Two prints by British artist Emma Stibbon RA have recently been acquired by the British Museum, London, adding to the institution’s collection of contemporary works on paper. Both works stem from Stibbon’s residency with us at Artica Svalbard, where she immersed herself in the Arctic landscape and its accelerating environmental changes.

This past weekend marked the opening of A-FI-SA. But it might not be tomorrow, the first major solo exhibition by artist and performer Maritea Dæhlin, now showing at Nordover Art Centre in Longyearbyen. Presented by Nordnorsk Kunstmuseum, the exhibition traces its beginnings to Dæhlin’s 2023 residency with Artica Svalbard.

Artica Svalbard and the Queen Sonja Print Award (QSPA) are delighted to announce the artists nominated for Artica Svalbard’s residency programme in 2026: Soghra Khurasani (India) and Todd Anderson (USA). Both artists will develop new print-based work in Longyearbyen, engaging with Svalbard’s cultural and environmental context and working in Artica’s print studio. 

This year, Artica Writings returns with Beneath the Surface – Deep-Sea Mining and the Arctic. 

As Norway advances plans to explore its Arctic seabed for mineral resources, deep-sea mining has become a focal point in wider debates about environmental ethics, geopolitical power, and the contradictions of the green transition. While formal exploration has been approved, political opposition has paused further licensing—placing the issue in a state of tense uncertainty, both nationally and globally.

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.

Artists Malin Arnell and Mar Fjell were in residence at Artica Svalbard from June to August 2025. They were nominated for the residency by Nordnorsk Kunstmuseum as part of Artica’s ongoing programme of invited artists and researchers.

During their stay, they spent time walking, recording, and observing in and around Longyearbyen, with a particular focus on the Longyearelva river and its surrounding landscape. Their engagement with Svalbard also included several extended hikes and a kayak-and-camping trip, offering opportunities to interact with the terrain over time and from different perspectives.

We are pleased to announce that the Norwegian Association of Nonfiction Writers and Translators (NFFO) has nominated Audun Aagre and Marit Beate Kasin for residencies at Artica Svalbard in 2026. Their nonfiction projects will explore pressing questions around nature, sovereignty, and our evolving relationship with the Arctic—each bringing a distinct voice and perspective to these themes.

We’re delighted to welcome Ashley Middleton to Artica Svalbard for a nine-month residency, supported by the American-Scandinavian Foundation.

Ashley is an artist and researcher whose work examines the evolving relationship between the body, technology, and the environment. Working across installation, sound, video, and photography, she creates immersive experiences that bring scientific inquiry into conversation with sensory perception.

We’re very pleased to welcome Samantha Dwinnell to the Artica Svalbard team! Samantha will be stepping in to support our residency programme and community activities over the next few months.

We are proud to welcome interdisciplinary artists Malin Arnell and Mar Fjell to Artica Svalbard for their residency in Longyearbyen, nominated by Nordnorsk Kunstmuseum.

Since 2017, Malin and Mar have cultivated a shared, transdisciplinary practice that weaves together performance, research, queer ecology, and embodied experience. Their collaborations move across forests, waterbodies, cities, and now the Arctic—exploring what it means to listen deeply, live relationally, and co-create with both human and more-than-human worlds.

Artica Svalbard is delighted to welcome printmakers and poets Nicole Cecilia Delgado and Amanda Hernández as artists in residence for June and July 2025. Nominated by The Queen Sonja Print Award, the two artists will spend the summer developing new work that draws connections between island ecologies in the Caribbean and the Arctic.

The Artica Writings series continues with a new essay profiling Vernon Alvez, who moved from the Philippines to Longyearbyen in search of more stable work and a better future for his family. In conversation with journalist Elida Høeg, Alvez reflects on the difficult decision to settle in Svalbard — and the resilience it takes to adapt to life in one of the world’s northernmost communities.

Artist duo VestAndPage have contributed a new entry to Artica Svalbard’s Field Notes, reflecting on their recent residency in Longyearbyen. Their text, drawn from the broader project A Desert of North, examines how performance can engage with environmental transformation, uncertainty, and embodied experience in the Arctic.