Residence in Greenland has peace as a natural resource

The residence in Greenland is in many ways special. But there is one thing about it that just can’t be matched. Peace.

Refugium Upernavik is a small house built in the 19th century and renovated ten years ago. The house has a kitchen, bedroom and a workspace.

“Almost all our visitors come here to seek inspiration from the Greenlandic nature. That can be found here, of course, but more than anything they are impressed by the peace. The kind of atmosphere that we have is hard to find anywhere else”, says the director of the artist residence, Bo Albrechtsen.

Artists usually stay for about one month at the residence. There is room for only one visitor at a time, unless it is a couple or good friends who wish to come here together. Usually the visitors are visual artists, but the residence is equally well suited for artists of other fields.

“Artists come here from everywhere in the world. In 2009 we had visitors from anywhere from Brazil to Japan. Surprisingly enough, we haven’t had all that many visitors from Nordic countries. With the support of the Nordic cultural programme, we can now invite Nordic artists over. Next year we are going to invite an artist from Iceland”, Albrechtsen says.

Many of the artists in residence at Refugium Upernavik are interested in meeting local residents and visiting or organising exhibitions at schools. Thus the surrounding community also benefits from the residence’s activities.

Refugium Upernavik in Greenland was granted support from the Mobility and Residency Programme, support for artists’ residences.