NordenBladet – A book by journalist and teacher Egill Bjarnason, How Iceland Changed the World: The Big History of a Small Island, has just been published by Penguin Books.
It is the untold story of how one tiny island in the middle of the Atlantic has shaped the world for centuries. The book was reviewed by The New York Times, where it was highly praised:
“What Egill Bjarnason sets out to explain in How Iceland Changed the World, his joyously peculiar book, is why it is also so full of farce and drive — why Iceland is a country with the soul of a very small town and yet can sometimes shut down the world. Bjarnason balances pride and realism so casually that you can almost take for granted a nation whose Parliament once voted to abolish the letter “z” (except in a few words such as “pizza”),” the review reads.
The history of Iceland began 1,200 years ago, when a frustrated Viking captain and his useless navigator ran aground in the middle of the North Atlantic. Suddenly, the island was no longer just a layover for the Arctic tern. Instead, it became a nation whose diplomats and musicians, sailors and soldiers, volcanoes and flowers, quietly altered the globe forever.
How Iceland Changed the World takes readers on a tour of history, showing them how Iceland played a pivotal role in events as diverse as the French Revolution, the Moon Landing, and the foundation of Israel. Again and again, one humble nation has found itself at the frontline of historic events, shaping the world as we know i, and the book paints a lively picture of just how it all happened.
Egill Bjarnason is an Icelandic journalist, based in Reykjavík. His work has appeared in New York Times, National Geographic, Associated Press, Al Jazeera Online, AJ+, Lonely Planet and Hakai Magazine. As a Fulbright Foreign Student grantee, he earned a Master’s degree in social documentation at the University of California, Santa Cruz, where he also worked as a teaching assistant in photography and statistics for two years.
NordenBladet – On Wednesday, July 21, the Estonian National Museum will launch in the participation hall a family art exhibition “Our home witch kitchen” (winning idea of the “Own exhibition 2020” contest), unfolding for the visitor lots of fascinating handicraft and creative work. Author of the idea of this exhibition is Helena-Reet Ennet with her two daughters Estella Elisheva and Ivanka Shoshana.
“The exhibition is versatile – we will present acrylic paintings as well as pottery, introduce Nordic herbs and the handicraft cosmetics brand Elisheva & Shoshana that stemmed from the home kitchen and was named after Helena-Reet’s daughters. The fairy-tale friends visiting the ERM museum can be the first to listen to a chapter from the children’s book “His Highness Mouse the First” that is about to be published for sale in 2022, teaching children financial literacy, and can see a selection of illustrations from the book – the mice series paintings. Also, an exciting photo wall has been set up, interesting books for browsing on the spot have been brought along, on topics such as herbs and herbal medicine, cooking, and art, and a cozy activities corner has been built where one can draw their own mice, complete easy questions about herbs and participate in the lottery games”, says head of the exhibition in ERM, Kristjan Raba.
“Being a mom in the first place, as well as a housewife and a journalist, the project of an exhibition, especially in a premise as esteemed as the Estonian National Museum, is a great honour for me, as well as a great responsibility. I do hope that we can fulfill the expectations that have been set to us to some level at least”, speaks Helena-Reet Ennet who in her daily life directs one of the largest Nordic media channel NordenBladet, and adds:
“We have a slightly different family, my youngest daughter is an autist and thus we have already several years ago arranged our lives in a different pattern. Since it was complicated for Ivanka to attend regular hobby groups then we tried bringing to life more and more home “projects”. Today these have grown into a major creative home project – we paint, we make ceramic works, we write and illustrate children’s books, we cook and invent interesting recipes, we gather and dry herbs and together we develop the Estonian handicraft cosmetics brand Elisheva & Shoshana. A fragment of all these activities has been brought to you in the form of this exhibition.”
The exhibition remains open until October 3, 2021. Address: Muuseumi street 2, 60532 Tartu, Estonia
A small corner from the large four-part exhibition “Our Home Witch Kitchen” in the spacious participation hall of the ERM. A small mouse door leads directly to the fantasy world / activity room His Highness Mouse the First Listen or read (in Estonian and in English) the first chapter of the children’s book “His Highness Mouse the First” Curator of the exhibition Helena-Reet Ennet
OUR HOME WITCH KITCHEN
The entire-family art exhibition “Our home witch kitchen” stemmed from the wish to create something on our own, to inspire the children and to find common activities with the children.
