2024 has been a year of remarkable achievements, creative exploration, and meaningful collaboration at Artica Svalbard. From welcoming a diverse group of new residents and hosting engaging community events to strengthening partnerships, this year has reinforced our role as a hub for cultural dialogue and artistic innovation in the Arctic.

We are proud to reflect on the highlights of a year that brought together artists, writers, and the local community to explore vital themes and share new perspectives.

We are delighted to announce the nominees for Artica Svalbard residencies in 2025, selected by The Queen Sonja Print Award (QSPA). The nominees are Sami artist Tomas Colbengtson and Puerto Rican duo Nicole Cecilia Delgado and Amanda Hernández, who collaborate as LA IMPRESORA. This year’s nominees explore themes of identity, place, and environmental relationships in their practices.

We are pleased to announce that the Norwegian Association of Nonfiction Writers and Translators (NFFO) has nominated Siri Helle and Ragnhild Bjørnsen for residencies at Artica Svalbard in 2025. Their projects will examine topics including place and belonging, as well as the social experiences of young people in Svalbard, from different perspectives.

Artica Svalbard welcomes artist and researcher Sébastien Robert, who has arrived in Longyearbyen for a residency this dark season. Sébastien is joined by radio astronomer Rob Stammes, with whom he will collaborate on the project ‘The Lights Which Can Be Heard’.

Thank you to everyone that joined us for the introduction to paper marbling workshop. It was very inspiring to see all the colourful patterns and prints being made.

Artica Svalbard is pleased to announce that Liryc Dela Cruz, an acclaimed artist and filmmaker from Tupi, South Cotabato in Mindanao, Philippines, has arrived for his residency with us from November to December 2024. Nominated by Nordnorsk Kunstmuseum, Liryc brings his deeply reflective practice to the Arctic, exploring themes of care, hospitality, decolonial and post-colonial practices, indigenous knowledge, and the complex histories of the Philippines.

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.