Claire and Bev's Euro '09: The Meatpacker's District of Copenhagen Denmark- article from the New York Times

HE directions to Copenhagen’s coolest art gallery sound more like a traipse through a deranged carnivore’s hallucinations: Enter the low-slung industrial complex called Kodbyen (literally, Meat City), the city’s meatpacking district; stroll down the street called Slagterboderne (Butcher Stalls); pass the building topped by an enormous cow statue; and amble across Flaesketorvet (Pork Square) until you reach No. 69.

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But the sides of beef you might have once found have been replaced by avant art at the year-old V1 gallery (Flaesketorvet 69-71; 45-33-31-03-21;www.v1gallery.com). The combination of setting and art — a recent exhibit included the work of Neckface, an American known for cartoonishly violent drawings — couldn’t be more appropriate.
Under an innovative plan by the city, which owns the land, abandoned butcheries and processing plants are being leased to art spaces, designers, cafes and clubs that, the city hopes, will transform the slightly deteriorated district into a hotbed of creativity. And unlike similar districts in cities like New York, the neighborhood is still home to active meat-processing facilities, with the wholesalers, refrigeration trucks and forklifts to prove it.
“If you come here at 4 a.m., you will see all the club kids coming home and all the butchers arriving in their white, bloody clothes,” said Jesper Elg, the director of V1, which has hosted shows by international of-the-moment artists like Banksy and Shepard Fairey.
Thanks to a secluded location on the city fringe, Meat City has been able to welcome provocative, zany and strange concepts that might not succeed in Copenhagen’s more genteel center.
At Art Rebels (No. 17-19; 45-26-22-33-73;www.artrebels.com), a meat locker is now a changing area for zebra-print dresses, toddlers’ dresses from Bangbang Copenhagen (450 kroner, $87 at 5.2 kroner to the dollar) and drainpipe trousers by Froks (700 kroner).
Karriere (No. 57-67; 45-33-21-55-09; www.karrierebar.com) is beloved for its cocktails, flavored with classically Danish ingredients like birch water and elderflower juice, and its attitude: "yuppies," warns the menu, may be charged extra for their beers.
Nearby, under a cow statue, perhaps Copenhagen’s hottest new restaurant, Fiskebaren(No. 100; no phone; www.fiskebaren.dk), has drawn raves both for its chic interiors and loyally Danish seafood creations like tartare of Jutland trout (75 kroner), and blue mussels from Holbaek Fjord, steamed in apple cider (75 kroner).
But during a recent visit, the night’s liveliest party was at the Jolene Bar (No. 81-85; 45-35-85-69-60; www.myspace.com/jolenebar). By midnight, the line to get in was a sea of fedoras, skinny ties and horn-rimmed glasses. Inside, the crowd danced and smashed together at the bar, where the all-Icelandic staff slung green bottles of Carls-berg beer. Like the bar’s name, the interior pays tribute to Dolly Parton: a row of her LPs hangs proudly on the wall — alongside a sign that warns, “We are not a [expletive] cocktail bar.”
Dora Duna, a co-owner, praised Meat City for saving the life of Jolene, which started in the trendy Norrebro neighborhood before the police shut it down for excessive noise.
“We can play the music as loud as we want here.” she said. “We are never going to leave.”

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