Does Kalaallit Nunaat (Greenland) have its own secret service now? Isn’t all military in Kalaallit Nunaat still Danish? Is kilitsissiaqarfik the name for secret intelligence in Kalaallisut? Who made this? Wait a minute—is that a movie poster for a new Kalaallit spy comedy? This can’t be real, can it? These are questions I imagine people asked when they saw Kilitsissiaqarfik Intelligence (2004).
Visual sovereignty has been fought for in many ways throughout Kalaallit Nunaat’s history. This poster, titled Kilitsissiaqarfik Intelligence by Inuk artist Inuk Silis Høegh and Danish artist Asmund Havsteen-Mikkelsen, is one example of this. The poster, which was part of the exhibition Melting Barricades (2004) that Silis Høegh and Havsteen-Mikkelsen collaborated on, visualizes an autonomous Kalaallit Nunaat. Produced in the best James Bond or Spy Hard (1996) style, there is a black-and-white image of an Inuk wearing a tuxedo and a cap, with a gun in his hand and a cigarette in his mouth, standing strong in front of the red-and-white Erfalasorput, the flag of Kalaallit Nunaat. Many people were confused, excited, surprised and fooled by the artists. With imagination and digital cleverness, Silis Høegh and Havsteen-Mikkelsen suddenly gave Kalaallit Nunaat sovereignty—admittedly only visually and fictionally, but they did it nonetheless. They visualized an alternative future where Kalaallit Nunaat has its own military.
In Kalaallit Nunaat, we are fortunate to have an autonomous art scene that has claimed visual sovereignty for centuries. Artists have insisted and fought for their right to tell their own stories. This has resulted in a strong and courageous art scene in Kalaallit Nunaat, created by artists for artists and other Kalaallit, offering an opportunity to articulate specific issues through art rooted in local perspectives. The project Melting Barricades stands out to me as a strong symbol of that fight. It was an art project that campaigned for a fictional Kalaallit military, offering a sharp postcolonial critique through humour, satire and staged military spectacle.
Kilitsissiaqarfik Intelligence was displayed in bus shelters and on public notice boards in Nuuk, Kalaallit Nunaat. Over the years, the posters have appeared on digital platforms, and many people have been fooled by them, because the Danish military is still responsible for the defence of Kalaallit Nunaat. With this poster and all the others that were part of Melting Barricades, for a brief moment, Kalaallit Nunaat had its own army—a symbolic reversal of the power structures that continue to define its geopolitical reality, where sovereignty is enforced not by a local military but by the Danish state. I chose this piece for the last section of the magazine because it’s playful, serious and relevant, considering the current political situation in which the sovereignty of Kalaallit Nunaat has been challenged. I hope that people who see the piece can find a little bit of hope to keep fighting for a better future for Kalaallit, Inuit and Indigenous people.
This piece originally appeared in the fall 2025 issue of the Inuit Art Quarterly.
Read the issue here