Inge Bisgaard
Inge Bisgaard has dedicated her career to preserving Greenland’s built heritage. Through pioneering fieldwork, policy development, and community dialogue, she has worked to preserve both traditional wooden architecture and 20th-century heritage – helping define a national conservation strategy that unites science, craftsmanship, and cultural identity.
Inge Bisgaard has played a transformative role in the preservation of Greenland’s architectural heritage. Born and raised in Greenland and educated in Copenhagen, she has combined national insight with international expertise to become one of the country’s foremost building conservation specialists. Since 2011, she has served as museum curator at the Greenland National Museum and Archives in Nuuk, where she has led efforts to evaluate, safeguard and communicate Greenland’s built environment.
Over the past decade, Bisgaard has conducted a systematic review of all listed buildings in Greenland with the aim of creating a conservation plan, combining archival research, technical assessment and direct dialogue with local communities. She has travelled extensively, including to Northeast Greenland, to document and classify fragile expedition cabins and hunting stations from the 19th and 20th centuries – structures that embody Greenland’s cultural resilience and environmental adaptation.
Her work spans a broad chronological and typological spectrum, from Cold War military sites at Ikkatteq and Marrak to 18th-century wooden houses, such as those in Ilimanaq restored in collaboration with Realdania Byg. She was closely involved with the inclusion of the Kujataa Greenland: Norse and Inuit Farming at the Edge of the Ice Cap on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2017, which involved the conservation of 57 historic buildings.
In addition to fieldwork, Bisgaard has authored restoration guidelines that are used by craftspeople, developers and homeowners throughout Greenland, strengthening local capacity for heritage care. She has also curated exhibitions and developed educational programmes to foster awareness, skills, and a renewed culture of craftsmanship in Greenland. Her work bridges academic knowledge and everyday practice, always rooted in community dialogue.
Her recent research addresses the challenges posed by climate change, including the impact of thawing permafrost and the spread of aggressive wood fungi. She advocates for sustainable building traditions, such as the use of untreated local timber and passive construction techniques adapted to Arctic conditions.
Bisgaard’s contributions have earned national and international recognition. She was named Knight of the Order of Dannebrog by King Frederik X of Denmark in 2024.
“Inge Bisgaard has shown life-long dedication to documenting Greenland’s built heritage, including remote and climate-threatened sites that are often overlooked and lack formal protection,” the Awards’ Jury emphasised. “Her persistence in working under extreme Arctic conditions has been critical to preserving fragile heritage across the world’s largest island,” the Jury noted.
Contact: Inge Bisgaard | Greenland Nationalmuseum & Archives | inge@natmus.gl | www.en.nka.gl