“Åndehuller”/”Breathing Holes”

About the exhibition: “In the meeting between artists from Greenland and Denmark, we examine our own and others' identities and approaches to creating through hand and spirit. We are connected through needle and thread, through beads, fabric and fur - and by continuing ancient techniques interpreted through modern consciousness. Historically, artists have always come together to formulate new directions and trends in society. Right now, the whole world is in a big joint lockdown. Here, our theme of Breathing holes/Åndehuller gets a whole new actuality! What happens when one has to find peace in chaos, perhaps we are better abel to feel oneself when everything else is turned off? Through our works at exhibitions in the Greenlandic House in Aarhus in 2020 and at Ilulissat Art Museum in 2021, we invite the audience into our reflections on the theme shown through sewn works. ”

Participants: Marie J. Engelsvold (DK) / Anguteq Nikolaj Kristensen (GL) / Mette Kocmick (DK) / Najannguaq D. Lennert (GL) / Julie Bach (DK)

BREATHING HOLES/Åndehuller - Stories of modern identity shown through sewn works. EXHIBITION IN THE GREENLANDIC HOUSE IN AARHUS 25 / 9-22 / 11-2020 WHO WHY (STEP FORWARD AND BACK IN TIME) Five Greenlandic and Danish artists are exhibiting sewn works at the exhibition Breathing HOLES/Åndehuller in the Greenlandic House in Aarhus. The exhibition will be the first event held in the new culture hall, which is an architectural gem located by Tangkrogen. The artists have come together to tell stories of modern identity shown through sewn works. They are common about using sewing in their practice, but do so in different ways both through crafts and visual arts as a method of telling stories. Why sewing? Greenland has a very special tradition in sewing, and the Greenlandic national costume shows signs of the meeting between Danish and Greenlandic culture in materials and techniques. The national costume now stands as a strong identity marker for Greenlandic at a time when the Commonwealth is up for debate. The start of the project was precisely this starting point: the link between identity and sewing craftsmanship.

BACKGROUND (SHARING) The project was started by the Aarhus-based textile artist Julie Bach. In 2018 and 2019, she traveled to Greenland to investigate her personal relationship with Greenland, where she spent her first four years. She was curious to explore how the fact that she is ‘Made in Greenland’ has influenced her personal and professional identity. She has gathered the exhibition group, of talented colleagues from Denmark and Greenland, to learn more about each other's cultures and disciplines through an exchange of crafts and ideas. The group should have met in Nuuk in April 2020, precisely with the perspective of getting to know each other through their common language: "the work of hands". Nikolaj Kristensen is a self-taught artist from Upernavik in northern Greenland and works with pearls. He speaks exclusively Greenlandic, so the communication between the artists takes place with an interpreter. The joint workshop in Nuuk has been postponed until the spring of 2020 due to covid-19. They will therefore continue to meet physically before their second group exhibition, which will be shown at Ilulissat Art Museum in the summer of 2021. During the exhibition in Aarhus, you can participate in workshops where you try old Arctic and European sewing techniques, such as sewing with intestines and bead sewing. The group is convinced that it gives a deeper understanding of culture not only to observe but to actively interact.