Since my younger daughter is a child with special needs – an autist – then I decided to find ways to bring vigor and colours into her life. I wanted her to feel useful and that she would know that there is so much she can do to guide her emotions and guide her life. As I couldn’t take her to the regular hobby groups, I made up my mind that I myself will find common activities with her. That’s how we began to engage in painting at home, also making ceramic pottery, to cook, to make jewellery, and we even founded our own cosmetics brand. “Elisheva & Shoshana” got its name after my daughters Estella Elisheva (15) and Ivanka Shoshana (13).
In a short while the common activities of me and Ivanka started to interest my elder daughter and so the three of us built a tradition of making craft and creating art. We also started to grow and gather herbs together, in order to make pure, high-quality and full of power Estonian products. We learn together, grow together, divide the tasks and I am glad that children will see each step of the product development. From growing and finding the raw material all the way down to marketing. Together we make handicraft cosmetics (bathing salts, soaps, ointments, etc), we have a small baking chamber at home, we gather herbs for a winter-time tea drinking as well as for preparing ointments. The more we do, the more we learn and feel good about the activities. The purpose of our common project is to cooperate and feel good about it – this is the main goal!
But why the home witch kitchen? This heading was chosen because it was astonishing even to ourselves how many exciting activities one can accomplish in their home kitchen. It is downright magic! And as always, one good idea leads to another and so the idea to create a children’s book “His Highness Mouse the First” came into being – the first chapter of the book that will be available for sale from the year 2022 is already there for the fairy-tale loving guests of the exhibition in ERM in audio version and for reading. The book will teach children financial skills and the attitude that you need not be afraid of great plans – when you dream – dream big, and when you act – act boldly!
I hope that this exhibition will also inspire you to attain your dreams and to launch joint projects together with your children!
With love,
Helena-Reet Ennet
Curator of the exhibition
Who are we? We are a nature-loving family from the outskirts of Tallinn, Saku. We have a large garden, a Villa Villekulla cottage, and a cat. We are a family that has striven to adjust our lives according to our own schedule and our own standard. We care a lot about what others think about us, yet we have mastered to follow the motto that in our lives everyone needs to be their own first violin – one must live for their own sake, feel happy about little accomplishments!
Me, Helena-Reet Ennet, I am in everyday life a mom, a housewife, a blogger, journalist and the head of a six-language media group NordenBladet. Apart from journalism, I have several hobbies – ceramics, painting, gardening, herbatics, dreaming, writing books, building websites, cooking, mythology, Nordic culture, travelling and any type of product development. I am keen on all kinds of creative work, formation and design!
Estella Elisheva is a student in Tallinn Jewish School and has graduated from Saku Music School majoring on the violin. The violin has accompanied her since her second grade and she really enjoys music. Estella is fond of learning foreign languages (as of today she fluently communicates in Estonian, in Russian, and in English, also she is working on the Hebrew language). Extra to that Estella is a huge sports fan and a believer in a healthy lifestyle. She has practiced ballroom dance, velosport, and now she is playing in a football team. Like her mother, she is currently writing a children’s book, and also she is steering the social media marketing for the E&S brand.
Ivanka Shoshana goes to Tallinn Tondi School. She has done a little bit of modelling and she really loves ceramics. She has a perfect memory and perfect pitch, yet her soul largely remains a mystery. Autism is today still an undiscovered country and there can be very many versions of autists. However, as a mom, I wish to emphasize that autism, and being an autist is not the end of the world! I have a super sweet child who is talented in many ways! We are all different and this is actually a good thing. We all perceive the world from our own angle and this creates a world that is interesting, and it makes us more creative, to fit in – or perhaps to break out! Unique is beautiful!
NordenBladet – The Mother of the Sea is a colorful and fantastic tale of how Greenland’s animals came to be – and reminds us of our responsibilities.
The Mother of the Sea was bothered by the Inuits’ evil deeds at the settlement and as a punishment gathered all the animals the Inuits used to hunt in her fiery hair at the bottom of the sea. When “The Blind One” came down to remedy the situation, he combed her hair, gathered the dirt in a heap and then threw it away.
At the same moment everything came alive, and there were bear, fox, hooded seal, bearded seal, ringed seal, harp seal, common seal, walrus, narwhal and all manner of birds.”
