KUSANARTULIAT - BETWEEN GREENLAND ART AND ART AND CRAFTS
5 AUGUST - 1 OCTOBER 2022
Aviaaja Ezekiassen, Kristine Spore Kreutzmann, Lisbeth Karline, Coco Apunnguaq Lynge and Jessie Kleemann. Curator: Laila Lund Altinbas, Greenland House Aalborg
In late summer, Det Grønlandske Hus in Aalborg, in collaboration with Kunsthal Nord, opens an exhibition with five female contemporary artists and designers, each of whom continues to work in extension of, but also in defiance of, the Greenlandic craft tradition.
Until the 1960s, female Greenlandic artists did not figure much in Greenlandic art history. Instead, unnamed women with their hands are woven into the preserved handicrafts: skin suits, pearl work, etc. Crafts are called in Greenlandic 'kusanartuliat' - something that is made beautifully. On the contrary, we have the word for works of art 'eqqumiitsuliat', which means something that is made strangely. Already in the words certain values are assigned to the individual objects. Up until the 1960s, the beautiful things were largely associated with women's hands, while the works of art that could break the notion of beauty were strongly associated with men's hands.
At the exhibition, we show works by five female contemporary artists and designers who continue to work in continuation of, but also break with, the Greenlandic handicraft tradition: Aviaaja Ezekiassen, Lisbeth Karline, Kristine Spore Kreutzmann, Jessie Kleemann and Coco Apunnguaq Lynge. Some are helping to define a modern Greenlandic handicraft and design tradition, while others take as their starting point the many feelings linked to Greenlandic handicrafts in an investigation of what it really means to be Greenlandic today. The exhibition therefore shows a wide range of works at the crossroads between Greenlandic art and handicrafts.
The exhibition can be seen at Kunsthal Nord from 6 August to and including 1 October.
The exhibition opening is on Friday 5 August at 16-18, where we will offer a festive drink and Nina Sikkersoq will be our DJ.
The exhibition is supported by the Augustinus Fonden, Aalborg Municipality's Art Foundation, Knud Højgaards Fond and NAPA - the Nordic Institute in Greenland