I can’t remember the first time I went to the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston – Sort of like my stuffed bunny, Bunnder, I’m pretty sure that the MFA has been a part of my life for as long as I’ve been alive.
No surprise, then, that one of the first places I visit in a new city is the art museum!
Nuuk’s art museum is small – it’s actually less of a national museum, and more akin to a private gallery that’s expanding outward to the national scale? At least from what I could tell – there were a few signs discussing that specific fact, and that seems the best summary to my recollection. Which is interesting, since I also have a tentative memory that the MFA started in the same way – as a private gallery, that accumulated extra pieces and national renown over time, building into the juggernaut that it is today.
Nuuk’s art museum was absolutely lovely, regardless of the context and history. It had an excellent mix of Greenlandic and mainland European artists, with the very interesting curation that non-Greenlandic art was signified by a larger golden frame… making it quite easy to differentiate the two types of artists.
Adding to the fun of this specific day and this specific museum… I was the only visitor in the building. Normally that would make for a quietly reflective, yet solitary, atmosphere… but in this case, it meant that I got what amounted to a private tour by the docent on staff! She explained a lot of details, walked with me through some of the exhibits, and gave a wonderful amount of backstory to quite a few of the pieces… even helping me pick out cards and books for people back home, and keeping the Museum open a bit late to do so!
As with the National Museum, I’ll let up on the words here, and let my camera tell the rest of the story. Enjoy!
I love learning about the history of countries. Their people, the land the people live on, and how the two connect… it’s so interesting, especially when considered in context to the greater world around us all.
The National Museum in Nuuk is small, but it has a really cool assortment of history of the island (Yes, Greenland is the largest Island in the world, since Australia is technically a continent). From the first Inuit to arrive in ~2,500 BCE, to a few hundred years without any human inhabitation between ~0 CE and 700 CE, to the modern Greenlanders who call the island home. Learning how they survived using driftwood, as there are basically no trees in Greenland, and how they’d hunt and travel across the ice… it really is amazing learning about how resilient humanity can be.
I’ll let the photos speak for themselves – enjoy, and many thanks to my excellent camera for being able to capture all the wording of the signs!
Thursday, 02-May-2024 through Tuesday, 07-May-2024
Nuuk is amazing, and I love it here.
It’s bitingly cold, to start out with, and staggeringly clear. Someone must be looking down on me with favor, because the weather my whole time here was indescribably perfect. It never got above freezing (or really even approached within 5 or 10 degrees of it), there were barely clouds to be seen, and the wind was constant… but not inhospitable.
I love the cold – I was a mess of happy grins from the moment I stepped off the plane in Iceland, and stepping onto Greenland tarmac did nothing to dissuade that elation. As with smaller airports, there was no real terminal to speak of – we simply hopped down the stairs, and then walked to the main building with the singular baggage claim. The cold air pulled all the chaos and stress from my body immediately, and by the time I was met by my AirBnB host I was ready to start right into my adventure, regardless of the lack of sleep I’d gotten on the flights.
Over the next few days I’d walk anywhere between 2 and 11 miles, taking my time to explore the city and experience as many amazing food options as I could find. My Airbnb was at one far corner of the city, but the entire city is barely over 2-miles across… so pretty much everything was within a nicely simple walk… a brisk and cold walk, that never failed to put a grin on my face.
For attractions – those will get their own blog posts, as they tend to have quite a few photos associated with them.
For food – I was able to do quite a bit of culinary exploration. As a quick summary, we’ve got (in the order that I found them):
Centrum Grill – A small spot with burgers and hot dogs
IGGU – Hip and Chic, has pizza and nachos and amazing vanilla milkshakes
Cafetuaq – The first spot I found that served Greenlandic fare! Excellent breakfast / brunch cafe, very much worth a visit
Cafe Mamaq – Simple and quick pizza slices
Cafe Pascucci – The cool spot to have breakfast, all the exchange students I met loved it. Great breads / pastries, and a full menu that I didn’t find myself until too late
Killut – Amazing Greenlandic fare, though it definitely wasn’t a cheap option. Very much worth it, though, and I had everything from shrimp, to snow crab, to whale skin and Reindeer stew
Cafe Esmerelda – This place had everything. Pizza, soups, pasta, smoothies and milkshakes. It was amazing, and I’m 100% glad I visited
Cafe Unicorn – Fancy, but down to earth, with some amazing Greenlandic food! Unfortunately they didn’t have whale steaks when I went, but I’d definitely recommend going to check out their mixed grill
Outside of food, and specific larger attractions, what adventures did I get up to?
Well, there’s a climbing gym! Totally unexpected, but I got invited by the friends I made in town, and was able to get a few quick routes in! The gym itself was interesting – everyone said “Ohh, just go to the kindergarten”, so I assumed the climbing gym was… next to it? Or something? Not so much, in fact – the kindergarten actually has a gym inside of it, and when school isn’t in session, non-children are allowed to climb! Weird.
There’s also a Library, that hosted a performance art piece about Denmark, Greenland, and the Faroe Islands! I didn’t understand much of it, since it was done in Danish, but the theme was exploring how to reconcile the three cultures in a way that limits discrimination while embracing the diversity of the unique cultures. It was presented as video, sculpture, poetry, and interpretive dance – A little more experimental than I’m usually a fan of, but it was definitely a fun experience and I’m super thankful for the opportunity!
