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The "American Corner" at the University of Greenland in Nuuk (Ilisimatusarfik). I had the opportunity to visit Greenland in 2021 on two small funded projects when I snapped this photo. My feelings upon seeing it were mixed. On the one hand, it evoked a long and mostly positive relationship between these two places. On the other, its idealized 1950s sheen was a little odd, as was its just-a-bit-too-much presence. At any rate, according to journalist Max Colchester, it has since been dismantled in recent months following the current American administration's aggressive, regretful, and obviously counterproductive posturing regarding the semi-autonomous island: "Across town in the atrium of the University of Greenland, an area called the 'American corner'—which featured diner-style seating and a picture of a Cadillac—was dismantled in recent days after Trump’s overtures." (Source). There was a website describing the Corner and its symbolic evocation of a positive diplomatic relationship. The link is now dead. See for yourself from this link. May I offer some small hope for a renewed American Corner in the future? Perhaps something a bit humbler and more current? Or has that window closed forever? 
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Chris Dunn, PhD
Researcher, writer, explorer*, photographer, thinker. Wrestling with nature, culture, technology. Archives
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*When I use the term "exploration", I mean it in a personal sense (discovery for myself, or at a unique moment in time [everywhere after all--even crowded cities--endlessly await rediscovery--by new eyes and in new moments]), not in an absolute sense. With few exceptions (notably Antarctica), almost everywhere on earth has had other people around for a long time (though to varying degrees - high mountain tops or places like the interior of the Greenland Ice Sheet for instance were far less visited and populated, and undoubtedly at least some pockets of the earth were never visited or populated). It is an enlightening experience though when on an isolated ridge in what feels like the middle of nowhere to wonder if anyone has set foot there but never knowing for sure. What is significant is that the landscape itself is left in such a condition that it isn't evident. Some places ought to be kept that way.
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