The conference is a two-day conference on how art and aesthetic expressions can contribute to creating communities and well-being – with special reference to children, young people, and families– in Greenland, the Nordic region, and the Arctic.

The overall goal of the conference is to provide knowledge about art-based initiatives that work to strengthen well-being, democratic participation, social sustainability, and access to Rights for all children, young people, and families. There will be a special focus on ways of expressing oneself and participating, especially through community art, i.e., art as an expression of and way to creating a sense of belonging to local communities. The conference will open for dialogue between researchers and practitioners.

The conference will open opportunities to build lasting collaborations between artists, practitioners, and universities to meet the challenges and changes taking place in the Arctic through megatrends such as urbanization, globalization, and climate change that are changing the eco-social and cultural life. Art has proven to be a way to express feelings and understandings of the changes and a way to build socially and culturally sustainable communities by connecting and bridging diverse groups and populations and ensuring freedom of expression and access to cultural activities for all people of the Arctic.

The conference shows the ongoing cooperation between the following networks, programs, and projects and the synergy between them:

  1. BUFFI (Child, Youth and Family Research Centre at Ilisimatusarfik – University of Greenland. (Supported by Ilisimatusarfik – University of Greenland.)
  2. Visibility, Redress and Outlook (2019 – 2023), which is a sub-project under the Nordic program: Art and Community. (Funded by the Arts Council Norway and the Danish Arts Foundation.)
  3. UArctic Project: New Genre Art Education in the Arctic – which is part of the UArctic Thematic Network: Arctic Sustainable Art and Design, led by Professor Timo Jokela, University of Lapland. (Supported by UArctic)
  4. UArctic Thematic Network: Children in the Arctic – Traditional Knowledge and Sustainable Development. Led by Ilisimatusarfik and Professor Marianne Stenbaek, Co-director, McGill University. (Supported by UArctic)
  5. The Siunissaq project - social resilience in children and young people in local communities in Greenland. (Supported by the A P Møller Foundation and by the Bikuben Foundation and other foundations.)
  6. The project Art, Identities and Localities in Greenland and the Arctic. (Supported by the Nordic Culture Fund.)

The conference will bring together these programs and projects and foster dialogue between them.

Conference program

For more information, registration and link for the live-stream, please visit the Conference website.