We are pleased to share a new instalment of Field Notes by artist and poet Kathy Sirico, who took part in the Tarandus Field-Based Residency in July and August 2026. In How to Get Lost in the Tundra, Kathy reflects on her experiences working alongside Tarandus Project Lead Samantha Huset Dwinnell, tracking Svalbard reindeer and collecting field samples in the vast landscape of Reindalen.

For ten years, Artica Svalbard has invited artists and writers from around the world to live and work in Longyearbyen - creating space for research, experimentation, conversation and new perspectives on Svalbard. This anniversary film looks back at Artica’s first decade through the voices of artists, collaborators, founders and members of the local community.

A huge thank you to everyone who joined us on Friday 16 and Saturday 17 October to celebrate Artica Svalbard's 10th anniversary! It was a wonderful weekend bringing together friends, residents, collaborators and members of the Longyearbyen community to reflect on ten years of artistic practice, conversations and connections here on Svalbard.

Last week, Artica residents Annike Flo and Lexie Owen joined a field trip towards Reindalen to collect Jess Mountfield at the end of her stay at the Tarandus field cabin and accompany her on the return journey to Longyearbyen. The trip was led by experienced Artica staff member Sally Hovelsø, who has extensive knowledge of travelling and working in Svalbard’s landscape.

As we prepare to launch Artica Writings 2026: 10th Anniversary Anthology, we’re looking back at some of the previous editions in the Artica Writings series and we still have copies available to share.

As part of Artica Svalbard’s 10th anniversary celebrations, join us at Nordover Art Centre & Cinema for an afternoon of films by past Artica residents. Bringing together works by Helene Sommer, Susan Schuppli and Sébastien Robert, the programme explores different ways of observing, listening to and understanding Svalbard — from the geological archives beneath our feet and the technological infrastructures transmitting signals across the Arctic, to the elusive sounds of the northern lights.

Artica Svalbard is pleased to share a new opportunity from the Nordic Alliance of Artists’ Residencies on Climate Action (NAARCA) and Future Island-Island. They are seeking a Producer based in Northern Ireland to take part in a funded development programme in 2027.

Chris Fohringer, Kristin Wichstrøm and Jess Mountfield, are heading out from Longyearbyen today with project leader Samantha Dwinnell for the next chapter of the Tarandus Field-Based Residency.

We are pleased to share a new instalment of Field Notes by current resident Yindi Chen. In Encountering the North, Yindi reflects on her experiences of Svalbard through its shifting light, wildlife, histories of whaling and extraction, and traces of human activity embedded in the landscape.

After six years leading Artica Svalbard, Director Charlotte Hetherington will be leaving the organisation this October to take up a new role as CEO of Kilmartin Museum in Argyll, Scotland. Charlotte joined Artica in 2020 and has led the organisation through a significant period of development, strengthening its position as an international platform for artistic and cultural engagement with Svalbard and the wider Nordics.

We’re delighted to see former Artica resident Clara Arnaud featured in Earth Rising Volume II: Messages from the Pale Blue Dot, a new collection of commissions produced by Artangel and released on 24 September 2026.

We are delighted to welcome Annike Flo and Lexie Owen, our next residents nominated by the Office for Contemporary Art Norway (OCA), to Artica Svalbard. Since 2022, Annike and Lexie have worked together as a duo alongside their individual artistic practices. Their collaborative work explores relationships between humans and the more-than-human world, asking how artistic and social practices might make space for the agency of other living organisms, materials and entities.

Maggie Coblentz and Tennessee Watson left Longyearbyen yesterday and headed into the field for the next chapter of the Tarandus Field-Based Residency. They are travelling with Tarandus Project Lead Samantha P. H. Huset Dwinnell, an ecologist and conservationist whose work explores how human activity shapes relationships between wildlife and their environments.

It’s been a busy end to the summer here on Svalbard — welcoming new residents to Artica, catching up with artists returning from time in the field, and making the most of the landscape while there’s still plenty of light.

We’re delighted to see Artica alumna Ellen Viste taking part in A Machine as Complex as the World Itself, a two-day gathering in Bergen marking the first steps towards Bergen Assembly 2028. Ellen joined Artica Svalbard as a writer in residence in 2024, nominated by Norsk faglitterær forfatter- og oversetterforening (NFFO). During her time in Longyearbyen, she worked on her book Temperature. A Story of Cold Shock, Heat Death, and the Species That Sets the Planet’s Thermostat, using Svalbard as a frame through which to explore temperature as both a physical force and a lived experience.

We are delighted to welcome Piya Wanthiang to Artica Svalbard for her residency, joining us as a 2026 resident nominated by Nordnorsk Kunstmuseum. Piya is a Thai-Belgian artist based in Oslo whose practice spans painting and installation, often incorporating light, sound and text.

Thank you to everyone who joined us last week for Soil as Image: Experimental Soil Chromatography with Aindreas Scholz! Together we explored soil chromatography, transforming local Svalbard soil samples into intricate circular images and discovering how differences in soil composition emerge through colour, form and pattern.

Thank you to everyone who joined us yesterday for Jessica MacMillan’s one-night exhibition Insolations, her artist talk, and our solar eclipse viewing. After a day of watching an uncertain weather forecast, nature was kind to us in Svalbard. The clouds parted just in time to give us an incredible view of the partial solar eclipse, which reached around 90% coverage over Longyearbyen.