This is a passage from the legend of the Mother of the Sea, probably the most famous of all the Greenlandic myths and legends. The legend’s universe is colourful and fantastic, and the overall moral of the tale is that people must not be greedy and that they must observe society’s customs and the word of the shaman.
“The famous Greenlandic artist, Aka Høegh has used the legend of the Mother of the Sea to produce beautiful decorations and illustrations in books and in visual art. She has also used it as inspiration when decorating ships and not least in the large murals at the college in her home town of Qaqortoq.
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The story of Sedna
Sedna (Inuktitut: ᓴᓐᓇ Sanna, previously Sedna or Sidne) is the goddess of the sea and marine animals in Inuit mythology, also known as the Mother of the Sea or Mistress of the Sea. Sedna is also known as Arnakuagsak or Arnaqquassaaq (Greenland) and Sassuma Arnaa (“Mother of the Deep”, West Greenland) and Nerrivik (“Table”, northern Greenland) or Nuliajuk (District of Keewatin, Northwest Territories, Canada). She is sometimes known by other names by different Inuit groups such as Arnapkapfaaluk (“Big Bad Woman”) of the Copper Inuit from the Coronation Gulf area and Takánakapsâluk or Takannaaluk (Igloolik). In Killiniq, Labrador, she was referred to as “Old-woman-who-lived-in-the-sea”.The story of Sedna, which is a creation myth, describes how she came to rule over Adlivun, the Inuit underworld.
More than one version of the Sedna legend exists. In one legend Sedna is a giant, the daughter of the creator-god Anguta, with a great hunger that causes her to attack her parents. Angered, Anguta takes her out to sea and throws her over the side of his kayak. As she clings to the sides, he chops off her fingers and she sinks to the underworld, becoming the ruler of the monsters of the deep. Her huge fingers become the seals, walruses, and whales hunted by the Inuit.
In another version of the legend, she is dissatisfied with men found for her by her father and so marries a dog. Her father is so angry at this that he throws her into the sea and, when she tries to climb back into the boat, he cuts off her fingers. Her fingers become the first seals and she becomes a mighty sea goddess. When she is angered, the shaman travels to wash and comb her hair for her, after which she is placated and releases the animals to the hunters.
In the Netsilik region, the story states that Nuliayuk was a mistreated orphan. One day the people tried to get rid of her by attempting to drown her by chopping off her fingertips. But the fingertips would transform into seals and walruses. Eventually, Nuliayuk marries a sculpin and lives in the sea controlling all sea mammals.
Other versions of the legend depict Sedna as a beautiful maiden who rejects marriage proposals from the hunters of her village. When an unknown hunter appears, Sedna’s father agrees to give her to him as wife in return for fish. Sedna’s father gives Sedna a sleeping potion and gives her to the hunter who takes her to a large nest on a cliff, revealing his true form: a great bird-spirit (variously described as a raven, a fulmar or a Kokksaut/petrel-spirit). She wakes surrounded by birds. Her father attempts to rescue her, but the bird-spirit becomes angry, causing a great storm. In desperation, Sedna’s father throws her into the raging sea. Attempting to cling to the kayak, her hands freeze and her fingers fall off becoming the creatures of the sea. She falls to the bottom of the sea and grows a fishtail.
Sedna is kidnapped by a different bird creature in yet another version. Her father then leaves in his kayak to rescue her from the floating ice-island where she is imprisoned while the bird creature is away. The creature, enraged by her disappearance, calls to a spirit of the sea to help him. The sea spirit locates the kayak with the two humans aboard and creates huge waves to kill them. Her father throws Sedna overboard in the hope that this will appease the angry god. Sedna clings to the kayak but her father grabs a little ax and chops three of her fingers off before striking her on the head. The three fingers each become a different species of seal. The stroke to her head sends Sedna to the ocean floor where she resides, commanding the animals of the sea.
The varying legends each give different rationales for Sedna’s death. Yet, in each version, her father takes her to sea in his kayak, chopping off her fingers. In each version she sinks to the bottom of the sea, worshiped by hunters who depend on her goodwill to supply food. She is generally considered a vengeful goddess, and hunters must placate and pray to her to release the sea animals from the ocean depths for their hunt. At Killiniq, people threw worn-out harpoon-heads, broken knives, and morsels of meat and bone into the sea as offerings.
