Artica Svalbard is one of Norway's leading non-profit arts and culture organisations. We facilitate artistic and cultural activities on Svalbard and support the development of Norwegian and international art and culture.
Based in Longyearbyen, Svalbard, we seek to raise awareness of the region and the wider Arctic through our various initiatives, including our Svalbard residency program for artists and writers.
OUR RESIDENCY PROGRAM
Through our residency programs, we offer a unique opportunity for artists, writers, and researchers to immerse themselves in the stunning and inspiring environment of Svalbard. Available through partnerships and independent funding, these residencies provide the time, space, and resources needed to focus on research and creative work.
LATEST NEWS
Taking place on November 16 & 17 at Unge Kunstneres Samfund, Oslo, Kunstbok Oslo is a new art book fair and an online bookstore that presents artist books, zines, monographs and literature by artists.
Artica Svalbard is delighted to feature insights from Endre Harvold Kvangraven in our ‘Residents Recommends’ series. Endre joined us as our writer in residence from July to September 2024, nominated by the Norsk faglitterær forfatter- og oversetterforening.
Artica is pleased to announce artist Sébastien Robert will be joining us at Artica in November and December 2024 to work on his project The Lights Which Can Be Heard, which aims to capture the sounds of the Northern Lights in collaboration with radio astronomer Rob Stammes.
We are excited to announce the release of Artica Writings 2023: Food on Svalbard, the print edition of 2023’s essay series. This limited edition book features four essays that explore the unique challenges and perspectives on food sustainability in Svalbard.
This dark season, we’re opening our studio for Art Club, an arts and social club for adults. Starting on Wednesday, 30 October 2024, from 18:00 to 20:00, Art Club will run every fortnight throughout the dark season, offering a welcoming space to work on your own arts and crafts projects, share skills, and be inspired by others.
Artica Svalbard’s Artica Writings series returns in 2024 with a new focus on the personal stories of international residents in Svalbard. Against the backdrop of recent policy changes outlined in the Svalbard white paper—aimed at attracting more Norwegian families while restricting voting rights for non-Norwegian residents—the upcoming edition will explore the lives of migrants who have made the Arctic their home.
Artica Svalbard is pleased to welcome Mhairi Killin as our current resident artist. Mhairi is a visual artist based on the Isle of Iona in the Inner Hebrides of Scotland, where she works with the relationships between land, sea, humans, and other living beings. Nominated for the residency by the Office for Contemporary Art Norway (OCA), her practice counters the notion of islands as peripheral and marginal, instead revealing them as progressive centres that offer unique perspectives on the forces shaping our futures.
We are thrilled to announce Sally Hovelsø as the new residency and community coordinator at Artica Svalbard, starting this month. Sally has lived on Svalbard for over 12 years and brings a wealth of experience in project management, communication, and hospitality in Svalbard, all crucial for supporting our visiting artists and writers. Her extensive local network will play a key role in ensuring our residents have enriching stays and meaningful connections during their time with us.
The Office for Contemporary Art Norway and Artica Svalbard are delighted to announce the artists nominated for residencies at Artica Svalbard in 2025. We will welcome the collaborative duo Bianca Hisse and Christian Danielewitz, along with visual artist Cléa Darnaud.
Artica Svalbard is pleased to announce the artists nominated by Nordnorsk Kunstmuseum for residencies in 2025. We look forward to welcoming the artist duo Malin Arnell and Mar Fjell, alongside artist Simon Daniel Tegnander Wenzel, whose unique practices will bring new perspectives to Svalbard.
We are excited to announce that applications are now open for NFFO members to apply for residencies at Artica Svalbard in 2025!
Are you working on a project related to the Arctic or northern regions? This is your chance to spend time in the Arctic and gain inspiration from the unique environment of Svalbard. The residency offers stays of four to twelve consecutive weeks, providing the perfect space for focused work and creative exploration.
On Thursday, 12 September 2024, Artica Svalbard hosted a screening of END (two prologues), a film by artist Dora García, at the Nordover Arts Centre in Longyearbyen. The event was part of a collaborative project between García and macroecologist Dr. David Nogués-Bravo, supported by the CNIO Arte program.
We are thrilled to share that Trine Hamran, a former writer in residence at Artica Svalbard, has just released her new book, ‘Hybrid War: How Russian Aggression Puts Norway to the Test’. This timely work sheds light on the complex and multifaceted threats posed by hybrid warfare, which has recently become a growing concern for Norway and the world.
We are excited to announce that Artica Svalbard has been featured in Artnet's prestigious selection of the top 35 artist residencies globally. This recognition highlights our program's commitment to fostering creative exploration and critical conversations around climate change, geopolitics, and migration within the unique environment of the Arctic.
