research trips – TERRA IGNOTA

Cultural Agglomeration Zone (CAZ) 2026

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Research in Bahía Wulaia and Seno Ponsonby

The Cultural Agglomeration Zone project investigates the accumulation of cultural, historical, and environmental layers in Bahía Wulaia and Seno Ponsonby (in the Cape Horn archipelago).
Indigenous habitation, over prolonged periods of time, is also understood as a sustainable model from which to gauge current transformations in the region. The effects of climate change in Ponsonby can be observed in real-time through precipitation patterns and vegetation as well as the rapid growth in maritime logistics and expanding Antarctic route linked with the politics and economics of the thawing polar region. This increasing global pressure threatens the fragile local heritage and its uniquely rich sub-Antarctic oceanic ecosystem. Ancient forests, lichen cultures, peat- and wetlands, rivers, and marine habitats and migration channels become increasingly vulnerable in a geopolitical zone that has long been shaped by territorial disputes that ignores this ecological fragility.

Non-invasive analysis of landscape

The Terra Ignota team will apply non-invasive, experimental survey methods to document the place (see Caleta Wulaia, Historical and Archaeological Evidence for more information on possible traces) as well as a preliminary analysis of underwater ecosystems, morphologies and ambience. Collected data will be cross-referenced with local narratives, historical accounts, maritime practices, and ecological records to generate a vector map uncovering long-term human–environment interactions. Particular emphasis will be placed on agencies of sound in the region, reflecting both the central role of oral tradition in preserving heritage and the importance of voiced communication in environmental navigation as well as specific acoustic conditions of the site facilitating bird and marine mammal communication. Close consideration will also be given to the relationship between humans and marine mammals (see Whale Refractions: Heritage in the Age of Mammals for more details on that aspect of the research) —to decipher the manners in which human/marine mammal encounters informed strategies of subsistence, mobility, and social organization in the Ponsonby coastal region.

Wulaia as a nomadic “megalopolis”

The project conceives of Wulaia not only as a zone of transit, but also as a zone of social aggregation–anomadic “megalopolis”, a center of complex activity where knowledge, remains, and cultural practices from different epochs overlap. It is understood as a center of complex activity where knowledge, material remains, and cultural practices from different epochs converge.

Two dimensions: science and digital art in co-creation

This research consists of two complementary dimensions. On the one hand, a scientific line that, through alternative, collective, and non-invasive methodologies, fokus on the forms of sub-Antarctic settlement within the broader human project. On the other, an artistic dimension that employs digital tools to layer and visualize cartographic data, generating devices for critical analysis and cultural mediation. This second aspect is oriented toward processes of artistic-scientific and community co-creation, fostering knowledge exchange and the development of open resources and platforms that transcend the academic sphere to engage with diverse audiences in the international arena.

Cultural Agglomeration Zone: heritage and Antarctic future

The Cultural Agglomeration Zone is a space for reflecting on the ways of inhabiting, where past and present layers overlap, promoting the integral preservation of tangible and intangible heritage —as well as a platform for projecting into the future — deepening the understanding of settlement and ecosystem relations. The timely urgency of this concerted effort, with focussed attention to a fragile ecosystem with little international visibility, cannot be understated in the face of transitions and pressures currently underway redefining Ponsinby as a critical passage en-rout to Antarctica. Please refer to this video for an overview of Terra Ignota’s commitment and approach to this unique corner of the globe https://terra-ignota.net/2025/07/24/antarctic-congresses-2025/

Drone mapping, DJI FC2103, February 2025 © Robert Carracedo Recasens

Radiales 2025

> projects / 2025 / radiales / Preliminary Visit / Emerging Archive / Historic Background / Forum / Documentation / Participants

Radiales is the name of the new project by Terra Ignota, extending the geological research “Intercultural Contact Zone” conducted between 2017 and 2024 in Yendegaia National Park. This project continues the transdisciplinary study as a way to understand this territory and its different forms of interpretation.

The study area focuses on the geological continuity of Yendegaia Bay, specifically the Murray Channel. This maritime passage is located latitudinally between Hoste Island and Navarino Island, and longitudinally between the Beagle Channel and Nassau Bay at Cape Horn, at coordinates 55°00’00.0″S 68°19’49.7″W. As a base camp, we will use the former navy radio station located in Bahía Wulaia.

