At the start of 2023 Artica began the process of researching, developing, and implementing an environmental policy and action plan. There is a lot of ground to make up, but as an organisation based in the Arctic we are fully committed to being responsible and to sharing knowledge of successful (and sometimes unsuccessful) changes others might also find helpful.

Between field excursions to install new equipment on a nearby glacier, I return to my home in Longyearbyen, Svalbard, which I periodically convert into a research station filled with scientists, engineers, and artists. With my boots half-off, I tiptoe through a maze of pickle jars and field equipment to feed my sourdough starter. It has been passed down for eleven years and has more experience living in the Arctic than I.

It has been a busy and productive autumn session at Artica, from paper making to mono printing, film screenings, library talks, Lantern Lectures and quite sustainability workshops. We have enjoyed welcoming you all to the studio, seeing your creativity and hearing about your work.

What could it mean to decolonise art, and to use art as a tool for decolonisation?  Saari Residence is NAARCA’s Finnish partner. It’s located in Mynämäki, Southwest Finland, and maintained by Kone Foundation as a residence for artists of all disciplines and nationalities.

Trine Hamran is a freelance non-fiction writer and journalist from Tromsø, trained as a social anthropologist and has a master's degree in journalism. In her books, she has written about themes such as grief and death, cold war and espionage, trust and reconciliation.

We are very happy to share news from our Key Partner Nordnorsk Kunstmuseum, who return to Longyearbyen in November to open the new exhibition Our Arctic Archive at Nordover. Showcasing works by past Artica residents Ramona Salo Myrseth and Katarina Skår Lisa.

UNDER THE WEATHER presents 13 artists and writers thinking aloud about making art in the face of climate change. Artica resident Yamile Calderón took part in this project during her OCA nominated residency this summer.

Are you a member of NFFO and have a project related to the Arctic or the northern regions? Do you want to get inspiration for new projects? Do you translate Icelandic, Greenlandic, Danish, Sami, Swedish or Gaelic non-fiction? Or perhaps you need a writing stay in completely new surroundings in 2024?

What does “progress” mean in an age of climate crisis? Who should define it? And how can the process of defining it be made more inclusive and democratic? In this episode, Lise Autogena, an artist and founder of NIRS, outlines some of the tensions at play in Narsaq, and in Greenland more broadly.

We are very pleased to share a new printed version of the Artica Writings 2022 essay commissions, a collaboration with LPO Arkitekter and UiT - The Arctic University of Norway, Academy of Arts, landscape architecture programme.

This dark season we take inspiration from an age-old form of public event the Lantern Lecture – a form of diversion and education from the 1870s through the early 1900s. The magic lantern illustrated scientific lectures, entertainment, current events discussion, political campaigns, missionary fundraising, and humanitarian causes.

For nearly 30 years, we have been following collared Svalbard reindeer, collecting more than their poop. We have been seeing where they go (with GPS-collars), how well they survive, and the number of calves they raise. We’ve monitored what parasites they carry, how heavy they are each spring, and how that changes with shifting conditions of Svalbard.

We are thrilled to announce that the second NAARCA writing commission has been awarded to Hanna Ellen Guttorm. Hanna is a senior researcher at the University of Helsinki focusing on Indigenous Studies and is a member of Helsinki Institute of Sustainability Sciences. She is also an Associate Professor in Sámi Teacher Education at the Sámi University of Applied Sciences in Guovdageaidnu. 

A warm welcome to artist and researcher Ruth Maclennan. Ruth is based in London and northern Scotland. Her art practice includes films, video installations, photographs, writing, drawing and interdisciplinary and collaborative research projects.

We are so pleased to welcome Nicole Rafiki to Artica and Longyearbyen. Rafiki is an interdisciplinary artist whose work moves between photography, bead work, textiles, text, and the use of memorial objects old and new.

What are young people’s views on the climate crisis? And how can artists, and art institutions, help to amplify their voices?
In episode 5, Emma Henderson – Cove Park’s Curator of Engagement – introduces us to both the residency and the region, and to NAARCA’s pedagogy work.

Are you a member of NFFO and have a project related to the Arctic or the northern regions? Do you want to get inspiration for new projects? Do you translate Icelandic, Greenlandic, Danish, Sami, Swedish or Gaelic non-fiction? Or perhaps you need a writing stay in completely new surroundings in 2024?

Nikhil Vettukattil is an artist and writer based in Oslo. While in residence at Artica, Nikhil will develop new work that incorporates research into food and diet, specifically in relation to the ‘Nordic diet’ and the influence of imported and exported food.

In this bonus episode, Glasgow-based Gaelic writer Mairi Macleod reads her short story, Seasickness/Cur na Mara. In 2023, Mairi was commissioned by NAARCA to create a short piece of fiction in both Scots Gaelic and English, and was also granted an 8-week residency at Saari Residence in Finland, where she wrote Seasickness.

We are very pleased to share the first essay of Artica Writings 2023: Mushrooms in the Ice Desert: A Mycological-Culinary Journey to Svalbard by Reidun Braathen and Even W. Hanssen (Translated from Norwegian by Olivia Lasky)