We are excited to welcome Ellen Heck as our newest artist-in-residence at Artica Svalbard for the month of September 2024. Nominated by The Queen Sonja Print Award, Ellen is an accomplished printmaker based in North Carolina, known for her intricate explorations of identity through her work.
We would like to extend our heartfelt thanks to everyone who attended Endre Harvold Kvangraven’s talk, "Fugler i nyere norsk litteratur", during the Longyearbyen Litteraturfestival last week. The discussion was a wonderful exploration of the portrayal of birds in contemporary Norwegian literature.
We are excited to announce that Dust & Flow, the latest exhibition by Artica Svalbard alumnus Rikke Luther, is now open at the Gotland Art Museum in Sweden and runs until September 22nd, 2024.
This month we are delighted to welcome back artist Inma Herrera who returns to Longyearbyen to continue her project, "Arctic Tales of Mother Earth."
Drawing inspiration from Svalbard's rich geological history, Herrera is exploring fossil imprints using the "Rubbing Printing" technique, a traditional, non-invasive image transfer method.
Artica Svalbard is delighted to share that Cathrine Alice Liberg, one of our resident alumni, will be presenting a solo exhibition, "Theatrum Orbis Terrarum / Theater of the World”, at Kunstverket Galleri in Oslo. This exhibition is the result of the work she developed during her three-month residency at Artica Svalbard, where she explored the historical and geopolitical importance of the Arctic.
The application deadline for the 2025 residencies, nominated by the Office for Contemporary Art Norway (OCA), is now closed. We received a record number of applications this year and want to thank all applicants for their interest.
Artica Svalbard is delighted to announce Nastassja Simensky as our new Artist in Residence. Nastassja is an artist based in Nottingham, UK, she uses fieldwork to explore and understand how complex issues around history and heritage, power and governance, ecology and the geopolitics of extraction are crystallised in specific geographies.
In this special episode of Testing Grounds, the NAARCA partners reflect on the first three years of the programme – exploring what’s been achieved, what the challenges have been, and where things might go next.
Thank you to everyone that joined us on Saturday 13 July for the Photo Zine Workshop with artist in residence Kamil Kak. The zines by our participants used a variety of photos, objects, magazine cuttings and scans to create personal and unique zines.
Artica Svalbard is delighted to announce that Endre Harvold Kvangraven has joined us as our latest writer in residence, nominated by the Norsk faglitterær forfatter- og oversetterforening. His residency will take place from July to September 2024.
We are thrilled to introduce the next artist in residence to arrive in Longyearbyen - Januario Jano, an interdisciplinary visual artist who divides his time between London, Luanda, and Lisbon.
The Nordic Alliance of Artists’ Residencies on Climate Action (NAARCA) network took part in a week-long symposium hosted by our Finnish partner Saari Residence.
The Nordic Alliance of Artists’ Residencies on Climate Action (NAARCA) is proud to present an online exhibition featuring the works of Rikke Luther and Nikhil Vettukattil. This exhibition introduces the artists and their projects through a rich blend of images, film, and a digital cookbook.
Thank you to everyone that joined us for the Introduction to Linocut workshop. We spent the weekend with artist in residence Cathrine Alice Liberg learning different lino printing techniques in one and multicolour designs.
The future of environmental journalism is bright in Svalbard as two young writers, Ruth Møllerplass Huse and Mikael Bergman, clinched the top honours in our environmental journalism competition
Artica is proud to announce that acclaimed author Zeshan Shakar will represent Norway in the NAARCA writing series, which explores diverse perspectives on climate-related subjects. Shakar joins other esteemed writers nominated by NAARCA partners to contribute to this project.
OUR PUBLIC PROGRAM
Through our public program, we foster dialogue, collaboration, and cultural exchange between our residents and the local Svalbard community. Historically, Svalbard has been a place of extraction. Artica Svalbard aims to counteract this by encouraging residents to think about what they can leave behind. We encourage residents to host workshops, lectures, and community events open to the public. These activities challenge perspectives, inspire new thinking, and create meaningful connections.
ARTICA EVENTS
We hope you can join us for the next Art Club - an arts and social club for adults. Bring along your own arts and crafts projects to work on in our open studio, share skills, be inspired by others or have a go at one of the provided activities, such as watercolour, drawing or collage.
*Fully Booked - waiting list only*
Join Artica Svalbard for this Introduction to Marbling workshop where you can learn how to make beautiful papers using this centuries-old marbling technique. Marbling is one of the most rewarding and fun crafts out there and you don’t need any prior experience to create amazing pieces of art.
