We are delighted to welcome artist and poet Kathy Sirico back to Svalbard this summer to take part in the Tarandus Field-Based Residency. Kathy and Tarandus Project Lead Samantha Huset Dwinnell departed Longyearbyen for the hike to the Tarandus field cabin, located approximately 40 km south of town. Over the coming weeks, they will be based alongside scientists carrying out long-term reindeer research, immersed in the High Arctic landscape.

We are pleased to welcome photographer Aindreas Scholz to Artica Svalbard for a residency during July and August 2026. Scholz is a German–Irish photographer based in London whose practice explores sustainable and cameraless photographic processes. Working at the intersection of photography, ecology and material experimentation, he collaborates with sunlight, water chemistry and plant matter to create images shaped directly by environmental conditions.

We are pleased to welcome artist Nora Adwan to Artica Svalbard for a residency this summer. Nora is an Irish–Palestinian artist based in Bergen. Her multidisciplinary practice explores how identity, memory and the body are shaped by displacement and exile, with a particular focus on female histories and perspectives.

Earlier this month, Artica Svalbard welcomed residents and members of the local community to a hands-on bookbinding workshop led by current resident Elize de Beer. Participants explored the fundamentals of exposed spine bookbinding and hardcover accordion (concertina) bookbinding, learning techniques including paper folding, sewing page signatures, cover construction and binding assembly.

We are very happy to welcome Charlie Brinkhurst-Cuff to Artica Svalbard for a residency this month. Charlie is an award-winning journalist, editor and podcaster whose work spans journalism, literature, audio and screen. Her cross-disciplinary, project-based practice explores overlooked stories and underrepresented voices through long-form reporting and narrative storytelling.

Last week, residents Elize de Beer, Jessica MacMillan and Todd Anderson joined an unforgettable boat journey to Tunabreen and Tempelfjorden, spending a day immersed in one of Svalbard's most remarkable Arctic landscapes.

Artica Svalbard welcomes Alexandra Lockhart as the next participant in the Tarandus Field-Based Residency. Originally from Colorado, USA, and currently based in London, UK, Alexandra is a dancer and choreographer whose interdisciplinary practice spans live performance, installation, film and photography. Combining embodied knowledge with scientific research, she explores ecological systems and our relationship with the natural world.

We are delighted to welcome artist Elize de Beer to Artica Svalbard for a residency from June to July 2026. Originally from South Africa and now based in Cork, Ireland, de Beer works across printmaking, artist books, sculpture and installation. Her multidisciplinary practice explores the ways histories are constructed, mediated and re-imagined, often through a critical engagement with archival materials.

We are delighted to welcome artist and master printer Todd Anderson to Artica Svalbard for a residency this summer, nominated by Queen Sonja Print Foundation. Born in Minnesota, USA, Anderson’s practice spans printmaking, digital photography, drawing, and book arts. For more than fifteen years, he has collaborated with scientists, writers, and fellow artists to create ambitious artist’s books and print portfolios exploring the global climate crisis.

It has been a busy and inspiring week at Artica Svalbard, with workshops, community events, creative exchanges, and time spent exploring the landscapes that continue to shape so many residency projects.

Artica Svalbard søker en ny daglig leder som kan ta organisasjonen videre inn i neste kapittel.

Artica Svalbard and the Office for Contemporary Art Norway (OCA) are pleased to announce that applications are now open for the 2027 OCA + Artica Svalbard Residency Programme.

Artica Svalbard is pleased to welcome back artist Jessica MacMillan for a second residency in Longyearbyen. Jessica is an artist and amateur astronomer based in Oslo whose practice spans sculpture, installation, 3D animation, and light. Her work explores astronomy, planetary science, and deep time through ordinary found objects and optical instruments, creating experiences that connect everyday life with the vast cosmic scales that surround us.

We are pleased to welcome artist Laura J. Lawson to Longyearbyen for a residency this month. Working across painting, sculpture, sound, and writing, her practice explores planetary science, outer space, and humanity’s relationship to environments both familiar and unknown. During her residency, Lawson will continue developing a long-term project inspired by upcoming missions to Europa, Jupiter’s ice-covered moon.

Before departing Longyearbyen, current residents Celine Charveriat and Soghra Khurasani joined Residency & Community Coordinator Sally Hovelsø for a trip to Bjørndalen, one of the most accessible locations to observe Svalbard reindeer in their natural habitat.

We are pleased to share that Artica Svalbard alumni Andrea Pagnes and Verena Stenke (VestAndPage) will present a conference paper at the International Network of Experimental Fiction Filmmaking (INEFF) conference at the University of Salford in Manchester, UK, taking place 18–19 June 2026.

We are pleased to announce that Artica Svalbard has qualified as an Active Member of the Gallery Climate Coalition for 2025–26.

We are pleased to share a new in-depth interview with independent curatorial platform Nordrom Kunst, titled Art, Territory and Complexity in the High Arctic. The conversation reflects on Artica Svalbard’s approach to contemporary artistic practice in the Arctic and explores how culture can respond to environmental change, geopolitics, migration, tourism and everyday life in Svalbard.

Today marks the beginning of the Tarandus field-based residency, as the first group of researchers departed for the remote field cabin in Reindalen. Joining them is the first artist in residence of the programme, German multidisciplinary artist Ida Freya Köhn, who will spend the coming weeks living and working alongside scientists, students, and field assistants in the High Arctic tundra.

Current Artica Svalbard resident Audun Aagre has now set off to retrace parts of the historic 1906 scientific expedition to North-West Spitsbergen, led by Prince Albert I of Monaco and Norwegian polar scientist Gunnar Isachsen. A journalist, documentary filmmaker, author and senior advisor at the Norwegian Media Authority, Aagre is spending his residency researching and beginning work on a new nonfiction book exploring how the expedition contributed to laying the groundwork for Norwegian sovereignty over Svalbard.