Grønland: i kunsten gennem 300 år, 26. juni-12. december 2021 = Kalaallit Nunaat: eqqumiitsuliorneq ukiuni 300-ni

Abstract

"Although Greenland and the rest of the Arctic have moved from the periphery to the center of global consciousness, art from and around Greenland remains a more or less neglected art-historical subject. The works of art are often included as documentation to tell about Greenland, and they are thus placed in a cultural-historical, and not art-historical, context. The present exhibition stems from a desire to work with the works as art—to take them seriously as meaning-creating in itself. The overall question that the exhibition at Museet for Religiøs Kunst asks is how Greenland has been represented in art, and how art itself has helped to create our ideas about Greenland. In other words, to examine the role of art—or power if you will. By 'our' is meant both internally and externally in Greenland—in the past as well as in the present. The exhibition's works span a period of 300 years, performed by artists originating in Denmark, Greenland or for many both. From Bernhard Grodtschilling's (1697-1776) 18th-century paintings of Poq and Qiperoq, to ​​performance artist Jessie Kleemann's (1959) video work about the melting ice from 2019. It is divided into six overall time periods that are loosely centered around relevant themes for the current period. One gets around topics like representation, religion, power, expeditions, landscapes and science. The works are selected so that they speak together across periods, as several of the themes are addressed in different ways at different times. The exhibition can thus be experienced both thematically and chronologically."--Provided by publisher.