2020 - Arctic MAKES

Arctic Design School and the Ural State University of Architecture and Art present an exhibition Arctic MAKES: Observations, Lessons, and Solutions from the Geographic Periphery, that provides a broad overview of socially engaged art and design across the Arctic area. This exhibition is a part of a wider project “Arctic Design”, supported by the Russian Science Foundation (project #17-78-20047).With this exhibition, the Arctic Design School continues the educational and artistic activities of the Arctic Sustainable Arts & Design Thematic Network (ASAD) established by the Council of the University of the Arctic, in 2010. Since its foundation, this distinctive and essential network has been working across the Circumpolar and Northern regions organizing collaborative events that encourage visitors to engage with research on Arctic art and design. In this exhibition, 29 artists from 10 countries promote the widest possible understanding of the topic of Arctic-evoked creativity and inventiveness, where the following contrasting viewpoints meet, interweave or collide: Arts and Design in the Arctic: a merely geographical association based on what the land can provide. Arts and Design with the Arctic: a mutually beneficial engagement between the land and the people, with an emphasis on inclusive participation. Arts and Design from the Arctic: ideas, technologies, and know-how that the Arctic area can export to the rest of the world, particularly in respect to the need for more sustainable and sensible use of resources. Through this exhibition, we invite designers, artists, and a broader audience to reflect on how to use local knowledge in creative and ethical ways, how to integrate this knowledge into the art/design educational practice, and how to support and facilitate the development of this knowledge in situ. Our exhibition is available online from 30 April 2020. You are welcome to browse through the works at arcticdesignresearch.ru. Curators Alexandra Raeva Svetlana Kravchuk