Artist Talk Under The Open Sky
Presented by Terra Mater

Kadir van Lohuizen: THE ARCTIC

Location: In the exhibition THE ARCTIC in Gutenbrunner Park (see map), free admission: first come – first serve. Attention: Limited number of participants due to corona measures.

The Arctic stretches from the North Pole to the fringes of the Arctic Circle, delineated by the Köppen-Supan line, an isopleth that encompasses points with an average temperature of no more than 10°C. Although the region was a focal point of international debates during the Cold War, it almost entirely vanished from public discourse and the media eye during the 1990s. Three key factors have catapulted it back into the limelight: the melting ice caps, the rising demand for hydrocarbons and plans to open new sea routes. Beyond the fascination and intrigue that the North and South Poles inspire as a result of their far-flung locations and extreme weather conditions, these regions are now strategic points on the map that will most certainly become battlegrounds between States and multinationals in the very near future.

Multi-award-winning Dutch photographer Kadir van Lohuizen set off from the Norwegian island of Spitzberg in the Svalbard archipelago. He followed the North-West sea passage, which is now the shortest route from Europe to Asia as a result of the melting ice. Next, he set off for Cornwallis Island off the Canadian coast, where he spent time in the small, close-knit community of Resolute Bay, where a Canadian Army training centre has recently been installed.

From tourism, army bases and gas and mineral resource extraction to new commercial shipping routes, these two reports form a comprehensive and alarming account of the profound changes under way in a region subjected to global warming. 

Sunday 16 August, 15:00 hrs, Gutenbrunner Park; free admission, Limited number of participants

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