We hope you can join us for a linocut workshop, where you can create your own artwork with help from artist Olaf Storø. This workshop is for youth and children who can bring their favourite adult.
It’s the last Coffee Club of 2024! We look forward to welcoming you all for this final festive get-together.
ARTICA WRITINGS
Artica Writings is a curated series of texts offering diverse perspectives on Svalbard, the polar regions and their global influence. Published throughout the year in both English and Norwegian.
ARTICA WRITINGS 2024: SVALBARD’S INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY
Artica Svalbard’s Artica Writings series returns in 2024 with a new focus on the personal stories of international residents in Svalbard. Against the backdrop of recent policy changes outlined in the Svalbard white paper—aimed at attracting more Norwegian families, while simultaneous new policies restrict local voting rights for non-Norwegian residents—the upcoming edition will explore the lives of some of the international migrants who have made the Arctic their home.
ARTICA WRITINGS 2023: FOOD ON SVALBARD
In 2023, Artica embarked on a series of conversations about the complexities of food sustainability on Svalbard. This collection of essays by invited artists, scientists, researchers, and enthusiasts, presents four distinct perspectives on food in Svalbard. It serves as a starting point to delve deeper into the intricate relationship between sustenance and sustainability in one of the world's most unique environments.
by Nikhil Vettukattil
All my assumptions about Svalbard fell apart before I had even got off the plane. There are on average two flights a day from Oslo to Longyearbyen, which always make a stop in Tromsø, northern Norway. I knew Longyearbyen had a population of just under 2400, and I naively assumed the flights were operating out of some national necessity, seeing as the island of Svalbard is 400 miles north of the nearest Norwegian shore.
by Maggie Coblentz
Between field excursions to install new equipment on a nearby glacier, I return to my home in Longyearbyen, Svalbard, which I periodically convert into a research station filled with scientists, engineers, and artists. With my boots half-off, I tiptoe through a maze of pickle jars and field equipment to feed my sourdough starter. It has been passed down for eleven years and has more experience living in the Arctic than I.
by Samantha P. H. Dwinnell
For nearly 30 years, we have been following collared Svalbard reindeer, collecting more than their poop. We have been seeing where they go (with GPS-collars), how well they survive, and the number of calves they raise. We’ve monitored what parasites they carry, how heavy they are each spring, and how that changes with shifting conditions of Svalbard.
by Reidun Braathen and Even W. Hanssen
Little did Baltazar Mathias Keilhau know that in September 1827, he would make history when he collected his first mushrooms on Stans Foreland – what has since become known as Edgeøya (English: Edge Island). This was the beginning of human knowledge of and familiarity with fungi in the Svalbard archipelago.
ARTICA BOOKS
Our annual Artica Writings essay series is published in a limited edition book. Due to Svalbard's tax-free status, selling and shipping items from here can be complex, so offering our books for free (you only pay the cost of shipping) helps us avoid those issues.
If you're in Svalbard, you can purchase a copy for 100 NOK.
ARTICA FILMS
Artica Films is a selection of short films that document our activities; from interviews with residents discussing their work and experiences in Svalbard, to highlighting community engagement projects and more.
In the summer of 2022 we welcomed Spanish artist Inma Herrera to the Artica residency. In this new film Herrera, a visual artist living and working in Helsinki since 2014 shares her reflections on the residency experience, her practice and the meditative process of making.
In November 2021 Artica resident Jessica MacMillan presented Time Line, a one-of-a-kind short term public project which took place for the first time in Longyearbyen.
In October 2021, Artica hosted the project: The Slow Adventure, a collaborative between artist Floortje Zonneveld and the students of the Svalbard Folkehøgskole.
For Artica Listens 2021 Ignas Krunglevičius, created HARD BODY DYSPRAXIA, a sonic installation inside a disused coal power plant in Longyearbyen, Svalbard.
In April 2021 during Maja Lunde’s residency, Artica and Longyearbyen Library hosted an in conversation with Longyearbyen based writer and journalist Line Nagell Ylvisåker.
During his residency at Artica, artist Ignas Krunglevičius gave an evening talk about his practice and influences. To read more about Krunglevičius and his work visit here.
Norges selvbilde bygger i stor grad på at myndighetene anser seg selv som en «humanitær stormakt» og fredsmegler. Dette var sentralt i markedsføringen da Norge i sommer vant konkurransen om en plass i FNs sikkerhetsråd.
What should the future of Longyearbyen and Svalbard look like? And what will it take to get there? In the final part of Artica Listens 2020, we invited people to join us for a live conversation that linked the topics of the previous three parts.
When the Covid-19 crisis hit, foreigners truly experienced that they have different social rights in Svalbard than Norwegians.