Art and the Arctic: Who gets to tell the stories of the north?

In this episode, Serafima speaks with Ekaterina Sharova, art historian, curator, and doctoral researcher at the University of Lapland. As the co-founder of the Arctic Art Forum, she has spent a decade building platforms for artists and cultural workers across the circumpolar North.

We discuss the origins of the forum, which started in 2016 with a focus on "embodied knowledge" and rediscovering forgotten local histories. Ekaterina shares how growing up in Arkhangelsk and later studying in Oslo shaped her interest in whose stories get told in art history, and whose get left out. The conversation moves through topics like the historical Pomor trade between northern Norway and Russia, the little-known connection between Arkhangelsk and Alaska through New Arkhangelsk (now Sitka), and the legacy of three decades of Barents cooperation since the 1993 Kirkenes Declaration.

We also talk about this year's forum theme, "climate microchanges," and why focusing on small villages and individual stories can reveal the scope of what the Arctic is facing. Research shows the region is warming nearly four times faster than the global average, and Ekaterina explains how artists are responding to this reality through work that raises awareness while also creating space for contemplation and grief.

The conversation touches on the challenges of people-to-people collaboration in the current geopolitical climate, the role of ecofeminism in Arctic art, and what it means to sustain platforms for critical voices when so much cultural infrastructure has disappeared. Ekaterina reflects on the importance of creating possibilities for young artists in regions where support systems barely exist.