Exhibition Alpine Museum in Bern focuses on change in Greenland

The Alpine Museum of Switzerland (Alps) in Bern is devoting its new exhibition "Greenland. Everything is changing" deals with the changes the island is undergoing. It does this by letting Greenlanders speak.

The Alps has conducted around 70 interviews. The core idea of the project is that it only asked questions and then listened. This is how Beat Hächler, curator of the exhibition and director of Alps, puts it. "We record them as precisely as possible, but we don't point the finger," says Hächler.

In addition to Arctic nature, the museum was also interested in the transformation of Greenland and the question of how people deal with it. It was therefore important to Gian Suhner and his film team to make a Greenland project with Greenland and not about Greenland. "Greenland confronts us with developments, perspectives and contradictions that are not unique to Greenland."

In the interviews, the population talks about how they perceive the fundamental changes in Greenland. Controversial positions can be heard. It is "a present of contradictions and dilemmas".

So when the exhibition is about raw material extraction and mineral resources, overtourism and airports under construction, mountains of garbage and global investors, the audience cannot expect any quick answers or hasty conclusions. Because: "In Greenland, an indigenous majority population is preparing to re-examine the history of Danish colonization and take modernization into their own hands." This is a balancing act. One that the museum takes on in "Greenland. Everything will be different".

Visitors can expect expansive projections in the museum, juxtaposed with around thirty interviews. And a detour into the Greenlandic music scene. The exhibition opens on October 25 and runs until August 16, 2026.

SDA