Bahia Wulaia and area of Murray Channel (Yagashaga)

The central idea of Radiales is to rethink the function and scope of the contemporary museum beyond revitalizing a former radio station as a heritage space. We want to reflect on the mechanisms that act as a bridge for the museum to connect meaningfully with the community it serves, considering the inclusion of the otherness that cohabits it. It’s about understanding this space, which has functioned as a place of repeated and natural convergence since prehistoric times, emitting signals toward the future, inscribed in its oceans, rocks, and wind.

The main objective of this exploration is to establish a framework, research, and experimentation with clear questions and objectives, understanding the potential and limitations for further explorations. The fieldwork will be focused on creating a curatorial line, forming work teams, and developing production methods that align with the geography, climate, and the various social actors already present. It’s about finding the right questions and identifying the appropriate methods, tools, and specialists to address them effectively.

Museums as Transmission Technologies

An antenna, both in the natural world and the electromagnetic realm, can be defined as a sensory organ that acts as a bridge between two realities. In insects and other animals, antennas are sensory structures that capture chemical and physical signals from the environment, translating them into vital information for survival. In the field of science and technology, electromagnetic antennas play a similar role, capturing radio waves and other types of electromagnetic radiation, converting them into data that enable communication and the transfer of significant information.

The museum-antenna adopts the fundamental mechanism of a museum: taking something from the present to construct a past. The difference is that the museum-antenna views heritage as a continuous and collective construction that develops, transmits, and evolves over time. Its goal is to reflect the richness and complexity that make up heritage in a living, constantly mutating process.

By basing its practice on invisible energies, the museum-antenna transcends the traditional idea of a museum as a preserver of the past, moving instead between preservation and transmission. The conservation strategy of this museum is to transmit, to externalize and liberate heritage to the potential multitude of its resonance.

We aim to perceive the Murray Channel as a living archive, an in-situ museum piece understood through the constant aggregation of abstractions and subjectivities. The museum-antenna will serve as the transceiver of experiences, viewpoints, and interpretations inscribed in this archive, stored in the form of matter, energy, and information that transcends human comprehension and temporal scales.

In Radiales, we start from the premise that we can only preserve what is transformed, and that we only truly possess what is shared. The museum-antenna intensifies this idea by using radio signals to create a listening network and an acoustic community that transcends the physical barriers of the island.

Taces and encounters

Open forum – February 5 and 6, 18:00 – 20:00
@ Museo Territorial Yagán Usi – Martín González Calderón
Aragay esquina Gusinde, Puerto Williams, Chile

organized by Museo Martín González + Terra Ignota

supported by:

Cerro Otten 2024

This project is an archaeological prospection in Cerro Otten, Última Esperanza, Magallanes, Chile – following the discovery of rock-paintings by Alfredo Prieto in 2022. Despite being located in an easily accessible territory close to inhabited places, the area features numerous unexplored valleys and favorable conditions for discovering rich archaeological sites. The study is aiming to document Prieto’s findings and to establish and discuss protocols for archaeological prospecting of this area in the future.
The expedition in March 2024 was possible thanks to the support of Prisma Austral and its Center Scientist Edmundo Pisano , in collaboration with the Laguna de Los Cisnes Corporation.

Paintings found by Prieto, 2022 © Thierry Dupradou

Background
Cerro Otten is found about 40 km north of Puerto Natales and about 20 km from Cerro Benítez, the place where the Milodón Cave is located. The site was discovered a few years ago by Alfredo Prieto within the framework of the development of a Fondart project.

The site is a rock-shelter with paintings and stratigraphic deposits at the base of a hill. The cave paintings, spanning approximately 30x3x5 meters, were found in an area very conducive to past human habitation. The geology of the site and its surroundings, specifically the Cerro Toro Formation (Hubbard, Romans, and Graham, 2007), creates habitable spaces, caves, and eaves. These features historically attracted nomadic populations, suggesting the potential for further discoveries in the Sierra Señoret area. Carefully studying and analyzing the paintings and surroundings may help to understand the role of the flow of social information mediated via visual imagery in the wider context of population dynamics. (see Francisco et al., 2022)

The area gave rise to the development of rock paintings not only among the terrestrial hunter-gatherer populations of Patagonia but also among the canoe-faring Fuegian people. On the other side of the Última Esperanza Sound, the first evidence of cave paintings attributable to canoeists was found in a child burial (Cueva de Los Niños, Legoupil and Prieto).

