Let’s start at the end of the lecture, in the always stimulating Society Q&A: “Why is Greenland so worried about being developed by the USA? Denmark has done little for Greenland, so why not agree deals with the mining companies that want the minerals, take the money and use the wealth to improve life in Greenland? Right now it’s a wasteland.”
No holds barred there, but Professor Autogena – who’s Danish, but deeply embedded in the Greenland way of life – replied in the same measured, low-key tone she’d used throughout the evening, to say that Greenland, “a previously colonial nation … can’t be independent if we give a lot of our land to a company from another country.” It became evident that emotion is power, perhaps more critically than ever, in our increasingly transactional age (thank you, Donald Trump). Professor Autogena at one point said, “We risk having to pay [for economic growth] with our soul.” Greenland was portrayed as a somewhat shamanistic nation, almost symbiotically attuned to land, sea, climate, nature, the universe and the Inuit heritage of the majority of its people.
The pragmatic questioner’s “wasteland” remark drew fire from elsewhere in the audience, with the withering retort that in the recent past Scotland too has been described as a wasteland – industrially, ecologically and spiritually – and we are surely far from that. Hot local relevance in a talk about a faraway icy land facing chilling times.
An artist to trade, Professor Autogena’s work has embraced light, water and sound – most beguilingly in a musical composition performed by an orchestra that played on a clifftop, accompanied by the foghorns of various ships anchored offshore, the timing of the foghorn blasts adjusted to accommodate the time it took the sound to reach the audience onshore. It was implausible but delightful, unlike the state of some places in the world that mining companies have exploited for uranium and other minerals (“nuclear colonialism”, anyone?).
The well-illustrated talk delivered an outline of existential challenges facing Greenland, and how it is trying to cope. We learned about Greenland’s industries – fishing, mainly, and tourism (“tourism’s complex, now that the ice is unreliable: be prepared to be stranded for a week”). But the people are resilient and resourceful. So is Professor Autogena, a driving force behind the pioneering, non-profit Narsaq International Research Station, which is not only a single, tiny, wooden building but also an institution that has redefined what a research station can do. Here, ice is studied, as is fishing, fermenting and e-waste … and “the University of Greenland does incredible work”. If you fancy living at the Station, email in your project proposal. Skill in installing a decent shower might also earn you the nod.
This was a sometimes humorous, sometimes dark exposition on a fascinating land, its people and its future, delivered by an accomplished speaker who looks at the world from an idiosyncratic, holistic, humanistic, highly informed and passionately held viewpoint. The voice of the artist amid those of scientists, farmers, activists, geo-politicians and corporate juggernauts lent surprising and emotive heft to the discussion.
Surely someone who can get a tune out of foghorns is qualified to sound a warning to the world?
Chair Tony Burton thanked Lise and presented her with a well-earned Society paperweight. Lise Autogena is Professor of Cross Disciplinary Art at Sheffield Hallam University and Director of Narsaq International Research Station (NIRS), Greenland. The work of NIRS addresses critical issues of human rights, climate change and environmental protection. The talk is available online.