Island Connections: Mhairi Killin and Floortje Zonneveld return to Artica Svalbard

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.

Both artists share a long-standing connection to remote island environments, recognising these places as powerful sites for understanding ecological change and the social realities shaped by it. Working across visual art, sound, storytelling, and community engagement, their project explores how knowledge can be exchanged between island communities through creative practice.

Drawing inspiration from two elemental landscapes — an ice cave in Svalbard and a sea cave on the Isle of Iona in Scotland — the residency will connect children in Longyearbyen with young people on Iona and Mull. Together, they will explore shared oceanic systems, cultural identity, and language, from Gaelic to the diverse languages spoken in Svalbard, building a living archive of island knowledge shaped by the realities of climate change.

During the residency, Mhairi and Floortje will collaborate with Siri Granum Carson, Professor of Applied Ethics at NTNU and co-chair of the European Ocean Research and Education Alliance (EOREA). Through this collaboration, the project will bring together art, science, and ethics to explore how ocean knowledge can be translated into deeper public understanding, while connecting the artists with research communities at NTNU and UNIS.

Floortje Zonneveld is a longtime collaborator with Artica Svalbard, having led several community-focused projects in Longyearbyen. Mhairi Killin returns to Artica following her 2024 residency, supported by Creative Scotland and nominated by the Office for Contemporary Art Norway (OCA).

This residency is supported by TIDAL ArtS, The European Union, and Sparebankstiftelsen.

Watch this space for news of upcoming activities!