The community of Última Esperanza holds a deep appreciation for archaeological and paleontological discoveries. Notably, it proudly features the Milodon—an extinct species—as its emblem at the city entrance. Since the discovery of the Milodon cave by a group of german settlers in 1895 many of the early scientific expeditions dealt with that place, among others the Swedes Otto Nordenskjöld and Erland Nordenskiöld, Rodolfo Hauthal, Robert Lehman-Nitsche, Santiago Roth, Junius Bird and the French archaeological mission led by Joseph Emperaire and Anette Laming-Emperaire.

In all the caves I investigated during my expedition to these areas, I meticulously studied all the evidence, in order, if possible, to find some belonging to some mammal not yet known in south-western Patagonia. These efforts were not entirely fruitless, for I found, in the caves of the inaccessible forest between the Sierra Otten and the Sierra Campanilla, hitherto unvisited by the white man, evidence, as far as I can judge, of vizcacha, an animal which in these areas had been observed before in the Baguales Mountains…
(Erland Nordenskiöld, 1899)

The presence of the famous Milodon Cave (Martinic 1996) attracted so much attention and acted as a centrifugal force for scientific efforts in the area. This culminated in 1970 with the discovery by Felipe Bate of the Tres Cuevas – a large rock shelter with a cluster of motifs of red lines and dots over a length of more than 6 metres – paintings of difficult figurative ascription, with the exception of a motif called “ñandú footsteps”.

From then on, interest seems to have decreased until the development of a new interdisciplinary project in 1993, as Martinic points out :

It was then that the management of the Center for Southern Man Studies warned of the need to make a multidisciplinary effort, important although not conclusive, through a campaign of work to be carried out over the entire known area . With the support of the University of Magallanes (which the Patagonia Institute had joined in 1988) and the financial support of the National Geographic Society of the United States of America, it was carried out during During the months of January and February 1993, a field task in which around twenty researchers took part.

Many sites were discovered in the area, the most important were found in the surroundings of Cerro Benítez (Prieto 1991; Borrero, Martin, and Prieto 1997; Jackson and Prieto 2005) but areas as the Señoret mountain range – north of Cerro Benítez, between Cerro Mocho and Cerro Castillo – have not been archaeologically prospected.

Short exploration March 2024
From March 22–24, an interdisciplinary team visited the site to retrace the Prieto’s findings and to analyze the area and trace geographical formations that might host additional sites of interest.
From our base at Centro Científico Edmundo Pisano we approached the territory from south-east, following path of Prieto’s expedition in 2022.

Due to difficult territory and weather conditions we could not find back the original place in the given time frame. Nevertheless in a further prospection we identified a new archaeological site – another rock shelter with several small paintings and pigment traces. A careful investigation of the territory is necessary. Our future project encompasses further archaeological surveys, non-invasive studies, and interdisciplinary site analyses within this region. Especially interpretation an contextualization of visual imagery and graphic codes from an interdisciplinary perspective, respectively the arts seems very interesting.

There is little doubt that the rock art of the southern Patagonia Archipelago and the nearby mainland, with their rugged, windswept lands lashed by rain and snow, encouraged the forging of intercultural social bonds that—based on the evidence of contact between territories—allow us to infer an aspiration for cooperation rather than competition. Creating a network of social complementarity in which social information flowed probably made it possible to reduce survival risks associated with low-population density groups that were separated by long distances. (Francisco et al., 2022)

Participants:
Florencia Curci (AR), Thierry Dupradou (CL), Daniela Gimenez (CL), Alfredo Prieto (CL), Victor Mazón Gardoqui (ES), Nicolas Spencer (CL), Carsten Stabenow (DE), Federico Stager (CL)

Bibliography

Borrero, L., F. Martin, and A. Prieto 1997 La Cueva Lago Sofia 4 , Última Esperanza: A Late Pleistocene Feline Burrow . In Anales Del Instituto De La Patagonia, Human Sciences Series Pp. 103 – 122.

Hubbard, Stephen M., Brian W. Romans, and Stephan A. Graham 2007. An Outcrop Example of Large-scale Conglomeratic Intrusions Sourced from Deep-water Channel Deposits, Cerro Toro Formation, Magallanes Basin, Southern Chile.

