Call for Contributions

We are keen to make this as diverse and inclusive a series of events as possible!

The Ice and Water events aim to explore issues pertaining environmental and cultural sustainability both in general and with specific reference water (oceans, lakes, rivers, etc.) and ice across the cultural and artistic environments of the Far North and the Arctic. Pointing to the crucial importance of circular arts and humanities in addressing the urgent environmental issues pertaining the Arctic, the workshops are both interdisciplinary and 'circular' and propose to:

investigate ideas of cultural and environmental sustainability found in representations of ice/water from the Arctic and the Far North;
discuss questions of colonisation and marginalisation and its impact on cultural and artistic expression in the Arctic and the Far North;
identify new frameworks to address the environmental crisis that take into account indigenous cultural needs and responses;
establish a dialogue informed by research among the diverse cultural communities of the Arctic and the Far North.

Ice and Water

Circular Thinking

on Cultural and Environmental Sustainability:

A Two-Day Workshop and Conference

University of Iceland, Reykjavik*

23-24 May

Deadline extended!

We are currently accepting abstracts for academic papers, creative responses and poster presentations for this event at the University of Iceland on 23-24 May 2024. Please email a 50-word bio and a 250-word abstract (researchers) or description of your practice (artists, writers, etc.) to iceandwater2023@gmail.com by 8 March 2024.

Contributions from indigenous artists, writers and researchers are particularly welcome.

*to facilitate discussion and networking, we have designed this as an in-person event, but flexible arrangements can be made for hybrid delivery. Artists, in particular, are welcome to exhibit posters or other artefacts if unable to attend in person.

Possible topics include (but are not restricted to):

representation of ice and water in visual and textual narratives from and on the North
real and imaginary water creatures in the arts and culture of the North and the Arctic
water and ice politics in the cultural production of the North and the Arctic
water and ice symbolism in indigenous narratives
cultural manifestations of Arctic decolonisation, with special reference to ice and water
tensions between colonialism and indigenous agency found in artistic expressions
overlaps of cultural and environmental sustainability in cultural and aesthetic practice
indigenous arts, knowledge, and environmental activism
visual and textual narratives responding to contested coastlands and receding glaciers
mapping wetlands and water streams in indigenous territories
permafrost and thawing in literature, art and film
whaling and seal hunting in literature, film and the arts
representations of climate change (and its effects on ice and water) in art and culture