of my grief. So it
became the foundation for a piece I was able
to develop.
Do you apply any non-traditional techniques
to your work, such as dreams, or
certain music, books, or other research, to
bring forth the imaginarium of your work?
Almost certainly books. The last three series-
Purgatorium (2014) Paradiso’s Fall
(2019) and the one I’m currently working on-
”Infernal the Denouement”, all sprang from
the wellspring of literary works that include
Shakespeare’s Tempest, Milton’s Paradise
Lost, and T.S Eliot’s “The Wasteland.” Not so
much as literal interpretations of the texts you
understand, more conceptually and sometimes
suggestively, in the way a passage will
form a visual in my mind, or become the title
of a work. With the Tempest for instance, It
was the romantic notion of Prospero as a representation
of the artist as magus, cast away
on an island with his progeny and muse.
He’s an outsider extricated from society, reshaping
reality in isolation, but ultimately
cracking his staff over his knee at the end of
the story.
Left. What’s Dark within, Illuminate
015

Is your art affected by the current environment
of the world? And does it have a specific
message for a specific audience?
Other than making observations based on my
own working knowledge, I don’t know that I have
a cogent, singular message to impart. Certainly,
I have concerns about the direction the world is
going, that are the backdrop to my work.
I’d be entirely lying if I said that the last four years,
haven’t been the dark fertilizer which formed the
seeds of the last two series.
Except, it’s rather like pasting together a collage
that might include Durkheim’s Anomie, Manly
P Hall’s philosophies on the Golden Ratio,
Leonardo’s the Vitruvian man, Oppenheimer’s
infamous quote and the chain reaction that
triggers nuclear fission. It’s all contained beneath
the surface tension of a work like “Origins of
Death”, but decoding a specific message only
works by someone’s own willingness to dig
deeper, and draw the same conclusions.
How has your artistic practice and aspirations
changed during lockdown / pandemic?
Since I live in quite a remote area (Julian, CA)-
hardly, if at all. At the beginning, getting materials
like brushes was a bit of a challenge, which did
force me to be a little more experimental with
textures. So rather than being as precise as I might
have, depicting something such as gravel on a
landscape or cloud formations, I’d use plastic
bags, crumpled paper, sponges, clogged brushes,
scalpel blades- anything to hand that might be
more impressionistic than meticulous.
Artists are a solitary lot by virtue of what we do,
only ever venturing out of our caves at showtime. If
there’s been any change, other than existential, I’d
have to say it’s the gallery as a virtual experience.
Attending openings in one’s pajamas.
016

The Voyage of Elan
017

Are there any upcoming projects we should
look forward to?
Well, my final act in a trinity of series-”Infernalthe
Denouement” is scheduled at Dark
Art Emporium, August 2021. I began with
Purgatory, moved on to heaven and now It’s a
metaphysical journey down into hell.
¨I had to wait to do this particular series
last, because it’s the most difficult to do,
since geographically and periodically, it
encompasses a lot of personal hells. Rather
like Virgil dragging Dante through it’s many
circles,and discovering each one containing
a custom built torture device, operated by
a cast of familiar demons. A last supper at
Thanksgiving if you will - all distressingly
familiar but pass the gravy.
The Art of David Van Gough:
www.davidgoughart.com
018

