DON’T TOUCH THE NATIONAL COSTUME! PURITY, AUTHENTICITY AND GREENLANDIC FASHION Assistant Professor & ph.d. student: Rosannguaq Rossen The Department of Greenlandic Language, Literature & Media University of Greenland - Ilisimatusarfik AFRICA IS THE NEW BLACK

➤ Why do I start with Africa? ➤ The African fashion, art & literature and music is being used to mobilize a new image of Africa ➤ Young africans are telling a new story about the new Africa ➤ Local and diaspora artists and designers are branding themselves through the social medias ➤ Africa has been represented from others - diseases and war Photo: Christie Brown ➤ The image of Africa is changing ➤ It’s suddenly popular to be African “THE NEW GREENLAND”

➤ The same thing is happening in Greenland

Niviaq Korneliussen. Photo: sermitsiaq.ag Art by: Maria Paninguak’ Kjærulf ➤ Greenlandic art, design, literature, the film and music industry is mobilizing a new story and a new brand

➤ “The New Greenlanders”

➤ Globalization has reached Small Time Giants. Photo: Rosannguaq Rossen Greenland ➤ The young Greenlanders are branding themselves through the social media

➤ The world is noticing Greenland

Streetart in Sisimiut. Photo: Rosannguaq Rossen Art by: Ivinguak’ Stork Høegh GREENLANDIC FASHION

➤ The young greenlanders are branding themselves through fashion ➤ The fashion culture is growing ➤ The young Greenlanders are proud to wear something Greenlandic ➤ Cultural symbols

Photo: Inuit Quality Clothes of Greenland/Mads Pihl REINTERPRETATION OF THE NATIONAL SYMBOLS

➤ The Greenlandic cultural symbols is being reinterpreted in new designs ➤ We are seeing more and more upcoming, local designers in Greenland ➤ Local and international designers are updating the cultural symbols integrating them into contemporary designs ➤ The sale of the designs is not only in Greenland - but also in other countries - it’s being globalized

Photo: Jyllands-posten /Camilla Stephan FROM EVERYDAY USE - TO FORMAL DRESS

➤ One of the cultural symbols you see in fashion - national costume

➤ The national costume went from everyday use - to a formal dress today

➤ We use our national costumes in special occasions: weddings, baptizements, confirmations, funerals, children’s first Day of School and to entertain the tourists ➤ Some Greenlanders try to freeze the national costume into a static position, even though it always has been dynamic Photo: Visit Greenland/Mads Pihl FROM EVERYDAY USE - TO FORMAL DRESS

➤ One of the cultural symbols you see in fashion - national costume

➤ The national costume went from everyday use - to a formal dress today

➤ We use our national costumes in special occasions: weddings, baptizements, confirmations, funerals, children’s first Day of School and to entertain the tourists ➤ Some Greenlanders try to freeze the national costume into a static position, even though it always has been dynamic Photo: Rosannguaq Rossen BRANDING GREENLAND

➤ Björk was one of the first to use parts of the national costume, in new contexts, when creating a new choir back in the year 2001

Photo: Naya Fleischer Mølgård ➤ The debate over the use of the national costume in new contexts is not new, but goes back at least to the early 1990’s ➤ Greenlanders often use the symbols, including parts of the national costume when representing Greenland

Photo: http://www.bjork.fr/IMG/jpg/bjork-17-10-2001- paramount-oakland-04.jpg REPRESENTING ‘THE NEW GREENLAND’

➤ The young Greenlanders who represent Greenland in the media have the need for references to their own country and culture Photo: Rosannguaq Rossen ➤ The designers are using their own identity as an inspiration, in their search for a new contemporary identity ➤ Some of the Greenlandic designers and artists are living in Denmark —> forming some sort of diaspora

Photo: Rosannguaq Rossen Photo: BT THE SACRED NATIONAL SYMBOLS

➤ What happens when making the tradition untraditional? ➤ According to the ‘traditionalists’ you are not allowed to change the national costume ➤ When changing elements within the culture the whole culture will get un-pure and un-Greenlandic

Photo: RC Design NEW DESIGNS INSPIRED BY THE NATIONAL COSTUME

➤ In 2009 the Danish designer Peter Jensen made a boot, inspired by the Greenlandic kamik ➤ A group demonstrated, wearing the national costume, and demanded that the designer should stop selling the boots ➤ He even got death threats ➤ A foreigner, a Dane took something Greenlandic and made it ‘un- Greenlandic’ and ‘un-pure’ ➤ Different Greenlandic artists defended Peter Jensen and claimed that the Photo: Mads Pihl/Visit Greenland Greenlandic culture would rather disappear if not integrated in a modern setting REINTERPRETATION OF THE COSTUME

➤ It seems that people are getting more used to it ➤ In 2014, when working for the artists Cooper & Gorfer, the designer Bibi Chemnitz did not receive death threats… ➤ “I will call the police! You cannot treat the national costume like this! - Shouted an elderly woman, who also demonstrated her displeasure by flashing the middle finger"

Photo: Cooper & Gorfer, 2014 BECOMING GLOBALIZED

➤ Suddenly it is very popular to ‘be Greenlandic’ ➤ The stigmatization of Greenlandic identity is coming to an end - and fashion has shown to be an excellent platform for negotiating identity ➤ Making room for the mixed and un- pure - rather than locking Greenlandic identity in tradition, essence and reification

Photo: Inuit Quality Clothes of Greenland/Mads Pihl