Climate Change at the Poles

Exhibition

Exhibition Overview

Climate Change at the Poles
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

unrecorded Kalaallit (Greenland Inuit) artist, pair of boots with liners
unrecorded Kalaallit (Greenland Inuit) artist
mid 1800s–1895
unrecorded Kalaallit (Greenland Inuit) artist, pair of sioragdlit (boots with liners)
unrecorded Kalaallit (Greenland Inuit) artist
mid 1800s–1895
unrecorded Native Arctic or Northwest Coast artist, needle
unrecorded Native Arctic or Northwest Coast artist
late 1800s–1926
unrecorded Kalaallit (Greenland Inuit) artist, spear thrower
unrecorded Kalaallit (Greenland Inuit) artist
mid 1800s–1895
American Geographical Society, Navigational Chart of the Antarctic
American Geographical Society
1928
National Geographic Society (Cartographic Division), Antarctica
National Geographic Society (Cartographic Division)
1957
American Geographical Society, Geologic Map of Antarctica
American Geographical Society
1972
United States Geological Survey; National Science Foundation, Antarctica Photomap. McMurdo Station
United States Geological Survey; National Science Foundation
1993
United States Geological Survey; National Science Foundation, Antarctica Satellite Image Map: Darwin Glacier
United States Geological Survey; National Science Foundation
2001
unrecorded Kalaallit (Greenland Inuit) artist, sermersiut (kayak scraper)
unrecorded Kalaallit (Greenland Inuit) artist
1800s
unrecorded Kalaallit (Greenland Inuit) artist, pair of kamik (boots) with alerseq (liners)
unrecorded Kalaallit (Greenland Inuit) artist
mid 1800s–1895
unrecorded Coast Salish or Native Alaskan artist, awl
unrecorded Coast Salish or Native Alaskan artist
awl
late 1800s–1926
unrecorded Kalaallit (Greenland Inuit) artist, female doll
unrecorded Kalaallit (Greenland Inuit) artist
1800s
unrecorded Kalaallit (Greenland Inuit) artist, male doll
unrecorded Kalaallit (Greenland Inuit) artist
1800s
unrecorded Kalaallit (Greenland Inuit) artist, miniature seal float
unrecorded Kalaallit (Greenland Inuit) artist
1800s
unrecorded Kalaallit (Greenland Inuit) artist, qutdleg (blubber lamp)
unrecorded Kalaallit (Greenland Inuit) artist
mid 1800s–1895
unrecorded Kalaallit (Greenland Inuit) artist, harpoon
unrecorded Kalaallit (Greenland Inuit) artist
mid 1800s–1895
unrecorded Kalaallit (Greenland Inuit) artist, pair of child's boots with liners
unrecorded Kalaallit (Greenland Inuit) artist
mid 1800s–1895
unrecorded Kalaallit (Greenland Inuit) artist, pair of mittens
unrecorded Kalaallit (Greenland Inuit) artist
mid 1800s–1895
unrecorded Kalaallit (Greenland Inuit) artist, eider duck blanket
unrecorded Kalaallit (Greenland Inuit) artist
mid 1800s–1895
unrecorded Native Alaskan artist, pair of miniature snowshoes
unrecorded Native Alaskan artist
late 1800s–mid 1900s
unrecorded Kalaallit (Greenland Inuit) artist, miniature sled
unrecorded Kalaallit (Greenland Inuit) artist
1800s
unrecorded Kalaallit (Greenland Inuit) artist, kayak paddle
unrecorded Kalaallit (Greenland Inuit) artist
mid 1800s–1895
unrecorded Kalaallit (Greenland Inuit) artist, float with line
unrecorded Kalaallit (Greenland Inuit) artist
mid 1800s–1895
unrecorded Kalaallit (Greenland Inuit) artist, harpoon
unrecorded Kalaallit (Greenland Inuit) artist
mid 1800s–1895