NordenBladet – The kayak was a necessity of the Inuits who from an early age learnt to handle this craft. It is still used for fishing but also used for recreation and for races.
THE HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE KAYAK
The kayak – or ‘qajaq’ as it is called in Greenland – is an invention from old days that has been an essential piece of hunting equipment for Inuits in Greenland and the rest of Arctic North America.
The kayak has been used in connection with sealing, whaling and fishing, and it was common for Greenlandic boys to spend their childhood learning to keep their balance and manoeuvre the kayak.
Today the traditional ‘qajaq’ is still seen in many towns and especially at the annual kayak meeting but for recreational kayaking the more robust sea kayaks made of fibreglass have gradually taken the place of the traditional versions.
TRADITIONAL HUNTING FROM THE KAYAK
The kayaks were adapted to the waters in which they were used, and there is therefore a great variation in terms of both the kayak’s design and construction method.
Earlier the kayak was covered with sealskin from which the hair had been removed, but today they are primarily constructed with a nylon or canvas outer skin.
In Greenland’s hunting districts such as at Qaanaaq there is still a requirement that whaling for narwhals must take place in the traditional manner – i.e. from a traditional qajaq with hand-thrown lances and spears – despite the fact that it is of course more effective to hunt with rifles and camouflage.
GREENLANDER ROLL
The cold Arctic seas could be lethal, as could the weather too. It was therefore essential that the hunter was properly prepared by being dressed in a waterproof animal skin suit and by always being able to execute the so-called ‘Greenlander roll’.
From early childhood, the hunters therefore learnt and practised countless turns and rolls in the sea by means of their small oars in the event that they should suddenly capsize or turn over.
In this way they could get out of almost all critical situations.
THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE KAYAK
Building a kayak was a job for both men and women. The man was responsible for the kayak frame, and the kayak was shaped precisely to his own body shape and not according to standard dimensions.
The kayak construction itself consisted in former times of driftwood which was carried by the currents from Siberia’s rivers to the east and west coasts of Greenland.
The women’s job was to sew the fabric together from 3-4 skins of the harp seal, which was stretched out over the frame – a perfect collaboration that created kayaks from which modern kayak designers still find inspiration.
NordenBladet – The Greenlandic Tupilak is a carved figure that protects its owner against enemy attack, but is now a popular souvenir.
A WORLD OF SOULS AND SPIRITS
Previously tupilak was made to mysterious and sinister sprits. Today, when the word ‘tupilak’ is mentioned, the majority of people think of the well-known small figures carved in tooth, bone or stone.
REVENGE AGAINST ENEMIES
A tupilak spirit could be called upon to help against a foe by a shaman secretly creating a figure made from various bones or other parts of animals. The figure was then inaugurated and made a home for the spirit by singing a spell over it.
The tupilak was often put out to sea so that it could find the enemy itself and kill him. However, this course of action was not without risk because if the tupilak’s victim had greater powers of witchcraft than its creator, he could repel its attack and instead send the tupilak back to kill its originator.
TUPILAKS AS SOUVENIRS
It is only in recent times that it has become a tradition to produce tupilaks as works of art made from materials such as wood, bone, tooth and reindeer antler points. This began to occur in the previous century when Europeans began exploring East Greenland and became aware of these small figures.
Tupilaks are often ground and carved based on inspiration from a number of other figures from Inuit mythology, for instance the Mother of the Sea.
Today fascinating tupilaks are sold in all tourist offices and souvenir shops. It is only possible to export tupilaks made of antler points, bone, soapstone, stone and wood, whilst according to CITES regulations tupilaks made of whale tooth may at present not be exported.
NordenBladet – The Greenlandic national costume (Traditional Dress) is famous and is a magnificent sight. Beads brought by Europeans became a part of the female outfit.
THE INUITS’ ANIMAL SKIN CLOTHES
In former times the Inuits only wore clothes made from animal hides or skins.
These clothes were warm and hardwearing, and if properly looked after could cope with the winter’s freezing temperatures in the Arctic region.
Both men and women’s clothes consisted of furs, trousers and boots, but the cut and choice of animal skin was different for each sex.
