Arctic Perspective Initiative

Marko Peljhan, Matthew Biederman, Arctic Perspective Initiative, Trip to Foxe Basin, Nunavut, Canada 2009.

Arctic Perspective Initiative, Open Design Competition, Winning Design by Catherine Rannou.

Arctic Perspective Initiative, Open Design Competition, Winning Design by Giuseppe Mecca.

Igloolik citizens crowd around a computer, engaging with Marko Peljhan's mobile media project.

Marko Peljhan, Matthew Biederman, Arctic Perspective Initiative, Trip to Foxe Basin, Nunavut, Canada 2009.

Marko Peljhan, Matthew Biederman, Arctic Perspective Initiative, Makeshift Media Lab Nunavut, Canada 2009.

Arctic Perspective Initiative 2010, Dortmund, Gallery View.

Arctic Perspective Initiative, Open Design Competition, Winning Design by Richard Carbonnier.

Marko Peljhan, Matthew Biederman, Arctic Perspective Initiative, Dortmund Exhibition, 2009.

Marko Peljhan, Matthew Biederman, Arctic Perspective Initiative, Makeshift Media Lab Nunavut, Canada 2009.

Arctic Perspective highlighted the cultural, geopolitical and ecological significance of the Arctic and its indigenous cultures. In collaboration with the people of Igloolik and other communities in Nunavut, Canada, artists and architects are devising a mobile media and living unit and infrastructure, powered by renewable energy sources, which can be used for nomadic dwelling environmental monitoring and media based work 'on the land', away from the established Arctic settlements.

API was initiated artists Marko Peljhan and Matthew Biederman.

The API project website gives details of the process of the project, including the team's visits to Igloolik, Foxe Basin and other Inuit communities in Nunavut, Arctic Canada, the international open architecture competition to design the media unit, and the construction of the prototype unit.

Publications

Cahier No. 1: Arctic Architecture (ISBN 978-3-7757-2679-5) is now available - order online here
Cahier No. 2: Arctic Geopolitics & Autonomy (ISBN 978-3-7757-2681-8) - order online here

Exhibitions

Arctic Perspective, London
21 May - 30 September 2010
Canada House, Trafalgar Square, London, UK
The Arctic Perspective exhibition at Canada House showed film and photographic documentation of the API project, including specially commissioned architectural models of the winning entries from an international open design competition for the mobile unit, which received more than 100 entries from over 30 countries. The winning unit architectural designs are by Richard Carbonnier (Canada), Catherine Rannou (France) and Giuseppe Mecca (Italy). Presented in conjunction with the London Festival of Architecture.

Arctic Perspective, Dortmund
18 June - 10 October 2010
HMKV Phoenix Halle, Dortmund, Germany

The Arctic Perspective Open Space conference, Dortmund, Germany gathered some of the most dynamic thinkers from and on the circumpolar regions and the open source technology and tactical media communities in an intense three-day situation involving critical debate and reflection.

Collectively, the conference served as working meeting to envision future strategies of circumpolar interconnectedness, exchange, strategies and tactics of autonomy, the landscape of current circumpolar geopolitics, mobility, open-source information sharing, citizen sensing strategies, ecology, culture and the arts.

Active members of indigenous circumpolar communities, thinkers, writers, architects, artists, and technologists took part in the open space. They were working towards making an inclusive statement regarding an autonomous, indigenous driven future of the global North as it relates to access to new technologies and infrastructures and a future, technologically mediated, ecologically sound mobility.

The open space conference was held in conjunction with the Arctic Perspective exhibition at the PHOENIX Halle Dortmund (18 June – 10 October 2010) in the context of the European Capital of Culture RUHR 2010.

The 3-day gathering of some of the most dynamic thinkers from and on the circumpolar regions and the open source technology and tactical media communities included some events open to the public.

Friday, 24 September 2010

PHOENIX Halle, Dortmund, Germany

19:30 David Turnbull, Victorian Eco-Innovation Lab (VEIL), Architecture Faculty, Melbourne University (AU): Performativity: A Key to Autonomy, Mobility, and Working with Multiple Knowledges and Technologies in Distributed Systems (keynote)

Saturday, 25 September 2010

PHOENIX Halle, Dortmund, Germany

The Canadian Arctic Perspective: Inuit Culture, Technology, Autonomy

Michael Bravo, Scott Polar Research Institute, University of Cambridge (CA/UK): An Arctic Geopolitics without the Inside Out: Experiments in Autonomy (keynote)

Film screening: Inuuvunga – I Am Inuk, I Am Alive, CA 2004, 57 min 40 s

Contemporary Nomadism: Autonomy & Technology in the North (Discussion event)
20 May 2010, Canada House, London
Artists, academics and architects explored the API's cultural, historical and political contexts. Panel: Marko Peljhan, artist and instigator of Arctic Perspective Initiative, director Projekt Atol (Slovenia), David Turnbull, science sociologist (Australia), Richard Carbonnier, architect (Canada), Inke Arns, curator, artistic director HMKV (Germany). Chair: Michael Bravo, Scott Polar Research Institute (UK/Canada)

Arctic Perspective Open Space Conference
24-26 September 2010, PHOENIX Halle, Dortmund, Germany
The API open space conference gathered some of the most dynamic thinkers from and on the circumpolar regions and the open source technology and tactical media communities in an intense three-day situation involving critical debate and reflection.

Support

API is supported by the European Commission Culture 2007 Programme, City of Dortmund, Federal Centre for Civic Education, Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Slovenia, City of Ljubljana and Arts Council England.

Partners include the Arctic Perspective Initiative, HMKV in Germany, Projekt Atol in Slovenia, C-TASC in Canada, Lorna in Iceland and Arts Catalyst in the UK.