A trip to the Arctic - kind of

So, we managed one cultural outing during half term a couple of weeks ago when we went to see that Arctic: Culture and Climate exhibition at the British Museum. It was fascinating to learn about how the four million people who live there live and have lived for thousands of years. It’s also depressing to see how their surroundings are changing beyond recognition due to climate change. Their and all of our lives will look very different in the coming decades, but I guess ultimately everything is constantly changing on our planet, and always has done, but the difference now is that we’re to blame. Sigh. Stupid humans! It’s crazy how we can be so clever but also so incredibly ignorant. Anyway… it was quite dark and busy in exhibition (no social distancing but lots of face masks) so I didn’t manage to take many pictures. This map made out of seal skin was amazing. The indigenous people of the Arctic Circle made/make use of every part of animals that they hunted for food, so a seal skin could end up being a map or waterproofs among other things.

It was one of those exhibitions where there was quite a bit to read about every piece, which of course was very good and informative, but I find that if I read too much I then don’t end up looking properly. I should always remember to look first and then read. I have no memory of what this little dude was, but all I know is that he’s very cool.

The bead work on this apron made up of some sort of skin (reindeer? caribou?) was mind-blowing. I wonder how many months it would’ve taken to make.

This jacket made out of caribou fur was also pretty amazing. Love the design. All hand sewn.

There were prints made by artists scattered through the exhibition.

And sculptures out of soap stone.

As well as engravings done on walrus tusks.

I went through the exhibition slower than Oomoo and Mr Famapa, so they were finishing up as I was half-way through. They asked me to guess what Oomoo’s choice was if he could take one thing home with him, and as soon as I saw these masks I knew straight away that these were it.

My take-home would’ve been this soapstone printing block, such a beautiful object, don’t you think? Even with the cracks.

And this is how the print looked from the above block. So cool! If you want find out a bit more you can read more about the Artic here on the British Museum blog. Once a year the World Eskimo-Indian Olympics takes place, where people from the circumpolar areas in the world compete in sporting categories that are designed to preserve cultural practices and traditional survival skills. I found a little clip on youTube from one of them here. Some categories look really painful, others really fun, and some seriously impressive. It was such an interesting exhibition and I’m so grateful we got the chance to go before everything closed up again.