We are pleased to welcome filmmaker Jennifer Redfearn and cinematographer Tim Metzger to Artica Svalbard this month. During their time on Svalbard, Jennifer and Tim will begin developing a new documentary project. Rooted in cinéma vérité observation, the work will explore how environment, geopolitics, and rapid change shape life in the archipelago.

We are pleased to share that Artica Svalbard alumni Bianca Hisse and Christian Danielewitz are currently presenting their collaborative exhibition Rivers End at Kunstnerforbundet in Oslo. Developed through fieldwork in both Svalbard and Zambia, Rivers End explores rivers as acoustic environments—spaces where listening becomes a way of sensing infrastructures, ecological change, and the distribution of power.

Are you working on a non-fiction project related to the Arctic or the high north? NFFO, in collaboration with Artica Svalbard, invites its members to apply for a writing residency in Longyearbyen.

Artica Svalbard is pleased to announce that our Annual Report for 2025 is now available to read online in both Norwegian and English.

2025 marked a year of significant growth, expanded activity, and deepened engagement across our programme. We presented our most extensive public programme to date, with a shift towards more frequent, participatory events shaped by community feedback. Alongside this, we continued to develop our residency programme, welcoming a wide range of artists, writers, and researchers, while strengthening our commitment to sustainability, long-term stays, and meaningful local connection.

Nieminen is a data scientist with a background in mathematics and theoretical philosophy, currently pursuing a PhD focused on counterfactual reasoning. With over fifteen years of experience as a software developer, his work bridges technical expertise with philosophical inquiry, exploring the political and symbolic dimensions of state presence in fragile environments.

During their time in Longyearbyen, Lea and Scott will collaborate on The End of Sound—a tactile, multi-sensory installation that reimagines how we perceive sound and sight in the Arctic. Bringing together material exploration and cinematic storytelling, the project invites audiences to move beyond passive observation and engage the senses in reflecting on climate change, perception, and ecological responsibility.

The full recording of Artica Svalbard’s recent public event at Litteraturhuset in Oslo is now available to watch online.

Held on 5 March, the event brought together researchers, journalists and other key voices for a timely conversation on how major geopolitical shifts are shaping Svalbard, Norwegian sovereignty and international obligations.

Residents Mhairi Killin, Thomas Abercromby, and Lilian Kroth, together with Residency Coordinator Sally Hovelsø, set out on a field trip to the ice cave at Larsbreen, a glacier on the northern slope of Lars Hiertafjellet at the head of Longyeardalen.

Last week, Residency Coordinator Sally Hovelsø led current residents Ashley Middleton, Thomas Abercromby, Mhairi Killin, and Lilian Kroth on a hike to Platåberget, a mountain rising 450–480 metres above Longyearbyen. The walk offered expansive views over Adventdalen and, notably, towards the satellite installations of Kongsberg Satellite Services (KSAT), located just outside the town.

We are very pleased to announce the artists selected for the Tarandus Field-Based Arts–Science Residency 2026–2027. Following an international open call that received 108 applications, eight residencies have been awarded for the coming year.

On a wild, stormy day in Longyearbyen, we are delighted to welcome back Lilian Kroth, who returns to Svalbard this month for a research residency. Kroth is a researcher working at the intersection of philosophy, science, and aesthetic practice. Her work explores how the natural world is understood through concepts, scientific instruments, and visual methods, with a particular focus on climate, Earth observation, and remote sensing technologies.

Artica Svalbard is pleased to welcome visual artist and curator Thomas Abercromby as our newest artist in residence. Abercromby will be in Longyearbyen from March to April 2026. Working across film, installation and socially engaged practice, Abercromby explores how art can create spaces for collective care and social imagination.

We are delighted to share that writer and journalist Ellen Viste, a former writer in residence at Artica Svalbard nominated by Norsk faglitterær forfatter- og oversetterforening (NFFO), has released her new book Temperature. A Story of Cold Shock, Heat Death, and the Species That Sets the Planet’s Thermostat.

We are very pleased to welcome Siri Granum Carson to Longyearbyen as part of the collaborative residency project From the Mouths of the Caves, Listening to Hear Another Island’s Song.

Artica Svalbard is pleased to welcome back artists Mhairi Killin and Floortje Zonneveld, who will be in residence for six weeks working on their collaborative project From the Mouths of the Caves, Listening to Hear Another Island’s Song.

