The Heart Shaped depicts the life of four elderly people in Uummannaq, north-western Greenland. They are faced with the departure of loved ones and the weakening of their bodies. However, nature permeates every aspect of their lives. How do they experience aging in this beautiful, harsh landscape? An audio ethnographic montage about silence, loss and belonging.

 

Kalaallit Nunaat is the Inuit word for Greenland. This vast country is three-quarters covered in swathes of ice. Its population of only 56 370 makes it the least densely populated country in the world. Greenland is a self-governing entity, but part of the Kingdom of Denmark. Their colonial history stretches back more than three hundred years. In the 1960s, Danish politicians initiated a process aiming to make Greenland more Danish. As a result, villages were shut down, people were forcibly relocated to the cities, and Danish became the dominant language in schools and public institutions.

 

The elderly people, whose voices you will listen to, grew up in that context. Most speak Danish, but not as their native tongue. In meetings with them the author has reflected on what it means that she is Danish. The colonial history is not directly present in the montage. Yet it is an inherent aspect of the lives and encounters represented.