Tracing Memory Through Polar Landscapes: Welcome Elize de Beer

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. Drawing on both photographic and written sources, she examines how archives shape personal narratives while informing broader questions around climate change, migration, land and the preservation of knowledge.

During her residency, de Beer will develop a new body of work as part of an ongoing project centred on her grandfather’s photographic archive, documenting his life working in Antarctica during the 1970s and 1980s. Bringing this material into dialogue with the Arctic context, she will explore connections between the two polar regions through research in local archives and direct engagement with the landscape.

Working across writing, photography, drawing, sculpture, monotype and etching, de Beer will begin constructing her own Arctic “intentional archive.” Through this process, she reflects on environmental and social ecosystems, tracing the impacts of global human activity on these fragile regions while drawing on personal histories of migration and movement.

We look forward to following Elize’s research and artistic investigations during her time in Svalbard and sharing more about her project in the coming weeks.