In the nature reservation part of the National Park planted spruce trees have shifted from an economic resource to an ecological threat. The restoration helps nature become more natural but triggers questions related to environmental ethics.
Associate professor from the University of Lapland, Maria Huhmarniemi, describes artists role in the project: "Artistic fieldwork arranged as excursions for a week each brings artists into a dialogue with biodiversity research and reflection on sustainability and changes in nature in the Nordic Arctic region. The amazing nature in the national park inspires artistic work. More collaborations could be done between art educational institutions and national park organizations."
OOC brings together universities, artist freelancers as well as research and art institutions. The project is based on Nordic collaboration with a nature restoration project "Observation - An observation of change" at the Junkerdal area in Saltdal municipality, Norway. Participating artists document, demonstrate, reflect and comment on changes in nature in the national park and tackle the complex questions of nature restoration, in a dialogue with Natural Park managers and scientists. Art workshops, in which environmental art is experimented, are also arranged for school pupils. Anja Kath Lande, curator at the Adde Zetterquist art gallery, shared this testament to the project's influence on the younger generation. "The workshops, a key component of the project, increased dialogue with community members and left a lasting impact on the participating school pupils—energetic and eager to experiment building from natural materials".
Institutional partners of the OOC are Adde Zetterquist Art Gallery, Nordland National Park Centre, the University of Lapland, Nord University, and the Arctic Sustainable Arts and Design network. Biodiversity research in conducted by the Norwegian Institute of Nature Research (NINA) and the Norwegian University of Life Sciences. OOC is funded by the Nordic Culture Fund, as well as project partners. The results will be shown in the Adde Zetterquist Art Gallery (Norway), the University of Lapland (Finland) and the Havremagasinet art hall (Sweden).
Photos from the workshops with school pupils. Photographer: Birgitta Linhart, 2024.