Climate Change at the Poles

Exhibition

Exhibition Overview

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Climate Change at the Poles
Kate Meyer, curator
Jennifer Talbott, curator
Angela Watts, curator
North Balcony and South Balcony, Spencer Museum of Art, University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas

How do maps and a kayak relate to climate change? In conjunction with the current International Polar Year, a period devoted to polar research, this exhibition considers examples of material culture from the North and South Poles as evidence of human response to the regions where scientists indicate climate change is occurring most rapidly. These objects reveal how humans have attempted to understand the geographically remote and physically extreme Poles. The tools, textiles, and wayfinders produced by humans who inhabit the North Pole and study the South Pole reflect different ways of understanding these places. We believe that the innovative, adaptive, and analytical responses to the Poles manifested in the objects on view serve as models as we seek to better understand and respond to the challenges of our rapidly changing world.

Climate Change at the Poles is organized by Kate Meyer, curatorial assistant, prints & drawings; Jennifer Talbott, assistant to the director; and Angela Watts, assistant collections manager, with contributions from advisors Steve Goddard, senior curator, Jonathan Chester, Extreme Images, and Dan Wildcat, Haskell Indian Nations University (HINU). The pro­ject consists of an alliance with the National Science Foundation’s KU-headquartered Center for Remote Sensing of Ice Sheets (CReSIS), cooperation with departments across campus, and collaboration with HINU. In addition, the Spencer has commissioned photographer Terry Evans to travel to Greenland to photograph the coasts and ice sheets-her work will be on view in the Museum’s Asian Gallery II.

Outreach plans include lectures, a film and book series, children’s art classes and other University, community, and regional efforts.

Exhibition images

Works of art

Events

January 29, 2009
Talk
6:30–7:30PM
January 31, 2009
Workshop
10:30AM–12:30PM
January 31, 2009
Workshop
1:30–3:30PM
February 7, 2009
Workshop
10:30AM–12:30PM
February 7, 2009
Workshop
1:30–3:30PM
February 13, 2009
Performance
7:00–8:30PM
February 19, 2009
Screening
7:00–9:00PM
309 Auditorium
March 12, 2009
Talk
6:00–7:00PM
Gallery 318
March 12, 2009
Screening
7:00–9:00PM
309 Auditorium
March 26, 2009
Talk
5:00–6:00PM
309 Auditorium
March 27, 2009
Talk
10:00AM–12:00PM
Gallery 317 Central Court
March 27, 2009
Talk
1:00–2:00PM
Gallery 404
April 9, 2009
Screening
7:00–9:00PM
309 Auditorium
April 16, 2009
Performance
7:30–9:30PM
April 21, 2009
Talk
7:00–8:00PM
Lawrence Public Library, 707 Vermont St
April 24, 2009
Talk
3:00–4:00PM
309 Auditorium
May 5, 2009
Talk
3:00–4:00PM
Gallery 405
May 14, 2009
Screening
7:00–9:00PM
309 Auditorium

Resources

Audio

Didactic – Art Minute
Didactic – Art Minute
Episode 174 Feb-2009, Megan Ampe I’m David Cateforis with another Art Minute from the Spencer Museum of Art. In conjunction with the fourth International Polar Year, currently underway, the Spencer invites you to consider examples of material culture from both the North and South Poles in the current exhibition, Climate Change at the Poles. This exhibition focuses on the human responses evoked by the extreme climates in the polar north, and south, where scientists find the most rapid change in climate presently occurring. In looking at the North Pole the exhibition focuses on the adaptive and innovative responses of the Inuit, who inhabit the Arctic north, increasing our understanding of the skills that allowed them to prosper in this austere and inhospitable environment. The examination of the Antarctic focuses on scientific study, and the effect of increased knowledge on our understanding of the Antarctic continent. Through the presentation of these artifacts of human experience and observation, the Spencer exhibition explores the skills and ingenuity necessary to survive in and learn from these extreme, yet beautiful environments. Climate Change at the Poles is on view through May 24th. With thanks to Megan Ampe for her text, from the Spencer Museum of Art, I’m David Cateforis.