Greenland undergoes the effects of climate changes, and witnesses deep transformation of the society since the latest decades: the modification of the environment thus operates along with a growing openness to "occidental" lifestyles and consumption habits, and growing differences between the cities and the settlements. These fast changes question society and identity, and divide the country's opinion: with the will to follow History and the feeling to be the people of the ice, melting away all the same. Allanngorpoq can be translated into "being transformed" from Greenlandic. This selection is part of a much longer body of work. It can be seen here: http://www.sebtix.com/en/allanngorpoq#text
In early 2013, I went into a one-month stay in Greenland, sharing life with some of its inhabitants, up to the northernmost settlements. A trip from 67° to 77° parallel on the way up to Qaanaaq, after a year and a half of preparation with the aim to highlight the current mutations.
The country undergoes, from the very first place, the effects of climate changes, and witnesses deep transformation of the society since the latest decades: the modification of the environment thus operates along with a growing openness to "occidental" lifestyles and consumption habits. The questions that are raised today in Greenland go far beyond its boundaries.
In some incredibly diverse landscapes, supermarkets et mobile phones come into Inuit culture, and skin-made traditional outfits are no longer used but at the very north for dogsledge trips. What Greenland looks like today is most probably very different from what a lot of people expect, very different from the Inuit-tales cliche. What is especially interesting is indeed how unexpected it can be: mixing traditions and very "western"-world into a new changing and melting culture. These strong and fast changes question society and identity, and divide the country's opinion as seen in the last elections: between the will to follow what seems to be the rail of History, and the feeling to be the people of the ice, melting away all the same.
Allanngorpoq can be translated into "being transformed" from Greenlandic.
This selection is part of a much longer body of work. It can be seen here: http://www.sebtix.com/en/allanngorpoq#text