Celebrating 10 Years of La Banchina: A Tribute Through Art
- May 14
- 4 min read
Updated: Jun 25
To celebrate 10 years of La Banchina, three artists were invited to create limited edition artworks inspired by the place and the community surrounding it.
My Artistic Journey at La Banchina
Alongside works by Natascha Leth and Manon Kennedy, I was thrilled to interpret La Banchina through my own practice, which includes photography and lino print. At first, I imagined creating something expansive — capturing the summer swims, wine glasses, oysters, the harbour, the sauna, crowded evenings, and all the movement that has come to define La Banchina over the years.
But the more I thought about it, the more I realized the spirit of La Banchina wasn’t something I could capture through spectacle. It lived in the quieter rituals. It thrived in the people who return every day. It resonated in familiarity and warmth.
A Portrait of Gudrun
So instead, I made a portrait of Gudrun. If you know La Banchina, you probably know her already! Every morning around 8 AM, Gudrun arrives and sits in the same seat inside the little blue house overlooking the water. She comes before opening hours, before the rush, and before the city fully wakes up.
Table 4. There’s even a small reserved sign for her seat! She enjoys a latte, a bun with cheese, and the newspaper.
Over the years, she has quietly become part of the rhythm of the place itself. The staff know her. Locals gather around her in the mornings for coffee and conversation. New faces slowly become familiar through her presence.
She asks questions. She remembers people. She gives warm hugs. She tells the truth. She even has her own button on the POS system! And somehow, that says everything about La Banchina.
The Heart of La Banchina
Not merely a café or restaurant, La Banchina is a place where people genuinely know one another. It’s a place where relationships build slowly over time through routine, warmth, and presence rather than quick transactions.
I used to work at La Banchina myself, and over time, I realized some of the most important moments there weren’t the loud or busy ones. They were the smaller rituals repeated every day. Morning conversations before service begins. Watching the seasons change through the windows. Familiar faces arriving without needing to say much at all.
Capturing a Moment
The print is based on a photograph I took many months ago during winter. It was one of those quiet Copenhagen mornings where the light felt soft and suspended. Just me and Gudrun inside the blue house while the harbour rested quietly outside the window.
She was reading her newspaper exactly as she always does. That image stayed with me. The composition always reminded me slightly of Whistler's Mother — not visually in an exact sense, but emotionally. The stillness. The profile. The quiet dignity of somebody completely at ease within a daily ritual.
There’s something timeless about watching someone exist so naturally in a place they belong.
Preserving the Feeling
When creating the lino print, I wasn’t interested in simply reproducing the photograph. I wanted to preserve the feeling of the moment instead — the quietness, the familiarity, the warmth of routine, and the calm before the city begins moving. Printed in “Banchina blue,” the work became less about documenting a place and more about documenting a feeling. A feeling of belonging.
Later, when I shared the original photograph online, I wrote a small poem underneath it — something simple that tried to capture the essence of Gudrun and the mornings she has quietly become part of.
a cold morning's warmth,
a winter morning's sun,
newspaper, latte & a bun,
wrapped in layers, stories to share,
8 AM every day, table 4’s reserved, that’s her chair,
this isn’t anyone,
this is lovely Gudrun,
The response surprised me! Thousands of people connected with the image and poem online — not because it was dramatic or perfect, but because most people recognize what Gudrun represents: routine, warmth, presence, and community. A familiar face that quietly helps make a place feel alive.
The Magic of Small Moments
And to me, that is what La Banchina has always done best. Over the last 10 years, it has become many things to many people — a morning coffee spot, a harbour sauna, summer chaos with wine and sunburn, late winter dinners, cold water swims, and conversations with strangers who slowly become familiar.
But some of its magic lives in the smaller moments. A woman by the window. 8 AM. Every day.
Limited Edition Prints
The edition consists of 12 prints: (you can purchase at La Banchina only)
10 editions for sale
1 print gifted to Gudrun
1 print for La Banchina
Alongside my work, artists Natascha Leth and Manon Kennedy also created limited edition pieces interpreting La Banchina through their own artistic lenses. Together, we form a small collection celebrating 10 years of community, ritual, and life around the harbour.
It’s a small tribute to a place and to the people who quietly become part of its soul.
Thank you, Gudrun!
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