Barse Svendsen is and was a loved one and respected artist for nearly 30 years, who is particularly known for his work with traditional Greenlandic materials and motifs.
His works of art are sought after here at home, but also out in the wider world, where several people who have visited Greenland have bought his beautiful art.
He thrived on a daily basis in the local art workshops, first in Sisimiut and then in Nuuk. He bought his raw materials from the country's trappers, because he believed that his art should be authentic and come from the local trappers.
Among other things, he bought reindeer antlers, walrus teeth, polar bear skulls, seal claws from trappers all over the country and ram horns from South Greenland and transformed them into the most beautiful works of art, which could range from small sculptures, pendants and knives.
Now he is no longer with us, he fell asleep on 14 December 2025 after a long illness. He was born in the then coal mining town of Qullissat in 1952, where he lived until the town was closed in 1972.
Barse Svendsen created joy and warmth wherever he was, but did not make much of a presence in the media, but Sermitsiaq managed to get an interview with him.
Read Sermitsiaq's Christmas newspaper from 2018, on page 8 in Greenlandic and page 10 in Danish, where our colleague Oline Inuusuttoq Olsen has visited him in the Arts and Crafts Workshop and conducted an interview with him.
Barse Svendsen was buried in Nuuk on Tuesday. He is survived by his wife, children, grandchildren and siblings.
