The Eerie, Beautiful Sounds of the Arctic

In the past ten years, arts foundations, environmental groups, and governments have encouraged artists to visit the Arctic, where the climate is warming most rapidly. These artists document dramatic changes in the Far North that already affect animal populations, like the  polar bears, and many indigenous people and their traditional cultural traditions and their livelihood. Visual artists, playwrights, musicians, and writers have captured a quickly transforming landscape as they seek to make this distant cold world more accessible for people living in countries that need to pursue climate action plans.

Last month in the Art House, we featured playwright Chantal Bilodeau and her plays set in the Arctic. This month takes another trip to the far North to experience the beautiful and strange sounds that fill the Arctic.

Artist Fritz Horstman talks about his trip to the Arctic Circle to take underwater photographs. The visual landscape of the frozen and thawing North captivated him, but the sounds really inspired him. He asked his fellow artists on the voyage to recreate the creaks and groans of the glaciers for his video, Ice Voices.

Coming up next month, hear poet Tyree Daye read from his book of poetry, River Hymns.

If you like what you hear, you can listen to full episodes of Citizens’ Climate Radio on iTunes, Stitcher Radio, SoundCloud, Podbean, Northern Spirit Radio, Google Play, PlayerFM, and TuneIn Radio. Also, feel free to connect with other listeners, suggest program ideas, and respond to programs in the Citizens’ Climate Radio Facebook group or on Twitter at @CitizensCRadio.

This article is part of The Art House series. 

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As host of Citizens’ Climate Radio, Peterson Toscano regularly features artists who address climate change in their work. The Art House section of his program includes singer/songwriters, visual artists, comics, creative writers, and playwrights. Through a collaboration with Artists and Climate Change and Citizens’ Climate Education, each month Peterson will reissue The Art House for this blog. If you have an idea for The Art House, contact Peterson: radio @ citizensclimatelobby.org

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Artists and Climate Change is a blog that tracks artistic responses from all disciplines to the problem of climate change. It is both a study about what is being done, and a resource for anyone interested in the subject. Art has the power to reframe the conversation about our environmental crisis so it is inclusive, constructive, and conducive to action. Art can, and should, shape our values and behavior so we are better equipped to face the formidable challenge in front of us.

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