Synopsis:
In Arctic Norway, the populations of many rural communities have decreased over the past few decades with the decline of fishing and farming. Recently, however, they've been repopulated by incoming refugees, who have been resettled there by the Norwegian government to learn the language and integrate into the local community.
Statement:
For centuries, Norwegian national identity has been built around the country’s iconic landscapes, farming and fishing culture, and man's endurance against the elements. Within recent decades, however, the populations of small communities have dwindled as traditional farming and fishing fade into the past. What is the future of the rural landscapes that have shaped folklore and mythology for generations?
Over several years, I photographed small communities above the Arctic Circle as they were being repopulated by refugees from the Middle East and Sub-Saharan Africa. Working as a Norwegian language teacher for immigrants, I learned their stories, their dreams, the traditions and values they brought with them. Together we made trips into the landscape. For some of them, these were their first excursions into the nature from which Norway derives so much of its cultural identity.
These images aim to re-frame the Norwegian landscape - and all its myth, magic and romanticism - as home to inhabitants of increasingly diverse backgrounds. I am interested in the relationships that refugees will forge to these places, and how their resourcefulness and resilience will help to sustain the existence of these small communities in the northernmost part of Europe. Part documentary, part art project, this ongoing series aims to challenge conventional ideas of Nordicity and spark dialogues about the evolution of rural Scandinavia in a progressive and inclusive sense.
This project was begun in October 2015 during a Villa Lofoten Artist Residency.
