‘Eurovision for the North’ brings together artists from across the Arctic

A friendly competition meant to bridge Arctic regions and relations did exactly that in Nuuk, Greenland, over the weekend.

Dubbed Pan-ArcticVision, the event saw artists from Alaska, Nunavut, Greenland, Iceland, the Faroe Islands, and the Sami region of Finland and Russia all participate in a competition inspired by the famous Eurovision song contest.

“The main purpose is … to build these bridges across the borders, to strengthen a pan-Arctic communities, to strengthen the idea of a pan-Arctic identity,” said founder Amund Sjølie Sveen. “We believe we have lots in common.”

Amund Sjølie Sveen is the founder of Pan-ArcticVision. (Matisse Harvey/Radio-Canada)

The first edition of Pan-ArcticVision was held in August 2023 in Vadsø, Norway.

Sveen was inspired to break down barriers by Eurovision, an annual international song competition that features extravagant performances from various artists in different genres. Accessing that major event can be tough for such remote communities.

“One of the things that we really share in the Arctic is the fact that we’re far away from where decisions are being made,” said Sveen.

So he decided to make his own version — albeit scaled down.

“The Pan-ArcticVision is a Eurovision for the North,” he said.

Nunavut duo among winners

Artists at this year’s Pan-ArcticVision performed songs ranging from rap and black metal to more traditional Sami and Inuit songs, joik and katajjaq.

Nunavut duo Iva & Angu was selected earlier this year at the territory’s Alianait festival to represent the territory. The pair, made up of Kathleen Ivaluarjuk Merritt and Charlotte Angugaattiaq Qamaniq, bring a modern twist to its traditional songs.

“We love to kind of compete with each other and traditional throat singing is pretty quick; it’s very much a competition,” said Qamaniq. “With our style of contemporary throat singing, we’re a little bit more fluid. We tend to slow down. We tend to do a little more sing-songy ways.”

Kathleen Ivaluarjuk Merritt and Charlotte Angugaattiaq Qamaniq make up Iva & Angu. The pair was selected to represent Nunavut at this year’s Pan-ArcticVision competition. (Matisse Harvey/Radio-Canada)

Iva & Angu were among the evening’s winners, taking home the prize for the “most Arctic song.”

“[Our elders] were definitely in the room with us and I felt them very profoundly and their presence,” said Qamaniq.

Evgeny Goman — a Russian exile now living in Kirkenes in northern Norway — took home the prize for “most revolutionary song.”

His song Pravilo Dvuh Sten, translates to Rule of Two Walls and refutes Russia’s war in Ukraine and propaganda surrounding the conflict.

“For me, propaganda is like bombs,” he said. “[Russian government] is dropping propaganda bombs on Russian minds.

“I think it’s important that there is a representative of the Russian part of the Arctic here at Pan-ArcticVision. It is important that it’s an anti-war representative,” he said.

Evgeny Goman, a Russian exile living in Norway, took home the prize for ‘most revolutionary song.’ (Matisse Harvey/Radio-Canada)

The award for the song “that gives you the most feeling of community and togetherness” went to Emil Karlsen, a Sami artist from Čávkkus, Norway.

Nuanvummiut will soon get the chance to see the competition first-hand. Attendees voted for next year’s edition Pan-ArcticVision to be held in Iqaluit. It will be the first time the competition makes it to North America.