From Where We View the World

Project Spotlight: Thoughts on a film completed as Vivi Vold’s MA thesis, reflecting on the experiences of Kalaallit in western-led research.

ᓄᓇᖃᖅᑳᖅᓯᒪᔪᑦ ᐱᒋᔭᖏᑦ ᑭᒡᒐᖅᑐᐃᔩᑦ ᓯᕗᓂᒃᓴᒥᒃ ᐱᔾᔪᑕᐅᔪᓐᓇᖅᑐᑦ
Kalaaleq researcher and filmmaker Vivi Vold, dressed in a black button-up shirt and seated in a pink armchair, gestures with open hands while speaking.

Vivi Vold has an MA in Cultural and Societal History and has created a movie called From Where We View the World as her thesis.

Kalaaleq researcher and filmmaker Vivi Vold, dressed in a black button-up shirt and seated in a pink armchair, gestures with open hands while speaking.
Vivi Vold (video still).

Vivi is the first in Greenland to make her thesis in movie form. The thesis addresses the topic of Kalaallit know-how and knowledge that needs to be acknowledged and understood in the world of research. For example, many hunters and fishers who participate in research projects find that their knowledge and experience doesn’t get used, nor acknowledged in research. They also observe that the researchers who arrive are far off, when it comes to understanding the reality and perspectives that Kalaallit use to understand the world and pass on knowledge. This creates a cliff between the parties.

This film is a conversation with Vivi Vold about the obstacles, challenges and cliffs between Indigenous knowledge, and the knowledge of the West—which includes Kalaallit knowledge and western research.

It also touches upon possible solutions, and new ways to understand them.

Credit: This video was originally published by the Nordic Institute in Greenland on April 6, 2022. COURTESY THE NORDIC INSTITUTE IN GREENLAND.

This story is part of the Greenland Spotlight. View more content from the Spotlight here.