Arctic Reflections - Climate Change and the Role of Arts and Culture in Kalaallit Nunaat (Greenland)

For over 4000 years, the Inuit have been living in an intimate relationship with nature in the Arctic, one of the harshest climates on earth. Their knowledge about surviving under such conditions has been preserved and passed on over the millennia through their oral tradition of myth and song. Despite the interruptions of the more than 300 years of colonization Indigenous Knowledge has been passed on and activated more and more in recent years. One example of this is the revitalization of the qilaat, the frame drum tradition, which recently has been listed as a UNESCO world heritage.

Programme

Postdoc Ania Mauruschat, Department of Arts and Cultural Studies,  will report about her field research in Kalaallit Nunaat (06–08/2022) on the role of arts and culture in coping with challenges like climate change and decolonization.

The Greenlandic artist Jessie Kleemann will read from her recent poetry collection Arkhticós Dolorôs (Engl. Arctic Pain) (2021) and tell about her performance of the same name on June 20, 2019 in the ablation zone of the Greenlandic Ice Sheet.

And Kirsten Thirsted, associate professor, Department of Cross-Cultural and Regional Studies, will report on her current research projects on Denmark and the new North Atlantic and the construction of places, identities, and communities in the context of the current development of the Arctic.

The presentations will be followed by a discussion on how the urgently needed cultural change of western societies can be inspired by the applied ecological thinking of the Inuit and what can be learned by engaging with Indigenous culture regarding the knowledge, visions, and concrete solutions for dealing with climate change.

Read more about the event.

No registration needed, but please arrive early so we can start on time. The gate at Læderstræde 20 will be open and you should take first door on the right, use the staircase to the reception on floor one from where you will be guided to conference room.