
Artica Svalbard is one of Norway's leading non-profit arts and culture organisations. We facilitate artistic and cultural activities on Svalbard and support the development of Norwegian and international art and culture.
Based in Longyearbyen, Svalbard, we seek to raise awareness of the region and the wider Arctic through our various initiatives, including our Svalbard residency program for artists and writers.
OUR RESIDENCY PROGRAM
Through our residency programs, we offer a unique opportunity for artists, writers, and researchers to immerse themselves in the stunning and inspiring environment of Svalbard. Available through partnerships and independent funding, these residencies provide the time, space, and resources needed to focus on research and creative work.

LATEST NEWS
Artica Svalbard is delighted to welcome Katie Paterson, who has arrived in Svalbard for her residency this June.
Katie Paterson is widely regarded as one of the leading artists of her generation. Collaborating with scientists and researchers across the world, Paterson’s projects consider our place on Earth in the context of geological time and change. Her artworks make use of sophisticated technologies and specialist expertise to stage intimate, poetic, and philosophical engagements between people and their natural environment. Combining a Romantic sensibility with a research-based approach, conceptual rigour, and minimalist presentation, her work collapses the distance between the viewer and the most distant edges of time and the cosmos.
The application deadline for the 2026 Artica Svalbard residencies, nominated by the Office for Contemporary Art Norway (OCA), is now closed. We are pleased to share that this year one again brought in a record number of applications. Thank you to everyone who applied for your interest and time.
Last week, Residency and Community Coordinator Lena von Goedeke led current residents Nastassja Simensky, Lilian Kroth, Clara Arnaud, and Endi Poskovic on a hike to Sarkofagen, a mountain located directly above Longyearbyen. The route included visits to Longyearbreen and Larsbreen, the two glaciers nearest to the town.
Sarkofagen (Norwegian for “the sarcophagus”) is a prominent ridge between Longyeardalen and Larsdalen. Its position offers a direct vantage point onto two active glacier systems and the broader glacial landscape surrounding Longyearbyen, making it a frequent site for geological observation and field-based research.
We are delighted to welcome back Nastassja Simensky to Artica Svalbard.
Simensky returns following her 2024 residency, which was supported through a nomination by the Office for Contemporary Art Norway (OCA). Her work investigates the unevenly distributed impacts of global energy regimes and extractive processes on specific geographies, using fieldwork as a central method. She frequently collaborates with both artists and non-artists to produce authored and co-authored works across a range of media, including live performance, sound, text, amateur radio, moving image, and installation.
We are delighted to welcome Lilian Kroth to Artica Svalbard who has arrived for a residency this May and June 2025.
Kroth is a postdoctoral researcher at the Department of Philosophy at the University of Fribourg, Switzerland. Her academic work sits at the intersection of the history and philosophy of science and art, with a focus on remote sensing, mediated technologies, and how knowledge is shaped by the tools we use to observe the world.
Applications are now open for the 2026 NFFO residency at Artica Svalbard — a rare opportunity for nonfiction writers to spend dedicated time in the High Arctic, immersed in both landscape and thought.
Offered in partnership with NFFO (The Norwegian Non-Fiction Writers and Translators Association), the residency is open to NFFO members working on projects connected to the Arctic or northern regions, translations of Nordic or Indigenous non-fiction, or any nonfiction work that would benefit from time and space in an extraordinary environment.
The second instalment of French author Clara Arnaud’s three-part essay series is now available in our Field Notes section.
Titled So This Is The North?, the piece follows Clara’s journey across the Barents Sea aboard the sailing ship Linden, describing the practical challenges and shifting conditions during the crossing — from storm preparation and seasickness to ice watches and changing weather. Written during her journey to Longyearbyen, the essay offers a detailed account of daily life on board and the transition from mainland Europe to the high Arctic.
We’re pleased to share the third essay in the Artica Writings series — this time centering the voice of Mia Ekeblad, a lifelong resident of Longyearbyen and current leader of the town’s Youth Council.
In a wide-ranging and thoughtful interview with journalist Elida Høeg, Mia reflects on identity, belonging, and the uncertainty facing young people in Svalbard today.
A new contribution is now live in our Field Notes section: Residents Recommend – Siri Helle.
Residents Recommend is an occasional series where Artica residents share reflections, advice, or small gestures that helped them connect with life in Svalbard — and that might offer something valuable to future residents as well.
