Opening of a unique photo exhibition

It was nothing less than a world premiere when the Greenlandic House in Aalborg held the opening of the photo exhibition Daamani – Back in East Greenland on Wednesday afternoon.

The exhibition shows 80 photos taken in Tasiilaq and the Ammassalik district between 1953 and 1969 by Arkaluk Bianco.

- The photographs are completely unique because they show East Greenland in a period when we don't have very many photos – and especially because they were taken by a local photographer who was born and lived in the community, says Helene Brochmann, who has created the exhibition in collaboration with Nauja Bianco.

- Arkaluk's pictures stand in great contrast to the photographs, which were taken by, among others, Jette Bang in the district. Most people have seen her pictures, but she came from outside and had an ethnographic interest in the population. So the pictures describe people and events that have seemed exotic to Danish and European eyes.

Everyday life in East Greenland

- It is completely different with Arkaluk Bianco's pictures. He photographs everyday life in East Greenland during the period when the area was just opening up after the war, as he himself experienced it. Electricity, radio and completely new products were introduced in the shop.

Arkaluk Bianco was the postmaster and manager of the KGH shop in Tasiilaq, and many of the pictures were taken just outside the shop when the light was right.

- So here we see people in the clothes they wore in everyday –and it is a completely different story than the one that the foreign photographers tells, says Helene Brochmann, who has a Master`s degree with Eskimology as a minor.

- At the same time, Arkaluk Bianco was a natural talent for photography. Many of the pictures are well composed and technically close to perfect, so his photocollection is a goldmine.

Arkaluk Bianco was a real firstmover in Tasiilaq. Not only did he acquire cameras and darkroom equipment he was the first to himself to a boat with an outboard motor, he also acquired a typewriter and a tape recorder

Many years of work

Helene Brochmann received Arkaluk Bianco scollection of around 2,000 negatives in 2012 from James Bianco.

- Most of the pictures were on rolls, and it has been a lot of work to get them straightened out and photographed, so it has taken up all my free time for a number of years. At the same time, in collaboration with James and Kathrine Bianco Svanholm, I have tried to find out who is seen in the pictures and where they were taken.

This resulted in the book "Daily Life in Ammassalik", which was published in 2024. The book is a huge affair, with a total of 352 pages and 300 of Arkaluk Bianco's pictures.

Since the book was published, Helene Brochmann has selected 80 of the images in collaboration with Nauja Bianco. They have been enlarged on large plates that have become the exhibition Daamani – then in East Greenland.

Exhibition on tour

- We have received a lot of support from foundations for the exhibition, so the plates have been made in duplicate. Now the exhibition will hang in Aalborg for a few months, after which it will move on to Copenhagen, where it will open in the North Atlantic House on Greenland's National Day this summer, says Helene Brochmann.

- At the same time, the second set of plates will be sent home to Tasiilaq, where the exhibition will also open this summer.

- The exhibition will then go on tour to the Greenlandic houses in Denmark – and then we have agreements that it will go on to Reykjavik and Stockholm.

The opening in Aalborg on Wednesday afternoon was attended by around 100 people. The opening began with East Greenlandic choral singing by Ullorissat, which includes two members with East Greenlandic backgrounds, Jennifer Angel Winther and Vittus Pivaat.

This was followed by a presentation by Helene Brochmann, who spoke about her work with Arkaluk Bianco's picture collection and also signed her book for all interested parties.

Jeppe Bülov Sørensen, director of the Greenland House in Aalborg, could not help but be quite proud of the world premiere after the opening.

- Arkaluk Bianco was a real first-mover. We want to be that in Aalborg too, so we are happy to host world premieres when they are about Greenland, said the director.