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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
➤ The image of Africa is changing
➤ It’s suddenly popular to be African
Photo: Christie Brown
“THE NEW GREENLAND”
➤ The same thing is happening in Greenland
➤ Greenlandic art, design, literature, the film and music industry is mobilizing a new story and a new brand
➤ “The New Greenlanders”
➤ Globalization has reached Greenland
➤ The young Greenlanders are branding themselves through the social media
➤ The world is noticing Greenland
Small Time Giants. Photo: Rosannguaq Rossen
Niviaq Korneliussen. Photo: sermitsiaq.ag
Art by: Ivinguak’ Stork Høegh
Art by: Maria Paninguak’ Kjærulf
Streetart in Sisimiut. Photo: Rosannguaq Rossen
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
➤ 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
Photo: Naya Fleischer Mølgård
REPRESENTING ‘THE NEW GREENLAND’
➤ The young Greenlanders who represent Greenland in the media have the need for references to their own country and culture
➤ 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: 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 Greenlandic culture would rather disappear if not integrated in a modern setting
Photo: Mads Pihl/Visit Greenland
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