The Northern Initiative works to connect thought leaders from throughout the Circumpolar North through in-depth explorations into issues related to life, culture and change in the North. Conferences and symposia bring people together from multiple disciplines and locations for a sharing of ideas and with a goal of future collaboration and exchange.
International: NEXT NORTH SYMPOSIUM
September 5-8, 2013
Hosted by the Anchorage Museum
An in-depth discussion of the primary issues facing the circumpolar North today. Participants include prominent scientists, architects, anthropologists, artists and indigenous culture bearers from around the globe. The symposium connects communities internationally to identify key issues, determine shared goals and create concrete plans for collaborative research and public engagement. Session topics included village relocation, sustainable living, cold-climate housing, resource development and Arctic climate change. A collaboration with the Art Gallery of Alberta and Alaska Design Forum.
Arctic Energy and Design Conference. October 8-13, Iceland
In collaboration with the Institute of the North and the Alaska Design Forum, the Anchorage Museum has organized this gathering of international Arctic stakeholders. From the Institute of the North’s Arctic Energy Summit in Akureyri, to the Alaska Design Forum’s Fly By Design program in Reykjavik, which engages Alaskan with Iceland’s Arctic architecture, the Museum also brings its artists-in-residence in contact with Icelandic artists, architects, fashion designers and curators for an in-depth Arctic experience to inform research and encourage cross-discipline and across international borders collaboration.
Reading and Exhibiting Nature International Conference
Date: February 7-9, 2014
University of Westminster, London
In January and February 2014 Ambika P3, the flagship exhibition space at the University of Westminster, will present OUT OF ICE by visual artist Elizabeth Ogilvie. This new commission will involve environments created with ice and ice melt, constructions, films of ice systems, film of scientific expedition from Antarctica, and poetic film, much of it created through collaborations with Inuit in Northern Greenland, and reflecting on their deep and sustaining relationships with ice. The exhibition will portray the psychological, physical and poetic dimensions of ice and water and draw attention to ice processes. It will describe the presence of ice in the world from a human perspective in which the observational traditions of fieldwork will be combined with the artist’s trademark visual splendor. In concert with the exhibition, the University of Westminster, in collaboration with the Anchorage Museum, is convening ‘Reading and Exhibiting Nature’, a three-day conference examining how nature is being understood in contemporary cultural and artistic production. With a focus both in and beyond the Polar regions, we will explore how artists and scientists read nature, find meaning in nature, incorporate nature into social relations, and work with nature through art. The conference seeks to explore how nature, including plants, animals, land, water/ice and weather, engages people’s attention and is responsive to it.
CONFERENCE OF ARCTIC ARTS AND CULTURE MUSEUMS
May 5-7, 2014 Rovaniemi, Finland
Hosted by the Anchorage Museum and Korundi House
of Culture/Rovaniemi Art Museum
A gathering of Arctic museums for a discussion of art, design, culture, and the role museums can play in leading a discussion of and participation in the Arctic.
ARCTIC DESERT SYMPOSIUM
August 2014 Anchorage, Alaska
Hosted by the Anchorage Museum
Scientists, artists, historians and desert residents explore the Arctic as home to one of the world’s deserts, using this unique land feature to connect Alaska to other desert cultures across the world. Held in conjunction with the Anchorage Museum’s Kobuk Valley National Park photography exhibition, featuring images and interpretation provided by the National Park Service. Encouraged is a discussion of how environmental distinctions can define place.
ARCTIC ART AND ISSUES SYMPOSIUM
September 2014 Anchorage, Alaska
Hosted by the Anchorage Museum
A gathering of artists, architects, scientists, historians and other researchers to look at what’s ahead for Arctic issues and ways artists and designers can contribute to public engagement with those issues.
Collaborations with the Institute of the North
Through a collaboration with the Institute of the North, artists, interns, museum staff and other scholars participate in dialogue about current issues facing the Arctic, through forums organized and hosted by the Institute of the North and its partners.
WEEK OF THE ARCTIC
Aug. 12-18, 2013 Anchorage, Alaska
and August 2014 Anchorage, Alaska
Hosted by the Institute of the North
This annual conference reminds us that America is an Arctic nation because Alaska is an Arctic state. With increased maritime traffic and new opportunities for development come ever-pressing reasons to understand and work toward safe and secure operations — both on land and off Alaska’s coast. Week of the Arctic is a venue for learning more about, and contributing to, Alaska’s expanding role in the Arctic. The Anchorage Museum is a participant and a venue.
ALASKA DIALOGUE
Sept. 13-15, 2013 Girdwood, Alaska
Hosted by the Institute of the North
One hundred leaders from across Alaska tackle one of the most vexing issues weighing on Alaskans: energy development and distribution. The discussion isn’t just a fatal flaw analysis of projects, developing a business development plan, or determining return on investment. The conversation is equally about creating a vision for who we could be, and defining values that provide a framework for how we get there. For many, these conversations boil down to what we can do today to ensure our children have a place here tomorrow. This three-day conversation brings together Alaska leaders to develop recommendations for policy makers and administrators. The Anchorage Museum is a participant, through the inclusion of its artists-in-residence.
ARCTIC ENERGY SUMMIT
Oct. 8-10, 2013 Akureyri, Iceland
Hosted by the Institute of the North
The Arctic is sometimes described as the last frontier in the development of energy resources. This summit explores energy as a fundamental element of the sustainable development of the Arctic as a lasting frontier. Central to this concept is how a focus on richness, resilience and responsibility will provide a pathway for sustainable energy development in the Arctic. This multidisciplinary summit brings together several hundred industry officials, scientists, academics, policy makers, energy professionals, artists, architects and community leaders to collaborate and share leading approaches on Arctic energy issues. The Anchorage Museum is a participant, through the inclusion of its artists-in-residence.