Why are so many people ignoring climate change and not inclined to take action? From scientific reports, news articles and international agreements we know that climate change is a fact and action is necessary. For most of us though, climate change is a distant, abstract phenomenon which doesn’t directly affect our daily lives.
Our reality is largely created through personal stories. These stories form the base through which we accept, ignore or reject facts like climate change, forming the base on which we decide to act. We believe that if we are to tackle climate change it is crucial to not only acknowledge its existence in scientific facts, but in stories as well. Arcticography is a storytelling project which adds a personal touch to scientific accounts of climate change and as such invites people to take action.
Arcticography took place at the ‘The Arctic Circle Residency’, which is a sailing nexus for interdisciplinary research of artists, scientists and activists. We were invited for the expedition in October 2016, when the ‘Antigua’ vessel sailed along the west coast of the archipelago and moored at different locations. Look here to find the exact route and where we moored on land. Before the expedition, inhabitants in Longyearbyen were interviewed.
Collaboration with many organisations and individuals made this project possible. We would like to express our thanks to CJ Agencies who supported us with The North Face materials for the expedition and the financial sponsorship of BankGiroLoterij. Specifically we would like to thank Maarten Loonen from SEES network for the promotional activities, Mirjam Broeke from the Speelacademie and Bas van Eijk from Oneseconds for the invaluable brainstorm sessions, Bram Wolthoorn for his website-building expertise, Alice Ladenburg for language checks, and Thijs Hermans for invaluable support throughout the project and for provision of equipment. Without you this project wouldn’t have been possible!