Jackson, D., y Prieto 2005. Estrategias tecnológicas y conjunto lítico del contexto paleoindio de Cueva Sofía 1, Última Esperanza, Magallanes, Magallanes 33(1)

Martinic, Mateo 1996. La Cueva Del Milodon (Última Esperanza, Patagonia Chilena). Un Siglo De Descubrimientos y Estudios Referidos a La Vida Primitiva En El Sur De América. Journal De La Société Des Américanistes 82(1): 311–323.

Prieto, A. 1991. Cazadores Tempranos y Tardíos En Cueva Del Lago Sofía 1. Anales Del Instituto De La Patagonia 20: 75–99.

Legoupil, D., Prieto, A., Sellier,P. (2004) La cueva de los niños (Seno Última Esperanza): Nuevos hallazgos. Magallania, 32, 225 – 227.

Sepúlveda, M. A. (2011). Pinturas rupestres y tecnología del color en el extremo sur de Chile. Magallania, 39(1).

Preliminary Visit (Bahia Wulaia) 2024

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In preparation for the Radiales project (2025) we did an initial field trip in March 2024 in order to familiarize ourselves with the territory, to meet with the local community, partners and friends, to discuss some first ideas and frameworks and to get an idea about the place, logistics (transportation, access routes, etc.).
We visited the Martín Gonzalez Anthropological Museum (formerly Anthropological Museum Martín Gusinde) in Puerto Williams and several important historical sites along the northern coast of Navarino Island.

We undertook several field trips to complete our maps and walked a significant portion of the overland route from Lum to Bahía Wulaia. This route could be completed in about a day’s walk along a path parallel to the Murray Channel. The overland route would allow visitors to enter and exit Bahía Wulaia independently of maritime transport, which is also subject to weather conditions. On the other hand, we reached the mouth of the Murray Channel near Puerto Navarino. The maritime route from Puerto Williams to Bahía Wulaia takes about 10 hours and would provide another entry and exit route. In addition to transporting participants, this route would also allow for the transport of food and equipment necessary for field research.

At the beginning of this year, Terra Ignota partnered with the Corporación Laguna de Los Cisnes with the aim of combining knowledge, experience, and logistical infrastructure for research purposes. In June of this year, the Corporation acquired a vessel with the ideal characteristics for research in this remote and challenging geographical area. In November, the as-yet-unnamed ship, which docks at Puerto Williams, will be equipped with all the necessary navigation instruments and will be in the process of acquiring funds to transform it into a floating experimental laboratory.

For a few days we made station at Bahia Mejillones where Claudia Gonzalez welcomed us so hospitably in her family house. We felt very honoured to be able to spend time in this important, historic place. During the stay we established a few field transmissions to the radio.earth network, continued experiments within the frame of the Environmental Linguistics approach and other data registering and collection research.

participants:

Florencia Curci (AR), Iván Flores (CL), Claudia Gonzalez (CL), Elcira Hernández Walton (CL), Nicolas Spencer (CL/AT), Victor Mazón (ES), Carsten Stabenow (DE), Paula Urdangarín (CL)

Sonic Islands 2023

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Mirrored perceptions between Tierra del Fuego + Rügen
March and September 2023

Objects in mirror are closer than they appear

(unknown automobile producer)

Important for the Terra Ignota project is the aspect of mediation. How can this artistic-scientific knowledge production be translated for a wider audience? What are suitable formats for public presentation? How can results be transported to other geographical locations or in other cultural contexts without themselves being extractivist?

For us, this can only be sustainably developed through an intensive exchange between the international partners and, above all, through a constant critically adjusted practice on both sides. While we were thinking about scenarios and how to develop manifestations of that approach, we noticed some striking similarities between our different places of origin.

If you mirror the globe, you will find Germany’s largest island, Rügen, at almost exactly the opposite position of Tierra del Fuego. Both lie at precisely the same latitude. (54°36’20.5 “S Tierra del Fuego / 54°36’20.5 “N Rügen). A closer look reveals many similarities in geography and landscape, climate, flora and fauna, history and archaeology, culture and even recent social and demographic dynamics.