The skins were taken from animals that were killed and captured, and, depending on the species of the prey, were of very different weight, durability and appearance.
CAREFULLY SELECTED SKIN
Men’s clothing was made so that they would neither freeze to death on their long hunting trips on the winter ice nor be soaked to the skin when hunting by kayak.
“A man is what his wife makes him” said the Inuits, because they knew that if they were to survive in the harsh Arctic winter, the skins used in their clothes had to be carefully chosen and perfectly sewn.
Being a skilled seamstress thus earned a woman a great deal of respect. If you could sew good kamiks, trousers and anoraks, then you were assured of a good existence. Today the traditional animal skin suits can be seen in most local museums.
FROM TRADITIONAL DRESS TO NATIONAL COSTUME
When the Europeans set foot in Greenland in the 17th and 18th centuries, they brought with them clothing fabrics and glass beads as goods to trade.
These materials gradually become incorporated into the Inuits‘ dress, particularly for festive attire. For men the hide trousers were replaced by a thick woollen material called ‘holmensklæde’ (literally island cloth), and for women the anorak was sewn in silks.
The glass beads were initially used in the same way as when decorating oneself with beads fashioned from bone.
It gradually became prestigious to use more and more beads, and this trend is particularly visible on the women’s national costume.
WEARING THE NATIONAL COSTUME
Today the Greenlandic national costume is used on special festive occasions and at festivals such as Christmas, Easter, Greenland’s National Day, confirmations and weddings.
On birthdays the national costume can also be used, not least on a child’s first birthday. When a child has his or her first day at school at the beginning of August, it is a day of great celebration in Greenland.
The six-year-old girls and boys are usually dressed in national costumes on this special day. In addition to the traditional festivals, visitors to Greenland will also see the national costume being worn when cruise ships call at port or when there are other special events.
NordenBladet – Visual art has played an important role in culture and national self-understanding. See the work in the museums in Ilulissat and Nuuk.
AARON FROM KANGEQ
Visual art in Greenland has, in spite of its relatively short history, made a significant contribution to Greenlandic culture. It all began with Aaron from Kangeq, the Greenlandic drawer and painter, who in the middle of the 19th century depicted the ancient Greenlandic myths and legends in watercolours.
INFORMATION AND NATURALISTS
Since these beginnings several artists have been influenced and inspired to follow Aaron’s example through drawing and painting.
From the 1940s visual art had two primary forms of expression: To provide information or to depict the landscape as accurately as possible. The culture and the landscape in Greenland have also attracted many foreign artists, whose works are collectables today.
Museums containing the Danish artist Emanual A. Petersen’s paintings are thus found in both Ilulissat in Northern Greenland and in the capital Nuuk.
INSPIRATION FROM THE NATURAL WORLD AND CULTURE
Greenlandic artists today are particularly inspired by culture, wildlife and the natural world.
During recent years an increasing number of young artists have made their breakthrough with art that provokes questions and alters attitudes.
Newer forms of expression such as photography and installations have begun to be mixed with more traditional techniques.
OVERVIEW OF ARTISTS IN GREENLAND
There is no complete list of all artists in Greenland. However, the book “Grønlandske Nutidskunstnere – maleri, skulptur, grafik og fotokunst 2004” by Camilla Augustinus provides a good overview of 33 active artists in Greenland.
The book is published by Dansk-Grønlandsk Kulturfond, and can be purchased in Danish.
NordenBladet – The Vikings settled in southern and western Greenland about 1,000 years ago. Brattahlid is the best preserved of Old Norse settlements.
TRAVEL IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF THE VIKING SETTLERS
The traces of the Vikings – also called the Norse – can be found in the innermost and warmest fjord systems in South- and West Greenland. The landscape here continues to be dominated by large ruins of farms, stables, storerooms, etc., made of sandstone and granite blocks. The ruins can be anything up to 1000 years old.
GREEN LANDSCAPES
Lots of the same land that the Viking settlers originally cultivated is today occupied by enterprising sheep farmers and other farmers who offer guests overnight accommodation on the banks of deep fjords and or on grassy mountain slopes. Nature-lovers can thus experience authentic settings as they begin to explore the area in the footsteps of the earlier Norse settlers.