So lie there my art, David Van Gough
019

Agony in Stony Places, David Van Gough
020

021

022

Where Death and Nature Breed, David Van Gough
023

WRITE4WORD:
GOING HYBRID
Write4word is a very small community
interest company run by friends have spread the Pilsner-
regularly for six years and our
myself and my friend Mel Perry. poesi brand to other Swedish
We started Poems and Pints towns.
at the Queens in Carmarthen
(P&P@theQ) in 2010. Although
poems are specifically mentioned
in the title of the event,
we are very inclusive about the
language arts and any form
is welcome, extracts of short
stories, monologue, dialogue,
flash fiction, storytelling as
well as poetry. We set up the
event to provide a community
meeting place for writers in
West Wales who are often living
very solitary existences.
It is a regular monthly event and
no matter what genre a participant
writes in, the event is about
learning to perform confidently
and engage directly with an audience.
After ten years the event
is one of Wales’ most established
regular spoken word events and
the reason for its success is the
focus upon performance that
ensures every event is a night of
high quality and diverse entertainment.
Participants regularly
join us from Swansea, Ceredigion
and Pembrokeshire as well
as Carmarthenshire.
In 2012 a group of friends in Cardigan
with our support set up
the Cellar Bards a regular event
in the Cellar Bar and in 2014, I
introduced our particular openmic
format to a writing community
in Tranås, Sweden which
they named Pilsnerpoesi. That
event to has been taking place
024
The 23 March 2020 would
have been our 10th Anniversary
P&P@theQ event, unfortunately
that was also the day the UK
went into lock down. By the 30
March we had taken out a subscription
to ZOOM and decided
to hold our first digital event, we
have been holding the event online
every two weeks for the last
ten months. Very soon the Cellar
Bards decided that rather than
arrange an alternative digital
event they could join ours very
easily without having to leave
the homes in which they selfisolated
across rural Ceredigion.
What became immediately very
apparent was the demand for
the meetings, hence fort-nightly
rather than monthly and the
great value to people’s emotional
and mental wellbeing.
What we also soon realised
was that having a digital format
made the event very accessible
to many disabled writers who
may not have been able to join
a physical event. Also, it became
very easily possible for the event
to become internationalised. We
always promote our events on
facebook and these announcements
are often seen by poetic
friends all over the world. Now,
instead of just witnessing the active
poetry scene in west Wales
from a distance, they had the
chance to contribute.
From the very first online event
we have had regular participations
from Canada, Ireland,
the USA and Sweden. Within
a month, with the help of our
Swedish partner Kultivera, we
had ‘officially’ merged P&P@
theQ with Pilsnerpoesi in Sweden
we have also had regular
participation from, New Zealand,
Colombia, India and Assam.
We often feature a special
guest reader and over the last
few months these have included
Freke Räihä from Sweden, Rhian
Elizabeth from Wales, Shalim
Hussain from Bangladesh, Aleisa
Ribalta Guzmán from Cuba,
Elizabeth Torres from Colombia,
Sian Northey from Wales, Lucy
Durneen from England and the
Winners of the Disability Arts
Cymru Creative Word Awards
(Kittie Belltree, Electra Rhodes
and Catherine Davies).
In August of 2020 I was in Sweden
on an arts residency and as
I, the regular host was in Tranås
and the special guest reader
was travelling from Copenhagen
to Tranås; we decided to incorporate,
into the digital event,
a performance with a small
socially distanced audience
(seven or eight people) at a
physical venue in Sweden. This
was the beginning of our development
of the ‘hybrid event’.
Many people have asked that,
after lockdown and a return
to the physical monthly event,
we continue, maybe every two
or three months these digital

025

events as they have so
enjoyed the creation of this
new international creative
community and wish it to
continue. his is a great
probability but what we at
write4word have seen during
the lockdown is the opportunity
to take a radical new approach
to performance and inclusion in
the arts in a post-covid world.
In the past we have tried
including digital channels in
live event we have organised,
for example, live streaming on
facebook or making video link
with a pub TV and a laptop to
a reader in Portugal or America
to celebrate Dylan Day. Things
have changed, so many of us
are now far more comfortable
and familiar with video
conferencing. The way forward
is not a return to physical events
with digital media “bolted on”
but to continue with the online
meetings and to reintroduce
physical performances and
venues into the digital event: a
new hybrid existence.
This means that some people
are still getting the opportunity
to perform in front of a live
physical audience as well as
the remote audience and those
who are isolated partially share
the experience of a physical
gathering. This was our first dualphysical-venue
international
hybrid spoken-word openmic
event and we hosted it in
Greenspace Art Gallery in the
tiny fishing village of Ferryside,
west Wales.
The model of the hybrid
event is one that can be
applied to creative workshops
and education as well as
performance. It can provide a
far more inclusive and diverse
experience than a purely
physical event and a far richer
and meaningful experience
than, for example, distance
learning with all its traditional
digital tools.
By: Dominic Williams
Write4Word
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At our event in September
2020; as well as having over
20 participants from all over
the world in their living rooms,
bedrooms and kitchen; we also
included performances on stage
with a small audience (three)
in Wales and performances on
stage with small audience (five)
in Sweden.
Photos by Kultivera
of the poets Joakim Becker and
Christer Boberg performing during
the Tranås events mentioned in this
article.