Artica Svalbard is delighted to welcome Endi Poskovic as one of our artists-in-residence this spring.
Originally from Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Poskovic is an internationally acclaimed artist whose work explores the intersections of printmaking, memory, and environmental awareness. Educated in Yugoslavia, Norway, and the United States, he began his creative life as a touring musician before transitioning into the visual arts.
Over the past four weeks, Artica Svalbard has hosted Dutch artist Floortje Zonneveld and Arctic ecologist Sanne Moedt for the collaborative residency project Shadowing Without a Sunset. Blending scientific research with artistic interpretation, the project invited the local community into a hands-on, creative exploration of Arctic ecosystems.
The residency began with a research-collecting trip to the Netherlands Arctic Station in Ny-Ålesund in summer 2024, where Zonneveld and Moedt gathered scientific materials including microscopy footage, field notes, maps, and expedition documentation.
Artica Svalbard has been formally recognised as a 2024 Active Member of the Gallery Climate Coalition (GCC)—a global network working to reduce the environmental impact of the visual arts sector.
To achieve Active Member status, Artica was required to demonstrate tangible progress toward implementing environmentally responsible best practices, including emissions reporting, decarbonisation planning, and waste reduction—efforts that reflect the organisation’s long-term sustainability goals.
We are pleased to welcome VestAndPage—the artist duo Verena Stenke and Andrea Pagnes—to Artica Svalbard this May.
Since 2006, VestAndPage have worked internationally as interdisciplinary artists, writers, and curators, creating collaborative and research-based performance art and film. Their practice is deeply responsive to place, engaging philosophical, ecological, and queer feminist thought. They have performed and filmed under Antarctic glaciers, in the Himalayas, Tierra del Fuego, and inside prehistoric cave systems, exploring the thresholds between body, environment, and ritual.
Currently in Longyearbyen to work on her next novel, French author Clara Arnaud is also kindly contributing a three-part essay series based on her time here in the Arctic. This first instalment recounts her arrival aboard the sailing ship Linden, offering a poetic reflection on what it means to approach the far north slowly, by sea.
Lena will be joining us to cover for Sally as our Residency and Community Coordinator for part of the time until Sally returns towards the end of 2025.
Lena is a visual artist and essayist based between Svalbard and Berlin, whose multidisciplinary practice spans installations, literary essays, and film. Her work explores themes of geological memory, ecological intimacy, and the passage of time, with a particular focus on Arctic landscapes. Having first come to Svalbard in 2018, Lena has since developed a deep connection to the region, and alongside her own artistic practice, she is passionate about supporting fellow creatives in developing and sharing their work in the High North.
We are very pleased to welcome French writer Clara Arnaud to Artica Svalbard for a spring residency running from April to June 2025. Clara is the winner of the Ecology Novel Prize in France, and her work—both fiction and non-fiction—explores the relationship between human beings and the rest of the living world.
Artica Svalbard is pleased to welcome ecologist Sanne Moedt and artist Floortje Zonneveld as our current residents, here to develop Shadowing Without a Sunset—an immersive project that brings together scientific research and artistic storytelling to explore the Arctic in new and accessible ways.
The full recording of The Cold Rush from Svalbard Day 2025 is now available to watch online.
Held at Litteraturhuset in Oslo, the event explored the shifting geopolitical landscape of the Arctic—with a particular focus on Svalbard—and brought together leading voices in security, strategy, and international affairs.
In a recent interview with OCA, artist Nikhil Vettukattil reflects on his experience with us during the autumn of 2023, where he began a project exploring the Nordic diet, food systems, and the paradoxes of sustainability in extreme environments.
NAARCA is pleased to share the open call for its 2025 programme. Applications are now open for artists working in visual arts, craft, or design whose practices engage with sustainability and the climate emergency.
In 2025, the NAARCA network will facilitate two funded residency exchanges, taking place between June and December.
We are delighted to welcome Sami artist Tomas Colbengtson to Artica Svalbard, where he will be based throughout March and April 2025.
Nominated for his residency by the Queen Sonja Print Award, which he won in 2024, Colbengtson’s work explores the impact of colonialism on indigenous communities, with a particular focus on the Sami people.
Artica Svalbard is pleased to announce that our Annual Report for 2024 is now available to read online in both Norwegian and English.
