Pikialaarfik and art with sound Published 19.02.2020

Pikialaarfik. This is the name that was given the black building, also known as “the Education Building” in everyday language. The naming of the building took place concurrently with the exhibition preview of the art hanging on its walls, Wednesday 19 February. The building was packed with people.

The name of the building was presented by Emma Kristensen, who – together with Lene Kielsen Holm – proposed Pikialaarfik.

– As this is a place that will hum with life and new knowledge, the name is a good fit for the place, which can also be connected with Pikialasorsuaq, The North Water, which almost bubbles over with Arctic marine mammals. Furthermore, Pikialaarfik matches Ilimmarfik and Pinngortitaleriffik, which are both in the area, said Emma Kristensen during the exhibition preview.

Works of art by the artist Inuk Silis Høegh were displayed at the exhibition preview.

– I have always been fascinated with the sounds when I go out into nature, and the project was actually born when I recorded the sound of a peregrine falcon during a reindeer hunt, he explained in his speech.

Listening to the sounds of the art pieces, each person can create their own mental images.

There are QR-codes next to every piece of art, which you can scan, or you can go to nipit.natur.gl to listen to the art. You will hear sounds of everything from dripping water under moss, dogs howling in Ilulissat, and sounds of the water under the fast ice in North Greenland, to the sound of a male hunchback whale and of a narwhal in Melville Bay, as well as the sound of the falcon, recorded by Inuk himself.

Several of the sounds are recorded by biologists at Greenland Institute of Natural Resources. The images have been printed onto metal, and the artworks are donated by Aage V. Jensens Fonde. The art can be seen and heard on nipit.natur.gl.

The artist Inuk Silis Høegh participated with his family. Photo: Greenland Institute of Natural Resources.

Find the sound clips on nipit.natur.gl.