61 DAYS PROCEEDING, SOCIOLOGICAL PERFORMANCE
Nordic Culture Fond, Artist in residency, Quaqortoq, Kalaallit Nunaat (Greenland). 1991. Performance, drawings, text, photos, sound, super-8.
We see the sojourn in Qaqortoq and surroundings as the duration of a 61 days proceeding, sociological performance. Consisting of the communication, discussions and relationships between us and the community which included such topics as: Kalaallit Nunaats / Greenlands lacking participation in a global world and the Nordic community. The limited media situation. The consequences of extremely high prices for daily products and transportation on daily life. The reality of being a colony. The relationship between Danish immigrant rulers and the Inuits / Greenlanders. The process which leads to independence. The myths and symbols of power in the Inuit culture. The chemistry of the underground and its influence on the psyche. Å. Lie and J. Sturm. Qaqortoq, Kalaallit Nuunat, August 1991
Going for a daily walk and hanging out in Qaqortoq was Åsa and Jadran’s main activity during their stay. As there was only a few kilometres of road and the locals got used to them passing by every day, curiosity grew, and slowly but surely they saw or met nearly everyone who lived there. A chat on the road, in the harbour, at the fish market or on a hillside. Invitations to people's homes for a coffee or a drink or a meal. Young, old and so on… This resulted in the photographic and text based work Qaqortoq sojourn. The piece is a photo collage overlayed with plexiglass on which there is printed a text. In between there are bubbles of glue. The text explains their project and the communication, discussions and relationships between them and the community. The glue bubbles and plexiglass serve as a visual metaphor for the isolation, entrapment and disconnection caused by Denmark’s colonial rule in Kalaallit Nunaat. During the residency they also made a series of charcoal and ink drawings titled The Weather, two Super-8 films shot in the hinterland of Qaqortoq, field recordings and several improvised trumpet & harmonica performances in the local church and surroundings.
See below conversations: Documentary with Scott William Raby (artist, arts organiser, researcher) and recording with Simon Delobel (art historian, curator & director Kiosk Ghent).
This video includes excerpts from a talk between Åsa Lie and Scott William Raby (artist, arts organiser, researcher). Brussels, 20 April 2025. Filmed by Mathieu Hendrickx. Edited by Merzedes Sturm-Lie.