Northern collaborations between UAA Department of Art and University of the Arctic Network

For the past three years, the UAA Department of Art has participated in the international symposiums and exhibitions sponsored by the University of the Arctic Network. Most recently, faculty traveled to Relate North 2014. Held Nov. 5-7 in Kautokeino, Norway, the conference brought together researchers and artists from across the Arctic for a discussion on art, heritage and identity.

Three art faculty members from UAA contributed to the conference: Herminia Din, Ph.D., who presented a paper on last year's Winter Design Project; and Charles Licka, Ph.D., and Jeanne Ilgen, who collaborated on a digital series (titled "Siren Surge Trilogy") exhibited at the Riddo Duottar Museum Nov. 7-27.

Herminia Din's presentation, titled "Winter Design Project: Reimagining a Winter Campus, A Collaborative Effort," was a summary of a project undertaken during spring 2014 (Feb. 21-March 1) in collaboration with Nesna University College in Norway, who sent a number of faculty to UAA. They presented workshops and lectures focusing on new perspectives and creative approaches using "ice" and "snow" as a sustainable medium. Our Norwegian guests helped to create a new sustainable outdoor space at UAA's Cuddy Quad. Working with students from diverse backgrounds, Din and a group of students recycled plastic bottle caps and incorporated them into a mural sized grid to create an abstract design. This collaborative learning experience and other projects utilizing snow involved more than 55 staff members and over 250 students. Read more about the project here.

Charles Licka and Jeanne Ilgen's "Siren Surge Trilogy" addresses the impact of environmental contaminants on the Arctic region-now and in the future. Read the abstract for all three pieces in the trilogy here.

Up next, faculty from the UAA Department of Art will engage with other University of the Arctic members when UAA hosts the Spring 2015 Circumpolar Expressions and Identities Symposium. Subtitled "Sámi Stories: Art and Identity of an Arctic People,"

January Archive