Suialaa Arts Festival: Add a cultural dimension to your Greenland visit

By Signe Hansen | Photos: Sermersooq Business Council

If you are contemplating visiting Greenland and want to add a cultural dimension to the stunning landscapes and nature, Suialaa Arts Festival in October offers the perfect opportunity. As Greenland’s largest recurring cultural event, the biennial festival allows its audience to explore a wide range of art forms, from music and theatre to exhibitions and literature.

During four days at the end of October, the Suialaa Arts Festival in Nuuk showcases a host of Greenlandic artists as well as artists from across the Arctic and Nordic regions. And, with all art forms represented, guests are in for a spectacular experience.

Suialaa Arts Festival: Add a cultural dimension to your Greenland visit

Greenlandic drum dancer, musician and filmmaker Varna performing at the festival.

“There is a truly special atmosphere when you experience all art forms at once, and October is the perfect time to visit Nuuk,” enthuses festival manager Pauliina Oinonen. “It’s a somewhat underrated time of year. I think nature is so beautiful – all the plants turn red and yellow, and if you’re lucky enough to get sunshine, it’s the most beautiful light. I highly recommend experiencing it.”

Initiated by the Nordic Institute in Greenland and the municipality of Nuuk, the festival began as an exchange project between Greenland and the Nordic region but has in recent years moved in a more Arctic direction, with a strong dedication to representing the region’s indigenous cultures. “As a city and capital, Nuuk needed to differentiate itself and make its mark,” explains Oinonen. “We want to brand it not just as Greenland’s capital but as a new shared Nordic capital.”

Nick Ørbæk and band playing a concert in 2017.

The festival’s many events will take place throughout Nuuk and span everything from experimental electronic music to traditional Indigenous art forms. Often, genres will be combined as in a string of events honouring the renowned Greenlandic multi-artist Kunngi (Frederik Kristensen). Kunngi wrote a poem titled Suialaa (published in the poetry collection Ippassaq Ullumeqarani Aqagu, 2007) and is thus honoured through the festival’s name. “Suialaa is a play on the word ‘breeze; it refers to a light breeze that blows gently for a brief moment,” Oinonen explains. “It symbolises that the festival is happening here and now and ‘moves something.’ But it is also a tribute to Kunngi – one of our greatest artists. Kunngi has been active in poetry, music, visual arts, and theatre, thus encompassing almost everything the festival is about.”

Tickets for the festival will be available after the summer.