NNK 25.-28. May 2023
is taking shape
Nuuk Nordic Culture Festival 2021 became a breathing space and a bearing towards brighter times. Artists and actors of all shapes and colors visited Nuuk at the end of October.
Approx. 2500 guests over 4 days. 200 artists and actors from around the world who were to exhibit and entertain in 15 venues.
For Kommuneqarfik Sermersooq’s culture department, which had the management up to the last festival, there is no doubt that it was a success.
From 28 to 31 October, Nuuk was a jumble of people and activities. At the library you could experience exciting lectures by authors, and in Katuaq cool concerts were held every night.
In Nuuk Art Museum, Jessie Kleemann and Jeanette Ehlers had a joint exhibition, with works by Pia Arke.
And in NUiF, free concerts were held for the city’s children and young people, so that they could participate in the big festival in a safe environment.
ANGALANEQ in flames
The theme for this year’s Culture Festival was ‘Angalaneq’, ‘to travel’. For the past year and a half, Greenland had been subject to the Corona’s iron grip, but we could once again look towards brighter times.
It was time to travel again. Not just physically, from country to country, but also mentally.
The many months where we all took care not to get too close to each other, where the culture was set aside for the good of the people, also cost us the entertainment.
And with Nuuk Nordic Culture Festival, many could once again live up to, and take the mental journey out of the virus’ chains, into the abstract freedom that exists across cultures, and which even the pandemic cannot kill.
The festival started out with a bang of a parade. Odinteatret entertained with costumes and music all the way from Forsamlingshuset to Nuuk Center. At Katuaq the procession stopped, and for live music the theme ‘Angalaneq’ was hung up and lit.
After this, the large crowd found their way to Nuuk Center, where the Mayor and Naalakkersuisoq for Culture gave opening speeches.
Room for everyone
Nuuk Nordic Culture Festival is the only one of its kind in Greenland, and one of quite a few in the entire Nordic community. The festival brings together entertainment and activities from not just one art, but from many different forms of expression within music, visual arts, research, literature and theater.
The artists are becoming more and more creative with the way they express themselves and how they combine different media, and the festival becomes a breathing space for the population, where they can seek all kinds of entertainment just to their own taste.
The festival is also a space where artists can share experience with each other. New networks and collaborations are created, and at the end of the festival, the artists and actors, the locals as well as the guests, have gained new knowledge and inspiration to create even more new and challenging art.
One of the events that especially gathered people from all sides was the talks that took place in GUX’s old gymnasium. Every day, the audience could experience artists and actors discussing and reflecting on the Nuuk Nordic Culture Festival, and what the event means for the cultural work in Greenland and the Nordic countries
The board is visiting
In addition to the joy of the Culture Festival being held once again successfully, we also had the pleasure of finally visiting our board.
NAPA’s Board of Directors, appointed in 2020, had not previously had the opportunity to meet physically earlier. Therefore, Nuuk Nordic Culture Festival was an obvious time to gather the five members, all from different countries in the Nordic community.
And then the board even had the pleasure of unexpectedly greeting a number of colleagues, as Norsafe’s board was also present in Nuuk at the same time.
During their stay, the board was offered local food for a reception, and they came on a late boat trip with Nuuk Water Taxi after an exquisite meal at Restaurant Unicorn, in addition to of course having free access to all events that took place during NNK21.
To the right is NAPA’s chairman of the board, Claus Kjeld Jensen, during the dinner at Restaurant Unicorn, where mask dancing was also entertained.
May 25-28, 2023
The next time Nuuk Nordic Culture Festival kicks off, it will be something new for early summer instead.
By that time, the snow has melted and the heat is on its way. The light lasts a long time, and it is felt in the mood of the city; Nuuk buzzes with life.
We look forward to this time bringing the festival to a time when we are not challenged by snowstorms that delay air traffic and threaten spontaneous power outages.
The more stable and calm summer weather can even provide an opportunity for more experiences for the many guests who come from outside, when artists and actors from all over the Nordics and the rest of the world come to Nuuk to share knowledge and experience with the local actors.
The festival, which takes place every other year, has been running since 2015, and when NAPA takes the helm again until 2023, it is the fifth time we together with Kommuneqarfik Sermersooq, Katuaq, Nunatta Isiginnaartitsisarfia, Nuuk Art Museum and Nunatta Atuagaateqarfia throw us into one of the biggest events Nuuk has to offer.
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