Karen Mukupa in The House!

Karen Mukupa in the house!

When Karen let me into her beautiful colourful home in Islands Brygge, it was like time stopped. So many stories and so many life experiences lived coming through every corner and every surface of her apartment.

In this photo story I will show you some of the many pictures we took that day just playing around. There was no purpose to it, but just having fun on a grey day in Copenhagen.

What does home mean to you?

“Home to me is not just a physical space or a building divided into squares and rooms. It’s a place where I feel secure, loved, and accepted for who I am. Home symbolizes love, family, a place of belonging, and a deep sense of safety. It’s the one place where I can be vulnerable, share both the difficult and joyful moments of life, and know that I’ll always have the support from those I love. Home is my “safe space” – a sanctuary that protects me from the challenges of the outside world. It’s a place where my family and I create memories, share our life’s and build a foundation for our future."

“Having grown up in different cultures and countries, I’ve come to realize that home also isn’t tied to one place. Home is wherever I am, wherever I feel comfortable, and wherever I’m surrounded by people I care for. It’s taught me that home doesn’t have to be flawless or fixed -  it just needs to be a space where I can be myself, knowing I’m loved exactly as I am, simply for being me.”

Karen Mukupa is a Danish musician, singer, and songwriter known for her unique blend of Afrobeat, hip hop, pop and soul influences. She is of Zambian and Danish descent, and her music often reflects her multicultural background.

Karen Mukupa Instagram

Karen Mukupa on Spotify

Karen Mukupa on Youtube

Aisha Fukushima and Mixed Roots

Aisha Fukushima, a multilingual mixed roots African American Japanese woman living in Copenhagen.

My mother often laughs when she recalls how, as a child, I used to call airports “home.” Growing up as a mixed kid with roots stretching from the Pacific Northwest to Honshu, Japan, I learned early on to identify with life’s liminal spaces.

For me, home has rarely been a comfort zone. It’s been a place of adventure. A realm of constant learning where new experiences often challenge what I thought I knew. Home, for me, isn’t defined by geography but by the connections we create with others. 

This perspective has profoundly shaped my work as an activist, singer-songwriter, speaker, and storyteller. Through my art and expression, I aim to inspire others to envision a world rooted in compassion, liberation, and equality—one that transcends our current limitations, and redefines what it means to belong. 

This journey has led me to collaborate in places as diverse and far-reaching as Nepal, Kazakhstan, and beyond. In each, I have found a sense of refuge through the constellations of people I meet and our shared human experiences. 

Moving to Denmark now adds yet another layer to my understanding of home. It has invited me to embrace being a beginner again in so many different ways.  It’s both humbling and invigorating. While some may label me a ‘foreigner,’ I choose not to feel foreign here.  On my best days, I’m learning to release the fear of mistakes or being misunderstood, making room for new possibilities of belonging to emerge.

Aisha.

Raising a child in Denmark is so different from China.

Raising a child in Denmark is so different from China..

Here (in Denmark), mom and dad are the main caretakers, and people often prefer a natural, sometimes even wild, way of parenting - take them to the forest, teach them how to slaughter a fish, let them eat worms, and encourage them to play without interference - even they might fall off a high climbing structure and hit their heads. It is unimaginable in China, especially for the children of the "only-child" generation, like me. In a typical Chinese family, there are six adults—four grandparents and two parents—looking after one child, trying to remove any potential risks from the child’s life, protecting them like a precious orchid in a glasshouse. If a child gets a fever over 38 degrees - Oh, that is the end of the world - the  grandparents are already rushing to the hospital and asking for antibiotics. 

As a former East Asian kid, I actually like the Danish way. I don’t have to be told what to eat or where to stay—I can just play. And as a parent, it's similar. I don’t need to live with my mom or my husband’s mom, and more freedom and a stronger connection with my son. I want him to grow up free, without feeling suppressed, and always brave enough to explore the world.   Of course, this might come with a price. He might not be able to read Chinese or appreciate the subtle beauty of a Daoist anecdote, or understand Eastern aesthetics. But who knows? He’s a child, and he’s capable of more than I can imagine. I just want him to be happy. ❤️

A home where culture and identity are at the center of everything!

A home where culture and identity are at the center of everything!

diverse family portrait

Home means peace, privacy, love, honesty and union to me. It is where we grow as a family. The foundation of how we spend the majority of our time together. It is designed for that. For living. It is where our kids learn their most important values, it is where we recharge for everything life presents us with. It is where we let our shoulders down and can be our true selves only for the 5 of us to see. Like truly. Where it is ok to have a bad day without judgement. And it is where we have some of our most cherished moments. Home is everything.

Raven.

Representation matters ..

Representation matters ..

Here is a picture of my oldest son, he asked me to take it.

Minutes before I took this picture we had arrived to the hotel after a long driving trip coming from our Christmas holiday in Paris. Louis came in to the hotel room and the first thing he saw was this painting above the bed .. His tired face lit up and he got so happy and said - Det er jo mig!!! - It is me!!! and then he said, mum take a picture of me and the painting. I felt like stealing it and bringing it home ..

Representation does matter and we should all embrace and make a big deal out of it anytime we can do something about it!

Painting - Sleeping boy 1961, by Izabella Godlewska.

European Future Female DJ summit 2021

Future Female Sound Dj Submit copenhagen 2021

Right after the Pandemic in 2021 and the restrictions in Denmark had just made it possible to open up for people and do bigger gatherings, Future Female Sound gathered all these DJ in Copenhagen and made their first European Female DJ Summit.

Last year Tia Korpe, the Founder and Managing Director of Future Female Sounds, hired me to document their event. This was a two day workshop where women and non-binary DJs from 12 different European countries came together to discuss the challenges and opportunities in the industry. The event was hosted in SOHO, Copenhagen.

Surrounded by talented creative people, encouraging and supporting each other to make a safer space in the DJ industry. Being a fly on the wall documenting everything and at the same time be part of a team that wants the best for everyone was a dream job come true :)

Above and bellow DJ Artèmis.

Mary and winter bathing.

"There was once a person who told me that black people do not winter bathe and I thought let me show you that we can."

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Cat & Gary - Copenhagen Elopement.

Cat & Gary

Flowers Pernille Thiele Blomster * Car/Driver VW Fastback/ Benjamin Hoskin * Cake Sweet Sneak * Boat Duffy Bådudlejning * Catering on the boat Aamanns * Photos by me Amanda Thomsen Photography