During The Arctic Winter Games March 5th – 11th 2016 in Nuuk every contingent (country or territory) has been asked to bring an item. And not just any item, but an item which is a cultural carrier. The item could both be traditional and untraditional. But the questions lying behind it all are: What is culture and furthermore what binds us together? Not just separately but also across the Arctic.

This is the exhibition made of these carried items. There is a traditional sash renewed for a different use today. There is a suohpan – a classic tool still used and in a modern version. Children’s drawings tell us about the culture they, as children, carry along. There is an amautika coat known across the Arctic. In birch bark we find a dependency on the specific nature surrounding us. There is a traditional grass platter made especially for now, the AWG2016, and a doll to carry along to future generations.

These are not just items; they are stories about the place they come from and of the people who brought them; they are traditional and untraditional, but they are first and foremost culture. A culture who should not be taken for granted; some items tell of loss and about the right to be in contact with the culture you’re born from.

Read more about each of the Cultural Carriers here : Cultural Carriers

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