We are pleased to share that Artica Svalbard alumni Helene Sommer is currently exhibiting the two-channel video installation Undergrunnsbevegelser (Subterranean Movements) as part of the group exhibition Forestill deg at du faller (Imagine You Are Falling) at Oslo Kunstforening.

Following an open call for applications, we are delighted to announce the selection of four artists taking part in our 2026 NAARCA residency exchange.

We are delighted to announce the confirmed guest speakers, panellists and moderator for Svalbard in a Changing World: Security, Sovereignty and Rising Tensions, an open public conversation hosted at the Litteraturhuset, Oslo.

Artica Svalbard is pleased to share a new short film featuring Norwegian artist Simon Daniel Tegnander Wenzel, who was in residence at Artica Svalbard during the summer of 2025.

The film offers an insight into Simon’s work with scent as an artistic medium. Working with olfaction, he creates scent-based compositions that connect memory, place, and personal experience. From childhood associations triggered by everyday smells, to the reconstruction of a cave through its atmosphere and minerals, his practice moves between intimate recollection and careful sensory research.

The forth lecture in the Lantern Lectures series is now available to watch

Is the Arctic an early warning system for environmental risks facing the rest of the planet? In this Lantern Lecture, Gijs Breedveld, Head of the Department of Arctic Technology and Research Leader at UNIS, explores how Svalbard’s unique position within global climate, oceanic, and atmospheric systems makes it a critical site for detecting slow-moving and often overlooked threats — what he describes as “creeping risks”.

We are excited to announce NAARCA’s role in the ongoing development of Future Island-Island, an AHRC-funded project led by Professor Justin Magee at Belfast School of Art, Ulster University and Dr Clare Mulholland, School of Natural and Built Environment, Queens University Belfast.

The third lecture in the Lantern Lectures series is now available to watch

In this Lantern Lecture, Embla Abild reflects on what it means to grow up in the world’s northernmost community — and how life in Svalbard has shaped her values and political engagement. Raised in Longyearbyen, Embla describes a place defined by stark contrasts: a harsh Arctic environment marked by darkness, avalanche risk, and polar bears, alongside a deeply rooted culture of trust, volunteerism, and mutual care.

We are pleased to announce the publication of the next essay in our series, Artica Writings: Beneath the Surface – Deep-Sea Mining and the Arctic. The new essay, titled An Abyss of Uncertainty, is written by Espen Dyrnes Stabell, Associate Professor of Ethics at HVL Business School, Western Norway University of Applied Sciences.

Artica Svalbard invites you to an open and topical conversation in Oslo on Thursday, March 5. Bringing together researchers, politicians and other key players to discuss how we can understand the impact of major geopolitical changes on Svalbard in light of Norwegian sovereignty – while at the same time remaining open, inclusive and following the international obligations.

Kamil Kak returns to Artica Svalbard following their 2024 residency, supported through a nomination by the Office for Contemporary Art Norway (OCA). During this residency, Kak will work between Longyearbyen and Ny-Ålesund, continuing their exploration of Svalbard’s complex sociopolitical realities.

We are very pleased to welcome Michelle Calcatelli as our newest resident in Longyearbyen. Calcatelli is an international cooperation professional with over 20 years of experience working across agriculture, innovation, and policy. Specialising in resource mobilisation, proposal development, and strategic programme design, their work has supported organisations to secure funding, shape impactful portfolios, and engage with international policy agendas.

2026 marks the 10th anniversary of Artica Svalbard.

Founded in November 2016, Artica Svalbard was established with a clear vision: to use art and culture to raise awareness of the Arctic’s unique challenges, share knowledge, and inspire change.

Over the past decade, Artica has supported artists, writers, and researchers from around the world, creating space for reflection, dialogue, and long-term engagement with the Arctic.

We’re now closed for the festive season and wish all our friends, near and far, a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

See you in 2026!

The second lecture in the Lantern Lectures series is now available to watch.

In this talk, Anatolijs Venovcevs, researcher in historical archaeology at Svalbard Museum, explores the uncomfortable but increasingly unavoidable question of loss in heritage management. While societies have long-developed rituals for letting go of people and objects, heritage has often been treated as something that must endure indefinitely.

We are pleased to announce the publication of the second essay in the 2025 edition of Artica Writings: Beneath the Surface – Deep-Sea Mining and the Arctic. The new essay, titled Engaging in the Extractive Future of Svalbard – A Manual, is now live on our website.