Episode 6 of Testing Grounds: Narsaq International Research Station
What does “progress” mean in an age of climate crisis? Who should define it? And how can the process of defining it be made more inclusive and democratic?
Narsaq International Research Station (NIRS) is NAARCA’s Greenlandic partner. It’s an independent non-profit research platform with a focus on cultural and scientific research in South Greenland.
Please note: this episode includes brief mentions of suicide, alcoholism and violence.
In this episode, Lise Autogena, an artist and founder of NIRS, outlines some of the tensions at play in Narsaq, and in Greenland more broadly. Here, the climate crisis is dramatically disrupting people’s ways of life, and simultaneously opening up opportunities for the exploitation of globally-prized natural resources. Indeed, the community of Narsaq is itself at the centre of a fierce dispute over a proposed mine.
Lise introduces us to our contributors, filmmaker Inuk Jørgensen and community psychologist Peter Berliner. Both Inuk's and Peter's work is engaged with exploring visions of "progress" in a Greenlandic context. They discuss how Inuit values can help make the process of defining progress more inclusive, respectful and productive.
Find out more:
Narsaq International Research Station (https://www.narsaqresearchstation.gl)
Siunissaq (http://siunissaq.gl)
Contributors:
Lise Autogena, Artist, Professor, Director of Art, Design and Media Research Centre at Sheffield Hallam University and founder of NIRS (https://www.autogena.org)
Inuk Jørgensen, filmmaker (https://www.inuks.dk)
Peter Berliner, Professor of Arctic Community Psychology, Ilisimatusarfik/University of Greenland (https://uk.uni.gl/find-employee/department-of-social-work/peter-berliner)
TESTING GROUNDS is available on the last Friday of each month, to subscribe and listen, visit naarca.art/testing-grounds-podcast/ or search for “Testing Grounds” in your favourite podcast app.
TESTING GROUNDS is produced and edited by Katie Revell and includes original music by Loris S. Sarid and artwork by Jagoda Sadowska.
ABOUT NAARCA
NAARCA is a collaboration between seven artists’ residencies: Cove Park (Scotland), Saari Residence (Finland), Artica Svalbard (Norway), Art Hub Copenhagen (Denmark), Baltic Art Center (Sweden), Skaftfell Art Center (Iceland) and Narsaq International Research Station (Greenland). We are working together to develop, test and communicate new ways of living that are ecologically, socially, mentally and financially sustainable. We believe that artists’ residencies are exceptional institutions within the arts sector: safe environments for experimentation, where private, professional and public life intertwine. Learn more at naarca.art