Art and design education is vital in fostering creative capacities and ensuring a sustainable future in northern and Arctic regions. Art and design contribute to the sustainability by rethinking, enabling, and accelerating more sustainable futures. Emeritus Professor Timo Jokela explains:

"When artists and designers are trained with an understanding of and respect for Arctic cultures and conditions, they learn and commit to practicing cultural, social, and ecological sustainability. Art, culture, and education influence the overall sustainability of the Arctic region, creating the necessary adaptability, flexibility to guide change, and resilience for individuals, communities, and entire regions."

The concepts of new genre Arctic art and new genre Arctic art education focus Relate North's attention on dialogical, societal, public, and political contemporary Arctic art, as well as art and design education. The keynote speakers are leading researchers from Arctic universities. Among those presenting at the seminar are Timo Jokela, Sigga-Marja Magga, Cindy Kohtala, Jonna Häkkilä, Aubyn O'Grady, Rauni Äärelä-Vihriälä, and Outi Rantala. The event will also feature panel discussions, an exhibition, and an artistic program, including performances by writer and musician Jalvvi Niillas Holmberg and Rimpparemmi Dance Theatre.

At the Relate North event, several collaborative projects from the Arctic Sustainable Arts and Design (ASAD) network will be presented, too, including the results of the international Living in Landscape summer course. These projects have involved development research, community-based activities, artistic work, theses, and publications.

The Relate North symposium is organized by the Arctic Sustainable Arts and Design network and the University of Lapland. The event will be held primarily in person at the University of Lapland, with some sessions available online. The keynote presentations will be streamed, while certain parallel sessions will be held exclusively in lecture halls or online. The exhibitions will be presented both on-site and as part of an art catalog.

All speakers, artists and participants must register for the conference by the end of October 2024 and pay the registration fee. Still, undergraduate students at the University of Lapland can attend the lecture sessions for free without registering as event participants.

More information on the event, programme and registration can be found at the ASAD website.

Information on the ASAD network also at Instagram and Facebook.

Projects on new genre Arctic art education:

  • New Genre Art Education in the Arctic and Community Art-Based Sustainability in the Arctic (funded by the Danish Agency for Science and Higher Education and administered by the University of the Arctic)
  • The Sustainability Portrait Project – Art, Location, and Social Responsibility for Sustainable Development in the Arctic (funded by the Nordic Council of Ministers' Nordic Arctic Cooperation Programme and administered by NAPA – Nordic Institute in Greenland)
  • New Genre Arctic Art Education: Development Project (2023–2025) (funded by the Nordic Council of Ministers Nordplus Horizontal 2023)
  • During the symposium, the Lessons of the Land: New Genre Arctic Art Merges Land-Based Learning with Digital Media Education project, funded by the Canadian Arctic Leadership Initiative – Indigenous and Northern Collaborative Research and Education Fund, will also be launched.