Voices in the Nordics

Voices in the Nordics is a project which delves deep into the transformative power of art and culture, to explore and redefine the use of language around diversity and inclusion in a Nordic context. By focusing on art as a means of challenging and deconstructing existing linguistic frameworks, the project seeks to create new narratives that better reflect the diversity and complexity that characterizes Nordic societies.

The recognition that the common concepts of diversity and inclusion carry with them a history and a discourse that is often distant from the multifaceted voices of the Nordic reality – from indigenous populations to recent immigrants and their descendants – is the core of this project. The unique experiences and perspectives of these voices require special attention and a new linguistic approach that can accommodate their realities within the artistic and social landscapes of the Nordic countries.

Through a creative collaboration between artists, cultural actors and researchers, the project will explore how artistic expressions and cultural practices can be used to illuminate, challenge and reshape the narratives that define who is seen as part of the Nordic community. This work entails a critical review and a confrontation with the linguistic mechanisms that support exclusion and marginalization, with the aim of creating a more inclusive language.

The project is a Nordic collaboration between In Futurum in Denmark, Nuuk Art Museum in Greenland, Arctic Arts Summit in Norway, University of Copenhagen and bibu in Sweden.

During bibu 2026, a publication is planned to be launched that summarises the experiences and conclusions generated during the project.

In 2025, a conversation was held during the Performing Arts Biennale in Östersund about the role of performing arts in the identity creation of children and young people from indigenous peoples and what this means for young artists' dreams and ambitions to strengthen their own cultural and artistic identity and practice. In a conversation between three performing artists from the indigenous peoples of Sápmi in Norway and Sweden and Greenland, we explored how the interaction between majority and minority cultures affects artistic development and how factors such as language, power and history have influenced the development of the performing arts in the Nordic region. 
Participants: Liv Aira (Sápmi/Sweden) Rawdna Carita Eira (Sápmi/Norway) Kuluk Helms (Greenland)
The conversation was recorded. Watch the coversation here.
The recording was made possible with the support of NAPA - The Nordic Institute in Greenland.