OCA – Office for Contemporary Art Norway -Nominated Artists Announced for 2026 Artica Svalbard Residencies
We are pleased to announce the artists selected for the 2026 Office for Contemporary Art Norway (OCA) nominated residencies at Artica Svalbard.
Following an open call that received over 1,200 expressions of interest, two collaborative duos have been selected to spend time in Longyearbyen in 2026 to develop projects grounded in artistic research, experimentation, and engagement with Svalbard’s social, ecological, and political context. We want to sincerely thank everyone who applied — the number and quality of proposals were extraordinary, and we’re grateful for the time, thought, and creativity that applicants brought to the process.
The Selected Artists for 2026
Annike Flo & Lexie Owen
Artist–scenographer Annike Flo and interdisciplinary artist Lexie Owen have collaborated since 2022, bringing material exploration and social practice into dialogue to consider how care and collaboration can extend beyond the human. Their work spans participatory performances, workshops, interactive installations, and publications; recent and forthcoming presentations include Smallest Gallery in Soho (UK), Galleri Format, Meta.Morf, Atelier Nord, and Necromantic Kitchen (Flo & Owen) at Galleri Tenthaus (2025).
In Svalbard, they will continue a long-term inquiry into death, decomposition, and mourning—examining how climate change, permafrost, and funerary law intersect with the material and symbolic handling of the dead. Working with museum collections and researchers, they will engage the local community around remembrance, transformation, and ecological grief in the context of Svalbard’s evolving burial landscape.
Jun Zhang & Yindi Chen
Working collectively across installation and publication, Jun Zhang and Yindi Chen explore intersections of science and mythology with a focus on more-than-human narratives. Zhang’s practice—“Imaginal Ethno-Cosmology”—amplifies indigenous cosmologies through comparative anthropology and speculative ethnography, while Chen, a curator and writer informed by queer ecology, has curated internationally and contributed to The Art Newspaper China, ArtReview, Cultbytes, C-print Journal, and Whitehot Magazine.
During their residency, they will research the 17th-century “blubber town” Smeerenburg, tracing links between whaling histories and colonial cartography. Combining archival and on-site research with print-workshop experimentation, they will surface local oceanic knowledge historically marginalised by colonial activity and speculate on symbiotic scenes of more-than-human worlds in the Arctic.
These residencies are part of the ongoing partnership between OCA and Artica Svalbard, which supports artists working with critical and context-aware approaches to the Arctic.
“We are grateful for the incredible range of proposals received through the open call and humbled by the depth of engagement with the Arctic across practices and disciplines. The selected artists bring with them powerful approaches to storytelling, research, and material exploration — each offering unique perspectives on the Arctic as a place where environmental, political, and cultural changes converge,”
Ruben Steinum, Director of OCA – Office for Contemporary Art Norway.
“Artica’s residency programme is rooted in dialogue and critical exchange, and we’re excited to welcome these two duos to Svalbard. Their practices resonate with the Arctic’s layered histories, material conditions, and living communities — offering meaningful contributions to wider conversations around place, care, and change,”
Charlotte Hetherington, Director of Artica Svalbard.
The selection was made by a committee consisting of Ruben Steinum (Director, OCA), Itzel Esquivel (Project Coordinator, OCA), and Charlotte Hetherington (Director, Artica Svalbard).
Artists who were not selected through the OCA open call are warmly encouraged to apply for Artica Svalbard’s Independently Funded Residency programme. The next open call in partnership with OCA will launch in early 2026.
About the Programme
The OCA-nominated residency is part of a longstanding collaboration between the Office for Contemporary Art Norway (OCA) and Artica Svalbard. Together, the organisations support artists whose work engages critically with the Arctic — whether through research, storytelling, material exploration, or site-responsive practice. Residents are offered time and space to work in Longyearbyen, along with opportunities to connect with local communities, landscapes, and institutions.