This December, “Quanga: Drawing the Past” is one of the Northern Initiative exhibitions that is being highlighted for the community. The exhibition opened on November 17 and is on view through Jan. 12, 2014. An epic Inuit journey taken 4,500 years ago comes to life in “Qanga: Drawing the Past,” through a graphic novel-style presentation that combines music, art, storytelling, and archaeology. Working from Inuit oral tradition and archaeological evidence, a graphic novelist reconstructed the story of the Inuit people who made the first migration from Canada to Greenland.
The exhibition tells a compelling tale of day-to-day survival in the Arctic. Unstable ice conditions, changes in weather, and a restlessness for travel caused one group to forge frozen straits for new land. Guided by spirits and elders, they hunted polar bears and seals, lost loved ones to thin ice, and taught their children how to live among the animals.
“Qanga” was an international undertaking inspired by Danish de-colonization efforts. During the last 30 years, the National Museum of Denmark has repatriated more than 35,000 archaeological and ethnographic objects to Greenland’s National Museum and Archives. The National Museum of Denmark collaborated closely with Greenlandic artist and Nordic Council Children’s Literature Prize 2013 nominee Nuka Godtfredsen to present fictional narratives of early human settlement in Greenland. The exhibition features watercolors from two graphic novels by Godtfredsen and six songs by Danish musicians and composers Kristian Bjerre Harting and Lill Rastad Bjørst. The music evokes the emotion of the paintings, from redemption to despair. Also included in the exhibition are sketches from the graphic novels and examples of the archaeological information that inspired them. One case study demonstrates how the artist corrected the drawing of a blade based on a 4,000-year-old harpoon. A short film presents the creation of a page—from the initial pencil sketch to the final touches.
On December 6 we offered special programming with “Qanga,” as part of the First Friday art walk when the Museum is open free to the public in the evening. Live music by Greenland’s Hivshu Peary and programs for teens and adults by Bjarne Gronnow from the National Museum of Denmark were also a part of the event. Greenlandic musician, storyteller and educator Hivshu Peary was born in the northernmost village in the world, Hiurapaluk (Siorapaluk), Greenland. He performs traditional stories and songs using a qilaat, an oval drum covered with the bladder of a polar bear.