This past year was one of deepening engagement, new collaborations, and critical reflection on the role of arts and culture in the Arctic.
Artica Svalbard is delighted to announce that Katie Paterson will be joining us for a residency in June 2025.
Katie Paterson (born 1981, Scotland) is widely regarded as one of the leading artists of her generation. Collaborating with scientists and researchers across the world, Paterson’s projects consider our place on Earth in the context of geological time and change.
Following the success of the first Artica Writings essay, we are pleased to announce the publication of the second piece in the series. This time, journalist Elida Høeg sits down with Jason Roberts, a veteran of Arctic logistics, to explore his three-decade journey in Svalbard and the evolving landscape of life and work in the High North.
We are pleased to announce that Jette Christensen will moderate The Cold Rush – Geopolitics, Security, and Strategy in the Arctic at Svalbard Day in Oslo on 27 March 2025.
Artica Svalbard and the Office for Contemporary Art Norway (OCA) invite artists working in all mediums to apply for residencies in Longyearbyen, Svalbard. We are now accepting applications for residencies in 2026, with a deadline of May 23, 2025. This opportunity provides artists with the time, space, and resources to explore new ideas, engage with the Arctic environment, and contribute to meaningful cultural dialogue.
As part of this year’s Svalbard Day in Oslo, organised by Svalbard Reiselivsråd and Visit Svalbard, Artica Svalbard presents The Cold Rush – Geopolitics, Security, and Strategy in the Arctic, an in-depth discussion on how global power struggles are shaping the region.
The Nordic Alliance of Artists’ Residencies on Climate Action (NAARCA) is delighted to share that the Nordic Culture Fund has awarded NAARCA a two-year grant for the continuation of the international network.
Artica Svalbard is delighted to welcome our latest resident, Siri Helle, a nonfiction author and journalist whose work delves into themes of environmental responsibility, rural life, and practical engagement with the world around us.
Mhairi Killin is a visual artist from the Isle of Iona in the Inner Hebrides of Scotland. She makes her return to Svalbard this February to continue the research and development of ‘Svalbard & The Hebrides - Island Archipelagoes in the Anthropocene’, which started at Artica in October/ November last year.
OUR PUBLIC PROGRAM
Through our public program, we foster dialogue, collaboration, and cultural exchange between our residents and the local Svalbard community. Historically, Svalbard has been a place of extraction. Artica Svalbard aims to counteract this by encouraging residents to think about what they can leave behind. We encourage residents to host workshops, lectures, and community events open to the public. These activities challenge perspectives, inspire new thinking, and create meaningful connections.
ARTICA EVENTS
* Fully Booked *
How can we tell the stories of the non-human? How can science and poetry meet in a creative way? How can writing make the invisible visible? This three-session workshop invites participants to explore new ways of storytelling that move beyond the human-centered perspective and reflect our entangled relationships with Arctic life forms and ecosystems. Hosted by writer-in-residence Clara Arnaud, we will question the traditional boundaries between nature and culture, science and poetry, humans and non-humans.
Are you interested in meeting Longyearbyen’s creative community? Join us on the first Friday of every month for Artica Svalbard’s Coffee Club!
Artica is delighted to invite you to an Open Studio evening with artist Endi Poskovic, offering a rare behind-the-scenes look into his practice, process, and recent work. In this informal setting, visitors will have the chance to view works-in-progress, hear about his current themes and inspirations, and learn more about his creative approach.
Join Artist in Residence Endi Poskovic for a discussion and hands-on printmaking workshop exploring process, intuition, and storytelling through relief woodcut and stencil. Discover how traditional techniques shape contemporary narratives in his creative practice.
ARTICA WRITINGS 2024: SVALBARD'S INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY
Writings is a curated series of texts offering diverse perspectives on Svalbard, the polar regions and their global influence. Published throughout the year in both English and Norwegian.
Artica Svalbard’s Artica Writings series returns in 2024, focusing on the personal stories of international residents in Svalbard. Unlike many Arctic regions, Svalbard has no indigenous population, with its 2,500 residents representing over 50 countries. Recent changes in Norwegian policies, outlined in the Svalbard white paper, aim to make Longyearbyen more appealing to Norwegian families by improving housing and services. At the same time, voting rights for non-Norwegian residents in local elections are being restricted unless they have strong ties to mainland Norway. These changes signal a shift in Norway’s governance approach, aiming to reinforce its presence in the region while impacting Svalbard’s diverse international community.
