The northern ice regions of our earth host cultures have followed traditional ways of life - related to ice, hunting and dwelling in extreme environments - for over 4000 years. In the ancient world the Hyperboreer was a mythic nation living at the most northerly edge of human imagination. The Inuits are the last limb in this Hyperboreic history, but now it seems their cultural tomorrow is doomed. Climate change is radically deforming this Inuit anthroposphere, changing indelibly their cultural selfconception and social texture. Geopolitical tugs of war on the north pole for raw materials for the combustion chambers of global industrialisation are impacting on traditional ways of life and endangering these forever. Can anything be done?
What are the cultural, economic and political conditions for regional cooperations in art, digital culture and the creative industries? Can the working conditions (production, presentation, distribution) of creative producers, artists and art initiatives be improved by means of professional networking?
The Climate change in its cause and physical impact is a matter of the natural siences. But the complexity and vast squareness of its consequences turn the debate into a matter of social and cultural studies. "In climate change lies not only the chance to overcome outmoded standards of living and actings but also to develop new institutional and individual modes of cooperation and cultural techniques for handling large scale threats." What are the chances and possibilities (technological and cultural) of opposing the destructive dynamics of climate change with constructive elements (policy, economy, technology, culture, art etc.)?
Marina Grzinic is doctor of philosophy and works as researcher at the Institute of Philosophy at the ZRC SAZU in Ljubljana. She is a freelance media theorist and curator, and has been involved in video art since 1982.