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THE POETICS OF OBLIVION:
A narrator and visual documentarist for over 28 years through journalism, photography and
moving image, German Ortegón’s eyes are often capturing the poetics of oblivion... the
pieces of that which once was fundamental in the daily life of someone, in its story, and has
now been abandoned due to reasons out of anyone’s hands, serving as evidence to even
greater stories. German teaches audiovisual studies at the Javeriana University of Colombia,
and has a large history of documentation of chronicles and characters of the country, as
well as its ghosts and silenced, as you will see in the following pages.
For this issue of Red Door, German shares photography from his series “After the war”, an
intimate retelling of the desolate places of Colombia where political speeches and empty
promises aren’t able of covering the truth.
From an aesthetic of the bizarre, putting in the spotlight that
which can be seen as trivial but through a different light
returns to life to narrate the story of those who weren’t able
to tell us their written testimony.
To see the entire series and other images
in his astounding portfolio, visit:
www.germanortegon.com
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GERMAN
ORTEGON

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Through my work I explore the
part of my personality that enjoys
teasing and provocation. In doing
this, I’ve seen the change and growth
of myself as a person, a woman, a
lover, a critical open-minded thinker
and, most important, as an artist.”
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- Alejandra Guerrero.

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POETRY
The pencil has a power
I am the superman of blank paper.
No, I am no origami master.
I can fold my thoughts
in some very strange shapes.
Somebody will ask me after,
How do you succeed?
I swallow life,
even the indigestible parts,
and the unbelievable.
Change is happening.
From lemon I made
a good slam song,
a short story.
In shapes I imagine,
and for that I need
just one sheet of paper.
No, I am no origami master.
I am the superman of written paper.
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Milica Denkovic, Serbia

Our grief goes the way of a dominos pizza
our grief goes the way of a dominos
pizza frozen then thawed by gloved
handlers rising and bubbling
with powdered stuffed crust and washed
down with thick
burnt coffee from the bottom
of an irish gravediggers percolating
urn what I mean is our grief
is temporary finger food something to
hold you over throw
some pepperoni and mushrooms and ashy
knub midget carrots with ranch dip on your
grief it will
divide nicely into plastic catering trays and
bend the way of bullshit
small talk with assholes from high school
who are only
here for the networking and hot
asses in the wake line then suddenly while
studying your crooked septum through a
silver bulb on a christmas tree outside
the only tavern where she left you
alone to drink you will see how your grief
can
shake and settle into fat like a packet of
cheap parmesan on finally your own
personal pan pizza you can paper towel
dap to your liking eat it and
fall asleep.
The Divine Wait
Now that there’s time, let us love each
other.
The noise has faded down the sewers.
Come with me, give yourself to me.
Come give me love
now that the angels are at war.
While they fly
and cut each other’s wings
in their battle against the devil
while I await immobile and anxious,
come love me.
Efrin Gonzalez, Guatemala / Denmark
Ryan Rowland, Cleveland, Ohio, US
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In the eyes of
the beholder
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039