Led by journalist Elida Høeg, known for her work on climate and migration, with photography by Ángel Valiente, the series explores how international residents navigate these evolving policies and cultural dynamics. It delves into their personal journeys, the challenges of adapting to Norwegian customs, and the broader implications of these policy shifts. The series comprises seven texts, published monthly from January 2025, and coincides with the centenary of the Svalbard Treaty, which upholds principles of shared access and equality. The essays culminate in a 2025 publication that offers an intimate and timely portrait of life in this unique Arctic community.
Mia Ekeblad grew up in Longyearbyen. She has both Norwegian and Swedish citizenship, but she doesn’t see Norway or Sweden as home. For her, home is Svalbard.
– “I feel just as little connection to Norway as I do to most other countries. It’s a bit strange, but also nice, because I feel like I can choose the whole world,” she says.
It was a friendly agreement that led the Australian Jason Roberts to move so far north. Along the beaches of Australia, he taught a Norwegian exchange student how to surf. In return, he was supposed to learn how to ski in Norway—if he ever made it there for a visit. And he did. After earning a degree in economics and working on the stock exchange in Australia, he traveled north. After spending a few years on the mainland, specifically in Kautokeino in Finnmark, he arrived in Svalbard in 1990.
Just before the pandemic shut down one place after another, Valeriya Burlachenko Mikhalskaya took the last scheduled flight from Moscow to Svalbard. She was going to work as a guide for tourists in the Russian mining town of Barentsburg. Valeriya had been hired by the state-owned company Trust Arktikugol to help develop its tourism operations. However, when COVID-19 spread and international travel halted, most tourists were unable to come.
"One always imagines Spitsbergen as a barren and silent frozen world—but that is a grave mistake," wrote the French traveller Léonie d’Audet in 1839. She was likely the first woman to visit the archipelago and believed she would also be the last. When d’Audet travelled to the Arctic with a research expedition, she encountered no other people. The noise she heard and described was the sound of breaking ice during the spring thaw. Even today, the archipelago is far from silent. But now, the sounds also include voices—voices from Longyearbyen’s diverse community. In this series, some of those voices are heard.

ARTICA BOOKS
Our annual Artica Writings essay series is published in a limited edition book. Due to Svalbard's tax-free status, selling and shipping items from here can be complex, so offering our books for free (you only pay the cost of shipping) helps us avoid those issues.
If you're in Svalbard, you can purchase a copy for 100 NOK.

ARTICA FILMS
Artica Films is a selection of short films that document our activities; from interviews with residents discussing their work and experiences in Svalbard, to highlighting community engagement projects and more.
Recorded at Litteraturhuset, Oslo – 27 March 2025
This panel event brings together leading voices in Arctic policy, international security, and geopolitical strategy to explore the shifting balance of power in the region—with a particular focus on Svalbard.
In the summer of 2022 we welcomed Spanish artist Inma Herrera to the Artica residency. In this new film Herrera, a visual artist living and working in Helsinki since 2014 shares her reflections on the residency experience, her practice and the meditative process of making.
In November 2021 Artica resident Jessica MacMillan presented Time Line, a one-of-a-kind short term public project which took place for the first time in Longyearbyen.
In October 2021, Artica hosted the project: The Slow Adventure, a collaborative between artist Floortje Zonneveld and the students of the Svalbard Folkehøgskole.
For Artica Listens 2021 Ignas Krunglevičius, created HARD BODY DYSPRAXIA, a sonic installation inside a disused coal power plant in Longyearbyen, Svalbard.
In April 2021 during Maja Lunde’s residency, Artica and Longyearbyen Library hosted an in conversation with Longyearbyen based writer and journalist Line Nagell Ylvisåker.
During his residency at Artica, artist Ignas Krunglevičius gave an evening talk about his practice and influences. To read more about Krunglevičius and his work visit here.
Norges selvbilde bygger i stor grad på at myndighetene anser seg selv som en «humanitær stormakt» og fredsmegler. Dette var sentralt i markedsføringen da Norge i sommer vant konkurransen om en plass i FNs sikkerhetsråd.
What should the future of Longyearbyen and Svalbard look like? And what will it take to get there? In the final part of Artica Listens 2020, we invited people to join us for a live conversation that linked the topics of the previous three parts.