The Arts Catalyst, the British Library and the Open University present

POLAR: Fieldwork & Archive Fever
An interdisciplinary symposium
 
Monday 19 & Tuesday 20 November 2007
British Library Conference Centre, St Pancras, 96 Euston Road, London NW1
Registration fee: £25
To register contact Kathryn Yusoff, University of Exeter: [log in to unmask]

      
Left & second left: Photo Kathryn Yusoff, 2nd from right: London Fieldworks,
Polaria fieldwork NE Greenland (photo Anthony Oliver)
Far right: Anne Brodie, Wastegloo

Polar: Fieldwork and Archive Fever is an interdisciplinary symposium
focusing on the curation and production of climate change knowledge in the
polar regions.  It brings together scientists, writers, artists, historians
and social scientists with interests in knowledge about the polar landscape
and its broader implications for global climate and society.

Polar regions are both exceptional to and considered representative of the
developments in global climate change and climate change science.  Given the
important claims and policy decisions based on the polar archive, it is
timely to consider the way in which our knowledge of this archive has been
produced.  Historically, control of polar archives and landscapes has gone
hand in hand.  Recent work suggests that this archive and the landscapes
represented therein could be structured and interpreted in alternative ways.
This might give rise to alternative visions and uses of polar landscapes and
their connection to a wider global picture.

The symposium is organised by the Open University in association with the
British Library and The Arts Catalyst with international partners as part of
a wider multi-disciplinary project exploring cultural and scientific issues
surrounding climate change in the context of the International Polar Year
(2007-08). It incorporates the 2-day Polar symposium, a publication, and a
series of public lectures taking place at the British Library.

Keynote speakers: Professor Denis Cosgrove, University of California, Los
Angeles, editor of High Places: Cultural Geographies of Mountains and Ice
(2008); Professor Sverker Sörlin, Royal Institute of Technology, Sweden,
co-editor of Narrating the Arctic (2002); Professor Rachel Weiss, Art
Institute of Chicago, curator and author of Imagining Antarctica (1986); and
Simon Faithfull, artist and author of Ice Blink (2006)

The project is supported by a grant from the Arts Council, England, the Open
University and in-kind support from the British Library

Symposium web-site:
http://www.artscatalyst.org/polararchives.html


A SEASON OF CLIMATE CHANGE TALKS AT THE BRITISH LIBRARY
The art and science of climate change

As part of the Polar programme, a series of four public lectures at the
British Library will address the broader cultural and policy-related themes
arising from the symposium.

Wednesday 17 October
EVERYDAY DISASTERS
Discussant: Dr Nigel Clark, Geography, Open University. Speakers include:
Professor Bob Spicer, Earth Sciences, Open University
(climateprediction.net).

Monday 5 November
CLIMATE CHANGE & HUMAN RIGHTS
Discussant: Dr Michael Bravo, Head of the Circumpolar History and Public
Policy Research Group, Scott Polar Research Institute, University of
Cambridge. Speaker: Aqqaluk Lynge, President of the Inuit Circumpolar
Council (ICC) Greenland.

Monday 19th November
THE NEW ICONOGRAPHY OF CLIMATE CHANGE
Discussant: Professor Denis Cosgrove, University of California, Los Angeles.
Speakers: Dr Eric Wolff, Glacier Chemist, British Antarctic Survey, Stephan
Harrison, Associate Professor of Quaternary Science, University of
Exeter/Senior Research Associate, Oxford University Centre for the
Environment, Director of Climate Change Risk Management, and Marko Peljhan,
artist and initiator of I-TASC (Interpolar Transnational Art Science
Constellation), Director, Projekt Atol

Monday 26 November
GEOPOLITICS OF COLD
Discussant: Christine McGourty, BBC polar correspondent. Speakers: Professor
Doreen Massey, FRSA, FBA, Geography, Open University, author of For Space
(2005), and World City (2007), Winner of the Prix Vautrin Lud (the ONobel de
Géographie¹) in 1998. Klaus Dodds, Professor of Geopolitics, Royal Holloway,
University of London, author of Geopolitics in a changing world (1999) and
Pink Ice (2002).

All lectures 18.30 - 20.00
The British Library Conference Centre
Price £6 (concessions £4)
Tickets can be purchased at the British Library box office
http://boxoffice.bl.uk
T +44 (0) 1937 546546 or in person at the Information Desk in the British
Library