VERSOPOLIS:
I hope, we hope...
The Festival of Hope, a global
initiative of Versopolis, was
created in a situation where the
connection between literary
creators and the readers, as well
the global exchange of ideas
and content was limited due to
the COVID-19 pandemic. Our
main idea with the festival was
to create a bridge between
continents and cultures, while
giving a clear signal to the
widest global community that
poetry has no boundaries, that it
stays alive and brings hope even
in such times of crisis which we
are currently facing. Knowing
that many of the organizations
and festivals had to give up their
programme or reschedule their
activities, in 2020 we formed
the Global Poetry Initiative of
Hope, sending an invitation for
the whole global community to
participate in our virtual festival,
where we offer the necessary
platform to festivals and
organizations to present their
past and current creations.
The response in 2020 far
exceeded our expectations
and the festival, which was
supposed to take place between
23rd and 30th April 2020, was
extended until July. In our
programme we hosted more
than 94 events by institutions
from all the different continents,
over 500 authors and artists and
succeeded in delivering diverse
literary creativity in different
040
forms (video readings, films, art
works and virtual discussions), a
laboratory of the most innovative
approaches, to an international
public, all producing hope for
a better future as the common
answer to the crisis. Together
we showed that when the
system shuts down, people in
isolation are still recognizing
the important value of culture
and among others are seeking
a deeper solace within literary
and broader art.
The overwhelming response
from the public following the
first edition of the festival and
the situation which still confines
us to living in a limited world,
encouraged us in our decision
towards continuing with the
second edition of the Festival
of Hope, which this year took
place between 21st of January
and 28th of February and called
special attention to the current
situation: Humanity is facing a
global revaluation of its ability to
tell the truth, to speak and to be
heard. With the slogan “Speaking
up!” we are addressing the
global community to share inspiring
artistic ways of speaking
up and telling the truth, regardless
of obstacles, especially
since art and literature play a
crucial role in lending a voice
to the oppressed, the weak and
the excluded. At the festival
we wish to support valuable artistic
reactions that can reach
people and raise awareness,
which is one of the reasons that
our attention this year among
the global literary production
focused also on the geographical
area of Eastern and Central
Europe, the Caucasus, the Balkans
and Turkey, where current
challenges and possible solutions
for a better future were addressed
by a series of curated
virtual round tables with international
and local speakers.
At Versopolis we believe that establishing
a dialogue all around
the world can be the answer to
the current crisis, so together
with international partners in
the second edition of the festival
our main goal again remained to
show that in spite of everything
there is always hope.
Aljaž Koprivnikar
Website of Versopolis Review,
where the festival takes place:
/www.versopolis.com/festivalof-hope

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“Mind In Motion” is a series inspired by contemporary societal
issues, intended to be treated individually as a tool
with the purpose of inciting mental awakening and leading
to a state of higher comprehension.
The aspiration behind this series is to provide a different
perspective on one’s experience by encouraging the questioning
of our day-to-day automated regime. Ever so often
we forget to “feed” the soul or to not look at the bigger
picture. This piece aims to depict the results with being on
both sides of the paradigm: Do something or do nothing.
Iskra Dinkova is a Conceptual artist who bases their process
on Design Thinking, Design Ethnographic Research
and Psychology. Their technique is rooted in utilizing the
analog and digital worlds through mixing mediums from
scanography to traditional paints while being driven by the
message each piece communicates.
Their goal is to challenge, question and re-shape societal
norms and socially accepted behaviors, to break down preconceived
notions and prejudice, and inspire a path of selfdiscovery
towards the higher state of being.They see their
role as a thought-provoker and question-proposer, rather
than a statement-formulator, as they believe the viewer has
the ultimate power to pick and choose what to take away
from the work.
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Jason Box
Reframing the
Human Spirit
I’ve been studying the
Arctic and Greenland for
25+ years, and before
moving to Denmark I
taught at the university
Environmental Science
for 10 years. So,
throughout this career
I’ve seen by studying
physical climate change,
that this is but a symptom
of a much larger
imbalance that humans
have gotten into as the
dominant species of this
planet, now that we have
over seven and a half
people on earth.
Now, the solution
doesn’t lie, as I see it, in
simply reducing carbon
emissions.
When you keep looking
at it, as I have done, you
realize that humans
need to have a different
outlook, which I call
Reframing the Human
Spirit. When asked what
is needed to address
the current climate and
ecological breakdown
on the planet, we find
that human spirituality
can be the primary
source of the fixes that
we need. When we
consider that we are part
of a global ecosystem, we
depend on it, we need to
reestablish a reciprocal
relationship, giving back,
not only taking… and this
is a spiritual exercise.
While I could talk to
you for hours about
symptoms of climate
change, if we are
interested in fixing this,
we need to reimagine our
own spirit.
What that means is,
investing in ourselves and
nature simultaneously.
Examples for ourselves
are: Having better
fitness in mind and
body, with regard to
nature that is restoring
degrading systems.
When we do this, we
prosper, our economies
improve because we are
internalizing what was
previously externalized,
we get prosperity, and
we get resilience.
Jason Box
Physical Climatologist
*This text was originally given as
a recording to the literary project
Klimatelefonen by Forlaget
Bagaards Baroner which invited
authors to share their poems and
talks about climate change and
sustainability, and which soon can
be heard in a telephone booth at
Islands Brygges Kulturhus.
047

