From the Mouths of the Caves at Artica Svalbard

Join us for an exhibition of artworks created by 3rd Grade pupils from Longyearbyen Skole and Kulturskolen.

Over the past month we have been working with children from Longyearbyen Skole and Kulturskolen to explore how the Hebrides and Svalbard are connected through the ocean and the more-than-human world that lives within it.

We introduced the Svalbard children to the islands of Iona and Mull, on the west coast of Scotland - where this project also begins. Like Svalbard, these islands are shaped by the sea, by weather, and by the lives of animals and people who live there. Although these islands lie far apart, the same ocean currents and migrating species move between them.

The children were introduced to the idea of “havets motorvei” - the ocean highways that allow species, currents and life to travel between our island archipelagos. Through examples such as humpback whales, kelp forests, sea caves and ice caves, we explored how the ocean connects our islands rather than separating them.

Together we listened to the sounds of our watery worlds: the songs of humpback whales who travel the waters around northern Scotland and Norway, and the voice of a 4,000-year-old glacier. Inspired by these connections, the children made drawings using kelp ink created from seaweed gathered along the coast of Mull. They reflected on the colour of their ocean, and created their own ice cave and sea cave booklets using lino printing - imagining the hidden spaces where land, water, ice and sound meet.

Through listening, drawing and making, the project invites us to think about the ocean not as a boundary between islands, but as a living pathway connecting places, people, species and stories.

When: Monday 9th March 17.00 - 19.30 and Tuesday 10th March 17.00 - 19.30

Where: Outside and inside Artica Svalbard

Artica Svalbard Vei 608-3 LONGYEARBYEN Norway

Open to all.