Communities from Yonder, Climate & Local Invisibilised-Narratives in the face of the Global
[Exhibition] Discover stories from Ittoqqortoormiit · L’exposition « Ittoqqortoormiit, histoires de là-bas » est composée de photographies prises par Tanguy Sandré, doctorant, et Jeanne Gherardi, enseignante-chercheuse, lors de séjours de recherche en automne 2021 et au printemps 2022 à Ittoqqortoormiit, à l’est du Kalaallit Nunaat (Groenland). Elle sera exposée à l'OVSQ tout au long de la fête des sciences, du 13 au 16 octobre 2022.
Just another indescriptible time in this lovely town (once I told village and have been corrected instantly "this is a town not a village"). Using the right words is not an easy task for an outsider, as I am. Telling the right stories is even harder. I do believe that it's only when Ittoqqortoormeermii (local inhabitants) talk for themselves and share their own stories that we're really showing respect.
La nuit ne se pose pas, Je l'attends, longtemps, L'heure loge obscurément, Et le jour ne connaît trépas.
Ittoqqortoormiit (East Greenland). Last week, as I entered the cramped tourist agency in this village of 354 inhabitants, Mette Pike Barselajsen, who is the manager, spoke almost instantly about the scandal that has been shaking the local press and Greenland for the past few weeks. On her desk, which has been refurbished since my last visit, she lays out documents from the time, in French, and asks me to take a closer look. In the 1960s, the Danish authorities would have launched an active policy of regulating the Greenlandic population, and the documents she gives me contain precise information about the village.
Après six mois ailleurs, je retrouve Ittoqqortoormiit et ses 354 habitant•es. J'ai voyagé avec une sereine appréhension, épris de l'âpreté que je m'apprêtais à éprouver, de la splendeur, de l'altérité. Je me souviens de la magnificence des lieux et de la rude expérience d'un monde qui est loin du mien.
Cycling Ph.D · Tanguy Sandré 