The Red Door Network:
048
Red Door Magazine is a quarterly Arts &
Culture publication meant to document
the work of creators everywhere, as well
as facilitate new conversations on important
matters for our communities in a
local and international way, through the
linking of themes, collaborations, interviews
and hybrid events that can expand
the reach of independent voices and remarkable
projects. Red Door counts with
the help of correspondents in Australia,
Mexico, the US and Denmark.
Red Door also functions as a gallery and
independent space in order to serve as
a platform for the same purposes. In expanding
its reach, Red Door also counts
with:
-A podcast called the Red Transmissions,
where creatives, activists and cultural
organizers share their process, projects
and initiatives.
-A Poetic Phonotheque, which serves
as an online collection of poetry in many
languages in the voice of its authors, created
to break the barriers of distance and
facilitate free access to poetry in households
around the world.
-An independent print project called Red
Press, which focuses on the publication
of poetry (and illustration) in translation.
Bilingual books, handmade, limited edition
books.
-The Red Door Gallery located in the cultural
hub of Copenhagen on Møllegade,
Nørrebro, where talks, workshops, exhibitions,
performances and other events
are often on the calendar, as well as limited
edition books and prints, original
art, miniature books and other art related
products, often with a focus on poetry.
See them also on the online shop:
www.reddoormagazine.com/shop
The Partners:
Litteraturcentrum KVU: Litteraturcentrum
KVU is an international literary initiative
we often promote as a league of
publishers in Scandinavia. Red Door is
published through this collaboration.
Kultivera operates international cultural
programs that are physical, social and
creative; that stimulates and inspires both
the artists and the local community. It is
the organization in charge of the Tranås
Fringe Festival and their curriculum of
activities can be seen on the issues of
the Red Door Magazine.
Write4Word: Is a West Wales community
organization with a focus on language
arts. Its director, Dominic Williams, is a
frequent correspondent of Red Door.
La Libélula Vaga: is a spanish literary
magazine published in Sweden
documenting the work of poets all
over the planet, as well as encouraging
translations, talks and other
collaborations.
Keith FM: is a Berlin-based community
radio. Red Transmissions Podcast airs
on the 1st Thursday of each month at
15, the 3rd Sunday of each month at 12,
and the last Thursday of each month at
3am (for the early birds or those in other
timezones).
Trafika Europe Research: seeks to help
renew the role of literature in nudging
along the European conversation
in culture, This is done through a
bookshop, a journal, and a radio, where
Red Transmissions Podcast is also on
rotation, as well as a selection of its poets
/ musicians.

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There are beautiful things happening
due to the collaborations, partnerships,
ideas and new projects that arise from the
conversations started in these pages and
through the other Red Door initiatives,
such as the podcast, which has already
celebrated over 30 interviews, or the
phonotheque, which counts with the
voices of over 100 poets around the world...
all of this, including the digital version of
the magazine, are free to ensure access to
information wherever you are in the planet.
However, these projects are indeed time
consuming and not free, especially since
it is necessary to pay to remove the ads
so that you are not distracted and can
have a fully immersive artistic experience
when enjoying this magazine and the
RED DOOR website. There’s costs for
hosting and printing and domains and
publishing... and for now, ONE certain way
to show your support directly: PATREON.
WIth a membership starting at 3 EU a
month, yo too can ensure these projects
keep existing. What’s more, now Patreon
allows for one yearly payment, if you’re
not into monthly fees. So, what do ya say?
Wanna help keep making this happen?
www.patreon.com/
madamneverstop
Eternal gratitude to the current patrons
of this magazine: Yamila Bush, Valeria
Schapira, Valentina Upegui, Vale
Yonderboy, Ulla Hansen, Tamar Tkabladze,
Sergio Guzman, Jaider Torres, Mikkel
Vinther, Melissa Albers, Melanie Perry,
Juditch Schaecther, Juana M. Ramos,
Jenny Gråf, Mambe&Danochilango,
Dominique Storm, Devin Fairchild, David
Miller, Crox Pow, Doktor Hansen, Aleisa
Ribalta Guzman, Alan Pallais.
Love and poetry always,
Madam Neverstop

051

RED DOOR MAGAZINE
THE RESILIENCE ISSUE
SPRING 2021
052
WWW.REDDOORMAGAZINE.COM