Greenland’s largest municipality backs Aalborg 2032
The world’s largest municipality by area is now joining Aalborg’s European Capital of Culture ambitions. Greenland’s Kommuneqarfik Sermersooq has agreed to become part of the Aalborg & Around partnership, making it the 12th ‘North Jutland’ municipality to support Aalborg’s bid to be pre-selected as European Capital of Culture 2032.
Although Sermersooq is geographically far from North Jutland, its ties to Aalborg are strong.
Aalborg is home to one of Denmark’s largest Greenlandic communities, with around 1,400 residents of Greenlandic background. The city is also home to many Greenlandic students, associations and institutions, including the Greenlandic House, which for decades has served as an important link between the two cultures.
“We are delighted that Kommuneqarfik Sermersooq is joining Aalborg’s bid to become European Capital of Culture in 2032. We are not starting from scratch: Aalborg and Sermersooq have enjoyed a close relationship for many years, and in the field of culture we have already established concrete exchanges between artists. Aalborg & Around is therefore a natural next step in a partnership that is already very much alive,” says Jonas Lundsgaard Nilsson, Head of Culture in Sermersooq.
The partnership with Sermersooq is therefore a natural extension of existing relations. At the same time, it has the potential to open new and exciting opportunities for collaboration:
“The perspective goes far beyond individual events. The partnership can give artists from our municipality new connections to Europe while also bringing international artists and cultural projects here. For us, it is essential that this takes place as an exchange between equals, where we create something together and gain new perspectives on each other’s societies and cultures,” Jonas Lundsgaard Nilsson elaborates.
With Sermersooq on board, Aalborg’s bid gains another exciting and distinctive international dimension. While the other municipalities in North Jutland represent different aspects of Danish and North Jutland culture, the Greenlandic municipality brings new cultural experiences and narratives into the partnership.
This creates opportunities for cultural projects that connect local and Arctic perspectives, strengthening the ambition to develop a cultural programme with a European outlook and relevance reaching far beyond the region’s borders.
“We are incredibly pleased and grateful for the strong support from Sermersooq as well as the 11 other North Jutland municipalities in the Aalborg & Around partnership. We are now looking forward to submitting a strong AA32 bid built on vibrant cultural communities and enormous potential for a unique cultural programme across the region, extending all the way to and from Greenland,” adds Morten Koppelhus, Head of Culture at Aalborg Municipality.
The foundations are now in place and following an extensive preparation process and many months of writing, the bid itself is currently going to print. But the final full stop has not yet been written.
The application must be submitted in Copenhagen on October 5th, and in November, a dedicated team will represent Aalborg and present the bid in front of a European panel.
If Aalborg is pre-selected, the next step will naturally be to further develop and define both the Greenlandic and North Jutland cultural partnerships. Preparations will then begin for the next round of the application process before the final decision on who will become the European Capital of Culture in 2032 is made by the end of 2027.
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