Residency at UmArts & Umeå Institute of Design,

Umeå, Sweden

7 November – 6 December 2024

In this residency hosted by the Umeå Institute of Design and UmArts on Ubmeje Sápmi, lands of the Sámi people in Northern Sweden, we explore the effects of climate change on the sensitive olfactory relationships between lichen, reindeer and snow. Lichen is the primary food for reindeer during long winters which they detect through snow by its smells. However, human-induced climate change generates ice rather than snow which traps the lichen smells and herders must buy food for the reindeer or they will starve. This residency provides a unique opportunity to work with lichen and reindeer researchers and Herbarium UME to help us understand the ecological, cultural and affective olfactory relationships between species in the fragile ecologies of the Arctic. We are developing and exhibiting site-specific artworks for exhibition at the Swedish Research Council Symposium on Artistic Research 2024, “Hurricanes and Scaffolding,” hosted by UmArts.