Bjørn
Stig
Hansen

In the midst of the Greenlandic summer 2011, my shoes soaked through by a constant drizzle, I followed a gang of 11 Greenlanders harvesting potatoes for three days. From early morning till late night they would be in the field digging and picking, while ice floes majestically passed us by in the Sermilik Fjord. The photographs are the first in my series about the Greenlanders, which again will be part of a greater work tracking cause and consequence of climate change transglobally. Potato farming in Greenland became profitable few generations ago, when the temperature rose sufficiently for the crops to grow big.

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September 1st I returned from a 10 day research trip to Southern Greenland. The country has long found itself in a state of cultural limbo due to its post colonial realm, and recently climate change related factors has further accelerated the decline of their traditional culture. Greenland is an autonomous country within the Kingdom of Denmark and still dependent on block grants after 32 years of home rule. Generations of Greenlanders have lived under Danish influence but somehow managed to preserve their national identity, which is closely knit to the tradition of hunting from the sea ice. Today this tradition is also challenged by climate change.

My first trip to Greenland marked the beginning of a journey that will take me through settlements and towns on the Greenlandic coasts in the years to come. I will follow the Greenlanders in their search for a sustainable and independent future, and it is my hope that the days, weeks and months spend in their company will help me better understand the social costs and opportunities linked with the Greenlandic transformation. The photographs, notes and memories I collect will make up the second leg in my envisioned trilogy, which explores the new bonds tied by climate change between people living thousands miles apart. Part one of the trilogy, which is still in the workings, is the story about the Tulun people in the South Pacific, who are struggling to stay above water.

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