Sculpture, an ancestral practice
Greenlandic handicrafts, a product of Inuit culture, consist of a variety of handmade objects, mainly carved from ivory, bone, stone or driftwood - such as the tupilaq, a traditional half-human, half-animal statuette. Originally, the tupilaq was the magical incarnation of a supernatural being, half-spirit, half-demon, built to harm a potential enemy. During a secret ritual, the shaman(angakoq) breathes life into it through incantations. The role of the tupilaq gradually evolved with Danish colonization, until today it has become an emblematic folk object, often replicated in tourist shops.
Greenland also has a strong mask culture, with masks being worn for community dances and plays, particularly in the Tasiilaq region. They are carved directly from wood, and sometimes enhanced with fur or leather inlays, or adorned with animal teeth and bird feathers. While they often express a grimace, anguish or pain, they are sometimes pure abstraction. Antique dolls and figurines, almost impossible to find today, are carved from wood and wrapped in seal skins and bird feathers. Fragile, few of them have stood the test of time and can only be admired in certain museums.
From traditional graphic arts to modern painting
Traditionally, the Inuit painted and tattooed on skins, tools, clothing, etc., and it wasn't until the arrival of Europeans in the 16th century that they began to tackle new mediums, such as paper (referred to as that which is "as thin as a layer of ice capable of tearing" in Inuktitut, the Inuit language). It should be noted that in Inuktitut, the idea of "making a mark on something, drawing a line"(taqsaliqpaa) refers to darkness(taaq-). This practice refers to animal fur, sewing, decoration, tattoos and even a path. The terminology bears witness to this: the same nominal base is used to mean "to be tattooed", "to draw a mark on an object", "to write" or "to sew". Many art historians and anthropologists therefore speak of graphism or graphic art to describe ancestral forms. Drawings also have a transmission and testamentary value: they form a link between past and future, and function as an extension of oral history.
It is widely accepted that the genesis of Greenlandic painting dates back to the mid-19th century with the Inuit painter and draughtsman Aaron de Kangeq (1822-1869), known for his engravings and watercolors depicting Inuit culture and history, including violent encounters with Danish colonizers. His work inspired a number of artists, some of whose works have become collector's items, such as the paintings by Danish artist Emanual A. Petersen (1894-1948), which can be seen in museums in Nuuk and Ilulissat. The figurines by Johannes Kreutzmann (1862-1940) are also a remarkable work; depicting the local population with humor and tenderness, they tell us a great deal about their way of life. Two major 20th-century artists who influenced subsequent generations are Hans Lynge (1906-1988), whose work is closely linked to European Impressionism, and Jens Rosing (1925-2008), renowned for his depictions of animals - including the famous Greenland coat of arms, with its polar bear. The painter Aage Gitz-Johansen (1897-1972) is also a key local figure, particularly renowned for his painting The Madonna of Thule.
Photography at the heart of social and ecological issues in Greenland
In Greenland, photography has a special history, as local light conditions posed numerous difficulties from the outset. When photography was gradually introduced in the 19th century, it was primarily reserved for foreign practitioners who came to document the landscape and local cultures for scientific purposes. At the time, photographic processes were time-consuming and tedious, not helped by Greenland's harsh climate and low light exposure. It often took several hours to take a single shot. With the development of more efficient and mobile cameras at the turn of the century, the number of professional and amateur photographers increased dramatically - from foreigners who came to capture the incredible beauty of Greenland's landscapes, to locals who gradually appropriated the medium. These images are an invaluable source of information on traditional Inuit culture and the changes it has undergone in the wake of industrialization.
One of the historical figures who contributed to the documentation of Inuit practices was Jette Bank (1914-1964), a passionate Danish photographer. In 1936, aged just 22, this adventuress set off on an eight-month journey into the icy northern lands. From colony to colony, she travelled the coast by sleigh and lived in close contact with the local population. In the course of her peregrinations, she captures dozens of images of the Inuit, their way of life, their ancestral practices and their hunting culture. An important contribution, since today, many of the characteristic aspects of Greenland's indigenous cultures have disappeared.
Greenland has since become a popular subject for documentary photographers, particularly since scientists began sounding the alarm about the melting ice. National Geographic photographer Ciril Jazbec, for example, has spent many years documenting the changing lives of the Inuit. In particular, he has sought to highlight the consequences of global warming on their environment, and by extension on their vanishing way of life. A tragic series set in an ecosystem that is bearing the full brunt of the world's first ecological disasters.
A committed contemporary art
From the 1970s onwards, when Greenland was granted autonomy, the art scene took a more committed turn, clearly displaying pro-independence stances. The Greenlandic landscape, so often depicted by local artists, continued to be a source of inspiration, but lost its purely romantic aspect to take on a more political dimension. Many artists devoted themselves to a form of nationalist expressionism, creating works that reflected nature, local legends, myths and traditions. At the same time, new forms of expression, such as photography and installation, began to be mixed with more traditional techniques. Committed artists such as Aka Høegh (1947-) and Anne-Birthe Hove (1954-2012) are representative of this trend.
Anne-Birthe Hove's work is very directly political, while Aka Høegh's reflects a singular relationship with nature and myth in an essentially aesthetic way. Both painter and sculptor, the latter is renowned for her sculptural project entitled La Pierre et les hommes, installed in the southern town of Qaqortoq and carved directly into the rock. The work of artist Jessie Kleemann (1959-), another key figure on the local contemporary scene, revolves around the character of the Qivittoq (a wandering figure in Greenlandic legends) and takes the form of provocative performances mixing body art and traditional mask dance. Other master artists, to name but a few, include Kuungi, Miki Jacobsen, Bolatta Silis-Høegh, Kristian Fly, Julie Edel Hardenberg, Inuk Silis Høegh, Angu Motzfeldt, Gukki Willsen Møller, Nanna Ánike Nikolajsen and Kristine Spore-Kreutzmann. Recent years have seen the emergence of a new generation of artists who play with both internal and external prejudices about the country, its history, its culture and the question of identity, and highlight the great cultural diversity that reigns in Greenland.
To discover these fascinating works, don't miss a visit to the capital's magnificent Nuuk Art Museum, where you'll find not only a large collection of books on Greenlandic art (available for sale or to consult on site), but above all more than 1,000 works, not to mention an ephemeral exhibition, regularly updated and each time dedicated to a new artist. The Nuuk and Sisimiut cultural centers also organize exhibitions, as does the Ilulissat museum, mainly dedicated to the painter Emanual A. Petersen. And if you want to enjoy art in the open air, the capital boasts a number of street art frescoes, which blend in perfectly with its colorful buildings and help make the city a happier place! One of these was painted in 2014 by renowned Australian street artist Guido van Helten and depicts a Tasiilaq hunter, inspired by a photograph taken in 1906 in the east of the country. It is located on Block 5 of the Nuuk downtown social housing complex, a controversial project carried out by the Danish government in the 1950s with the aim of "modernizing" Inuit society.
