Images of the Arctic: visualising Greenland as an indigenous people and a modern nation

Abstract

This article examines the photo project and exhibition, Isi-Øje-Eye (2014), using nation building and state formation theories to cast light on the national elements of the project. It addresses the question of how visual images (photographs) are employed to unite Greenland across vast geographical distances and distinct ethnic, linguistic and socio-economic differences – in an effort to build a nation and construct a national community. In engaging with this issue, the article offers a critical perspective on the concepts of national borders and boundaries in an era of climate change. Drawing on the ecological aesthetics of nature presented by Gernot Böhme (1937–), the article uses his (re)conceptualisation of the relationship between human and nature to discuss issues relating to national borders and boundaries as they pertain to Greenland.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This article was supported by the Carlsberg Foundation and is part of the research project, Nationalism, Language and Education in Greenland. The author would like to thank PhD student Lydia Jørgensen, Department of Management, Politics and Philosophy, Copenhagen Business School and the anonymous reviewers for excellent comments and suggestions. She would also like to thank Pipaluk Lykke Løgstrup, Thomas, Hans Ulrik, Lars (Lars Demant-Poort) and Imina, without whose valuable input this article could not have been written.

DISCLOSURE STATEMENT

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

[1] The status of Greenland as a Danish colony has been fiercely debated in recent years – in Greenland as well as in Denmark. These debates cover several issues – from conceptual queries about what it means to be a colony, over historical reflections about Denmark as a colonial power, to politically motivated framings focusing on, among other things, reconciliation. For a discussion of these debates, see Brøsted (1986), Beukel and Jensen (2008), Beukel, Jensen and Rytter (2010), Gad (2009, 2014, 2016) and Thisted (2005, 2009, 2014).

[2] This decision taps into the scholarship of Ernest Gellner and his work on the relationship between language, education and nationalism (Gellner 1964, 1983).

[3] The Self-Rule Act defines the economic relationship between Denmark and Greenland. With this act, the block grant that Denmark pays to Greenland each year – which amounts to approximately DKK 3.5 billion – is frozen at the 2009 price level (cp. article 5). Article 7 of the Self-Rule Act acknowledges that any revenue deriving from extraction of natural resources belongs to Greenland’s self-government authorities. If the revenue exceeds DKK 75 million, the block grant will gradually be reduced.

[4] This has to be seen in the context of the United Nations (UN) Convention on the Law of the Sea. Following the ratification of this convention, countries have a 10-year period in which to make territorial claims to an extended continental shelf. Of the five Arctic countries all except the United States have ratified the UN Convention and have turned in their territorial claims to parts of the international waters, including the North Pole.

Additional information

Funding

This article was supported by the Carlsberg Foundation and is part of the research project, Nationalism, Language and Education in Greenland.

Notes on contributors

Benedikte Brincker

Benedikte Brincker is an Associate Professor at the Department of Management, Politics and Philosophy, at Copenhagen Business School. She has published widely in the field of political sociology, especially nationalism studies and served as an editor of the journal Nations and Nationalism in the period 2009–2016. In recent years, she has conducted research into Greenland as part of the Arctic Region exploring nation-building processes, languages, indigeneity and entrepreneurship linking these to current debates of and challenges associated with climate change. In doing this, she offers an interdisciplinary perspective on climate change. Her research is funded by, among other funding bodies, the Carlsberg Foundation and the Nordic Council of Ministers.