unrecorded Kalaallit (Greenland Inuit) artist, anguvigak (lance)
unrecorded Kalaallit (Greenland Inuit) artist
mid 1800s–1895
unrecorded Native Alaskan artist, cribbage board and game pieces
unrecorded Native Alaskan artist
early 1900s
unrecorded Yup'ik artist, story knife
unrecorded Yup'ik artist
late 1800s–1948
unrecorded Native Alaskan artist, pair of miniature mukluks (boots)
unrecorded Native Alaskan artist
late 1800s–1948
unrecorded Kalaallit (Greenland Inuit) artist, bird spear
unrecorded Kalaallit (Greenland Inuit) artist
mid 1800s–1895
unrecorded Kalaallit (Greenland Inuit) artist, miniature harpoon with spear thrower
unrecorded Kalaallit (Greenland Inuit) artist
1800s
unrecorded Native Alaskan artist, snow goggles
unrecorded Native Alaskan artist
late 1800s–1959
unrecorded Kalaallit (Greenland Inuit) artist, miniature bird spear
unrecorded Kalaallit (Greenland Inuit) artist
1800s
unrecorded Native Alaskan artist, seal gut parka
unrecorded Native Alaskan artist
mid 1800s–1895
unrecorded Kalaallit (Greenland Inuit) artist, kayak
unrecorded Kalaallit (Greenland Inuit) artist
1800s
unrecorded Kalaallit (Greenland Inuit) artist, ulu (knife)
unrecorded Kalaallit (Greenland Inuit) artist
1800s
unrecorded Kalaallit (Greenland Inuit) artist, pants
unrecorded Kalaallit (Greenland Inuit) artist
mid 1800s–1895
unrecorded Kalaallit (Greenland Inuit) artist, miniature kayak
unrecorded Kalaallit (Greenland Inuit) artist
mid 1800s–1895
unrecorded Kalaallit (Greenland Inuit) artist, pair of mittens
unrecorded Kalaallit (Greenland Inuit) artist
mid 1800s–1895
unrecorded Kalaallit (Greenland Inuit) artist, line with harpoon point
unrecorded Kalaallit (Greenland Inuit) artist
mid 1800s–1895
unrecorded Kalaallit (Greenland Inuit) artist, parka
unrecorded Kalaallit (Greenland Inuit) artist
mid 1800s–1895
unrecorded Native Alaskan artist, polar bear figure
unrecorded Native Alaskan artist
late 1800s–1947
unrecorded Native Alaskan artist, caribou figure
unrecorded Native Alaskan artist
late 1800s–1947
unrecorded Native Alaskan artist, man in a kayak
unrecorded Native Alaskan artist
late 1800s–1947
unrecorded Native Alaskan artist, child's bracelet
unrecorded Native Alaskan artist
late 1800s–1947
Pauta Saila (1917–2009), Butchering Walrus on Ice Floe
Pauta Saila (1917–2009)
1967
Davis Garber, Lewis Lindsay Dyche
Davis Garber
1895
unrecorded Canadian Inuit artist, woman holding a baby
unrecorded Canadian Inuit artist
1960
unrecorded Canadian Inuit artist, seal figure
unrecorded Canadian Inuit artist
mid 1900s
Howard Weyahok (1911–1976), walrus tusk depicting a dog team and sled
Howard Weyahok (1911–1976)
late 1800s–1941
unrecorded Northwest Coast artist, ulu (knife)
unrecorded Northwest Coast artist
late 1800s–1926
unrecorded Native Arctic or Northwest Coast artist, sewing needle
unrecorded Native Arctic or Northwest Coast artist
late 1800s–1926
unrecorded Native Arctic or Northwest Coast artist, awl
unrecorded Native Arctic or Northwest Coast artist
awl
late 1800s–1926
Ellen Mosley-Thompson, ice core
Ellen Mosley-Thompson
2008
Center for Remote Sensing of Ice Sheets (CReSIS) (founded 2005), Echogram, West Antarctic Ice Sheet
Center for Remote Sensing of Ice Sheets (CReSIS) (founded 2005)
date unknown
Victor Zagorodnov, ice core sample
Victor Zagorodnov
date unknown

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.