Artists

Inuuteq Storch

Press release

The exhibition Rise of the Sunken Sun by Greenlandic artist Inuuteq Storch was shown at the Danish Pavilion at the Venice Biennale 2024 and will be presented at Fotografisk Center in 2025 in an adjusted format. The critically acclaimed exhibition has already been recognized as an important contribution to both art history and history: Storch was both the first artist from the North Atlantic part of the Kingdom of Denmark and the first photographer to have a solo exhibition at the Danish Pavilion. The title of the exhibition is inspired by the Greenlandic flag, which symbolizes the Arctic sun over the white, icy landscape, referencing traditional Inuit beliefs.

Storch challenges the long-standing tendency for outsiders – rather than Greenlanders themselves – to shape the visual history of Kalaallit Nunaat (Greenland's native name). In Rise of the Sunken Sun, Storch presents a multifaceted view of Kalaallit Nunaat through six thematic photographic series. The exhibition includes Storch's intimate and poetic portrayals of daily life in his hometown of Sisimiut, images from his family's photo archives, as well as a digitized compilation of historical photographs by John Møller, the first professional Greenlandic photographer. The newest works consist of photographs from Qaanaaq, the northernmost town, as well as the almost spherical, transparent images in the series Necromancer.

Rise of the Sunken Sun weaves personal narratives together with a broader exploration of Greenlandic identity, history, and daily life. Through both his own works and archival photographs, Storch creates a nuanced portrayal of life in Kalaallit Nunaat, while also revealing the subtle traces of the country's colonial history. Themes of decolonization and the decolonial potential of the camera emerge as underlying threads, as Storch develops his own unique approach to the photographic medium.