ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Rethinking Nordic Colonialism: A Postcolonial Exhibition Project in Five Acts began as a vague idea in the spring of 2005. The exhibition was only able to develop into its present form thanks to a large number of people, organizations, institutions, and foundations, to whom we are forever indebted.
First and foremost, we would like to express our heart-felt gratitude to each of the 56 participants in the exhibition without whose invaluable efforts this event would not have been possible. Despite limited time and means, they are all contributing with an amazing series of projects and perspectives, which will undoubtedly influence the discourse on Nordic (post)colonialism.
We would also like to thank Richard William Hill and Sarat Maharaj for acting as curatorial consultants on the project. Their insightfulness has helped us recognize a number of strengths and weaknesses in the project. Special thanks are also due to Nina Nørgaard for acting as historical consultant, and to Morten Goll, Eija Mäkivuoti, and Hito Steyerl for taking on the demanding job of researching for the project.
For their uncompromising support of the project, we would like to express our warm gratitude to the eight institutions that have entered into a partnership with NIFCA and provide venues for the project: The Living Art Museum (Lárus Vilhjálmsson and Bryndís Ragnarsdóttir); The Reykjavik Academy (Viðar Hreinsson and Ólöf Gerður Sigfúsdóttir), Greenland National Museum and Archives (Daniel Thorleifsen and Aviâja Rosing Jakobsen), The Teachers’ Training School of Greenland (Dorthe Korneliussen), The Faroe Islands Art Museum (Helgi Fossádal), The Nordic House in the Faroe Islands (Niels Halm and Elin Hentze), The Arctic Centre (Paula Kankaanpää, Scott Forrest, Nicolas Gunslay, and Raija Kivilahti), and Finnish Railways Locomotive Engine Shed in Rovaniemi (Mr. Karjalainen).
Special thanks are also due to NIFCA’s director, Cecilia Gelin, and to NIFCA’s board members for their supervision and commitment to the project: Ellen Sæthre McGuirk, Vignir Jóhannsson, Maaretta Jaukkuri, Ewa Kumlin, Åsa Sonjasdotter, Nanna Gro Henningsen, Jan Kenneth Weckman, Áslaug Thorlacius, Jørn Mortensen, Lisa Daram, Anne-Birthe Hove, Rita Jokiranta, and Astri Luihn.
We also want to express our sincerest gratitude to Project Coordinators Aura Seikkula and Kyongfa Che for their enormous assistance with research, loans, fundraising, communication, travels, logistics, and a myriad of details. Special thanks are also due to Curatorial Assistant Ellen Wettmark for tireless assistance with fundraising, communication, public relations, and travels. Also a very big thank-you to Interns Jaana Kalliomäki and Erik Tulinen, and to all the volunteers for their generous effort, commitment, and patience during the realization of the exhibition: Kári Gunnarsson, Siru Kantola, Eliza Kraatari, Connie Munch, Edward Mørch, Anne Skole Overgaard, Chris Rafael, and Heidi Simppala. Big thanks also to preparators Niko Rissanen, Harry Jóhannsson, Karl Kielsen, and Frederik ‘Fuuja’ Larsen for their invaluable assistance with construction and installation. And to photographers Knud Josefsen, Finnur Justinussen, Eija Mäkivuoti and Bjargey Ólafsdóttir for documenting the exhibition.
Warm thanks also to fundraisers Anne Holmfred and Maria Svensson and to Financial Manager Kati Tapaninaho, without whom there would have been no exhibition.
We are also very grateful to Ninon Liotet for her sensitive design of the exhibition’s publication material and to Ninon and Thomas Goldhahn for the design and programming of the exhibition’s website. Special thanks are also due to Eija Mäkivuoti for e-press release and NIFCA website design, to Mitro Kaurinkoski for assistance with information and communication, to Connie Munch and Anne Skole Overgaard for editorial assistance during the production of the User Guide, and to translators Regitze Marianne Hess, Elisabeth Ravn Johansen, Jonhard Mikkelsen, Leif Rantala, Reykjavik Academy, and Kristian Østberg for excellent translations.
Also a big thank-you to Press Coordinator Hamayun Latif Butt and Press Text Writer Anne Holmfred for helping us communicate the project. And to Jón Yngvi Jóhannsson, Scott Forrest, Firouz Gaini, and Inge S. Rasmussen for writing individual synopsis about the project’s various acts.
We also want to extend our sincere appreciation to all the artists, cultural organizations, curators, academics, theorists, and institutions who took the time to meet and/or correspond with us during the research of the exhibition. Their insightful commentary, criticisms, and introductions have been crucial to the conceptualization of the exhibition. You know who you are.
Last, but not least, we want to extend our sincere appreciation to all the foundations, institutions, and companies, which have supported the exhibition financially: Nordic Council of Ministers, The Living Art Museum, Stoðir hf., The Reykjavik Academy, Greenland National Museum and Archives, Teachers’ Training School of Greenland, The Faroe Islands Art Museum, The Nordic House in the Faroe Islands, Finnish Railways, The Arctic Centre, The Danish Arts Council's Committee for International Visual Art, Atlantic Airways Ltd., Embassy of Canada in Finland, Icelandair, Svenska kulturfonden, Arts Council of Lapland, FRAME: Finnish Fund for Art Exchange, Royal Arctic Line A/S, The Nordic House on Iceland, Hótel Leifur Eiríksson, Dronning Ingrids Hospital – Central Laboratoriet, Nuuk Værft A/S, U.S. Overskudslager, Dansk Veteranbiludlejning, Den Danske Trådvarefabrik, Beredskabsstyrelsen, and more still to come.
Kuratorisk Aktion (Frederikke Hansen & Tone Olaf Nielsen)
March 2006