From Colonial Past to a Bright Horizon?

In the 1920s, the Danish arctic explorer Knud Rasmussen left his retreat in the small coastal town of Hundested to map the cultures and landscapes of the Arctic. A century later, the town is reimagining itself through his journey, not just as epic tales, but also as open dialogue with visitors on Denmark's colonial past. Group NAO was engaged by the municipality authority to explore an ambitious idea: could a new Arctic experience, rooted in the legacy of the polar explorer Knud Rasmussen, become a catalyst for local pride, visitor appeal, and long-term development in Hundested?

ARCTIC proposes a new way of anchoring Hundested’s future in a novel and powerful story – the call of the unknown, the meeting of cultures, reflection on the colonial past, and setting a new horizon for the coastal town. Beyond a museum, ARCTIC is imagined as an exploratorium, a hybrid cultural anchor where history, nature, and identity intersect. It moves beyond traditional storytelling formats to embrace a bold, multifaceted concept that gives voice to Greenlandic perspectives and co-creators, connects with all aspects of Denmark's colonial history in the Arctic, and anchors itself deeply in local life at Hundested's North Pier.

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