Exhibitions
Events
On display
Looking South: Visual Art and Antarctica
Adele Jackson - Only Leave Footprints
Talk
Past event
Philip Carter Family Auditorium
Free
Prepare to come on a journey to the icy south and see the world through different eyes. Artist Adele Jackson presents a talk charting the development of art in Antarctica as a backdrop for a closer look at what contemporary artists can contribute to our relationship with Antarctica and the wider world.
A tradition of artists working in Antarctica can be traced back to the earliest days of discovery and exploration. Over time the role of artists in society and their engagement with Antarctica has evolved and diversified. Insights about science and the natural world, environmental conservation, public engagement and the concept of global citizenship are just some of the themes that can be found in the artwork from artists who have the chance to visit or work in Antarctica each year.
Adele Jackson is an artist from the UK and is currently a PhD student at Gateway Antarctica at the University of Canterbury, Christchurch. Adele worked in arts and cultural management for over fifteen years before pursuing her dream of working in Antarctica. She made the dream a reality in 2013, first as an expedition photographer on board a polar cruise ship and more recently spending two summer seasons as Base Leader of Port Lockroy, working for the UK Antarctic Heritage Trust.
Related reading: Talk
Exhibition
Ruth Watson: from white darkness
14 October 2012
Offering a poetic commentary on the intriguing resemblances between art and science, Ruth Watson's container-based video installation combines historical footage, text and her own Antarctic imagery.
Exhibition
Grahame Sydney: Photographs of Antarctica
2 December 2007
A collection of eight images, Grahame Sydney: Photographs of Antarctica portray Sydney's unmistakable interpretation of the landscape, capturing the vast horizon, barren environment and the sense of human impermanence.
Exhibition
Phil Dadson: Aerial Farm
14 October 2007
Video and audio material recorded in the Dry Valleys of Antarctica explore an environment through sound and image.
Collection
Anne Noble White Lantern
Antarctica looms large – both on our planet and in human imagination – and it’s a place Anne Noble has researched and visited since 2001. Rather than repeating already-photographed views, she seeks out different images that hint at how we think about the least populated continent on Earth. She was intrigued by a 17th-century theory proposed by the astronomer Edmond Halley that the Earth is hollow rather than solid, with a portal to its interior located somewhere in Antarctica. Presumably, because this place could never be found, its existence could never be disproved. With its air valve positioned over the South Pole, this blow-up globe is a perfect illustration of the mystery – and fragility – of Antarctica.
(Absence, May 2023)