THE BEST PRESERVED RUINS
The best preserved ruins are found in Southern Greenland, where around 500 groups of ruins have been unearthed. After just half an hour by boat from Narsarsuaq international airport, you arrive at Qassiarsuk, where the fascinating Brattahlid ruins can be seen.
The area is also home to a reconstruction of a Viking longhouse and Tjodhilde’s Church which was the first Christian church built on the North American continent.
Brattahlid is also the location from where Leif Eriksson set sail and discovered Vinland – the North American continent at Newfoundland and Labrador.
HVALSEY CHURCH RUINS
If you are in the vicinity of Qaqortoq, you must not miss out on the chance to go on an excursion to the beautiful Hvalsey Church which is by far and away the best preserved ruin in the country.
The final accounts of the Norse population were heard from here through a wedding described in the Vatican’s annals in 1408. After this account, no further written evidence exists – only the mystery of what become of the Viking population.
THE VIKING POPULATION IN NUUK
The Viking settlers did not only restrict themselves to the south of Greenland, as evidenced by the fact that in the innermost fjords near the capital of Nuuk up to 100 groups of ruins have been found. These ruins can be reached on a daytrip by boat or by taking a helicopter flight.
NordenBladet – The Estonian Textile Artists’ Union annual awards were announced this week which celebrate the Textile Artist of the Year, Young Artist of the Year and the Act of the Year.
The winner of the Textile Artist of the Year Award was Ülle Saatmäe. Saatmäe was awarded the prize for her use of sustainable nature-themed themes and designs which combine the nature and flora of her homeland, natural colors and plant printing and nature photography.
Karl-Artur Korsar was chosen as the young textile artist of the year. Korsar received an award for a comprehensive result in the development of the KarlKorsar brand.
The textile act of the year 2020 was awarded to Marju Raabe’s who was recognized for her consistent chronicling and analysis of church textiles and the profession in general in the format of a personal blog, and for the organization of the church textile symposium “Church Textiles as a Messenger” in 2020.
The jury consisted of Kai Lobjakas, director of the Estonian Museum of Applied Art and Design and curator of the design collection (chairwoman of the jury), Krista Leesi – Textile Artist of the Year 2019, Young Textile Artist of the Year 2019 Maryliis Teinfeldt-Grins and Karin Paulus.
The exhibition of the winners’ work will take place at the end of the year at the annual exhibition of the Estonian Textile Artists’ Union at the Museum of New Art in Pärnu.
Featured image: Example of Karl Korsar’s creations. Source: Krõõt Tarkmeel
NordenBladet – The Faroe Islands’ biggest film production ever will feature high profile names in film. Actors Ulrich Thomsen (The New Pope, 2020; Blacklist, 2016), Maria Rich (Follow The Money, 2018) and Olaf Johannesen (The Bridge, 2015) will star in the crime/drama series called TROM, adapted from the bestselling book-series by award-winning Faroese author, Jógvan Isaksen. TROM is the first series to be produced in the Faroe Islands.
The six-part series is created and co-written by Torfinnur Jákupsson from the Faroe Islands. He has been a fan of the actors for years.
“Having such well known and gifted actors in the series is a life-long dream come true,” says Torfinnur. “Everything just seems that much bigger with them on board.”
TROM follows journalist Hannis Martinsson (Ulrich Thomsen), who unexpectedly receives a message from Sonja, his estranged daughter, claiming that her life is in danger. Reluctantly returning home to the Faroes to investigate, Hannis discovers Sonja’s body in the aftermath of a whale hunt. His search for answers soon brings him into conflict with the local police and uncovers a web of secrets in the close-knit community – but how far is he willing to go to learn the truth?
Shooting will start in March and will last for around three months. Covid has impacted the production of TROM in the same way all film and television productions in the world have been affected.
“Producing film is a puzzle, and Covid has, of course, affected how that puzzle has been put together,” says Torfinnur. “All health guidelines are being followed and will be respected.”
TROM is produced by REinvent Studios in co-production with Kyk Pictures, Truenorth and ZDF/ARTE.
Helene Aurø, Sales and Marketing Director at REinvent International Sales, says: “TROM will travel far and has already caught the attention of several international buyers. ZDF ARTE came on board after the first pitch. I have very high expectations for the series, which I am sure will position itself among the most popular Nordic series ever produced.
TROM will air as a Viaplay original series, the Nordic region’s leading streaming company, in 2022.
