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.
Friday evening began with the launch of Artica Writings 2026: 10th Anniversary Anthology, a special publication bringing together texts, artworks and reflections from artists and writers who have been part of Artica's journey. We were delighted to welcome contributors Clara Arnaud and Rev. Siv Sigmundsdotter Limstrand, who shared readings from the book.
The anthology is now available to purchase directly from Artica Svalbard, both in person and online here.
Following the launch, we headed to the beach for a community bonfire party. A very special thank you to Ulli Neumann, who designed and built the bonfire with the help of this year's Russ high school students and many other wonderful volunteers. We are incredibly grateful to everyone who contributed their time and energy to making the bonfire possible, and to everyone who joined us around the fire to celebrate!
On Saturday, we continued the celebrations at Nordover Arts Centre with an afternoon of films by former Artica residents Helene Sommer, Susan Schuppli and Sébastien Robert. A special thank you to the Nordover team for hosting the screening and helping us bring these works to the community.
The afternoon also included the premiere of Artica's new 10th anniversary short film, looking back at the people, projects and encounters that have shaped the organisation since 2016. For those who couldn't join us, the film is now available to watch online. Watch the film here.
Over the past decade, Artica has welcomed more than 100 artists and writers to Svalbard, creating space for research, artistic exploration, exchange and dialogue. None of this would have been possible without the many people and organisations who have supported and contributed to Artica along the way.
Thank you to everyone who has been part of our first ten years, and to everyone who celebrated with us this weekend!
All photos by Håkon Daae Brensholm