The Fuegians, indigenous groups of Selk’nam, Yagan, Kawesqar and Haush, settled Tierra del Fuego. Coming from the north with the great global migratory movements, they inhabited the southern cone for more than 10.000 years as nomadic hunter-gatherer communities. The colonization (settlements, sheep farming, wood cutting, local gold rush), and the systematic displacement and genocide didn’t occur until the second half of the nineteenth century. Early ethnographers were still able to observe their pre-colonial culture before the entire population nearly became extinct. The dramatic ecological, demographic and cultural effects of civilisational developments over the last 100 years are clearly visible throughout Tierra del Fuego.

On Rügen, similar historical developments can be observed with a time difference of a few centuries. Numerous megalithic tombs and a wealth of archaeological findings attest to settlement since the Stone Age. Owing to rich flint deposits, Rügen was an important centre for the production and trade in stone tools. Due to very rich Terminal Mesolithic (5000-4000BC) artifact findings in the area around Lietzow-Buddelin, the term Lietzow Culture was coined.This culture was related to the Ertebølle Culture of the Scandinavian region which is similar to the Shell Midden Culture in Tierra del Fuego. During the 1st century, Rügen was inhabited by the tribe of the Rugii or Rygir (Rye Eaters), who had most likely migrated from the Scandinavian region. From the 7th century onwards, Slavic immigrants from the Rani (or Rujani) tribe settled on Rügen and remained there until the Danes landed in 1168 and christianised the islanders. The more recent changes, from a former calm and remote island with local agriculture to a busy seasonal touristic hotspot, feels uncannily like what one might expect to unfold on Tierra del Fuego in the near future.

Apart from the historical and cultural dimensions, there are great similarities in the geological development and formation by glacial periods – again with a time difference. The retreat of glacier formations in Tierra del Fuego today is a very precise indicator of global warming in recent decades, the erosion caused by persistent drought and soil depletion on Rügen is yet another sign of human activity fast tracking ecological change. Although the Baltic and Southern Seas differ, they are also both home to porpoises and seals, and forced to address similar problems: increased littering, eutrophication, lack of phytoplankton, overfishing, pollution from concentrated fish farming or the direct effects of fossil fuel extraction and transit.

Both places face rapid changes in the near future due to current global developments and shifts in geo-political dynamics. (The race to Antarctica in Tierra del Fuego or the New Silk Road connection and long term LNG terminal infrastructure developments on Rügen)

SONIC ISLANDS focuses on the various auditory aspects of the TERRA IGNOTA project and is part of TIF 2023/24.
We are interested in the meaning of sound as a semantic system and as a form of artistic articulation. Questions about origin, identity, intercultural understanding but also about perception, legibility and interaction with the environment, social processes and structures beyond visually connoted reference systems are the subject of our joint research. Listening and making audible to stimulate changes of perspective in the process of artistic research and knowledge production as well as in communicating to an audience.

The research process started in Tierra del Fuego (March 2023) was continued on the geographically and culturally mirrored island of Rügen (September 2023). The results are presented on the opposite sides in the different local contexts – literally drawing a straight connecting line through the globe.

The reflection proved to be extremely productive. Beyond the similarities mentioned above, the residency process brought to light some very surprising connections that we had not anticipated – connecting once again with the pressing questions of our time. The project blog is documenting some of the findings, new connections and observations and shows some concrete site-specific sound installations, interventions, performances and activities.

Presentations:
Friday September 15th presentations at different locations on Rügen (Kap Arkona, Binz and Neukamp)

Tuesday September 19th open studio at liebig12 in Berlin 4 – 10pm

March 2024 final exhibition of the TERRA IGNOTA FORUM at UMAG, Punta Arenas

The project was funded by the Goethe Institut International Coproduction Funds and Musikfonds e.V. and support by Universidad Nacional de San Martin.

Terra Ignota Forum 2023

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Terra Ignota Forum (TIF) is a field laboratory that seeks to develop and implement a contemporary archive on the so-called “intercultural contact zone” (Selk’nam, Kawesqar and Yagán) located in Yendegaia National Park (YNP). The project is deployed in two stages, the first is the continuation of our interdisciplinary research in the territory and field forum (2023). The process and research will be documented and published in different media, individual artistic projects developed further and presented in the second stage to the public beginning of 2024 at the Universidad de Magallanes, Punta Arenas.

The first stage – Field Trip #04 and forum – builds on the results and archaeological findings of the previous Field Trip #3 in 2021 and approaches the territory in 3 transdisciplinary groups from 3 different directions. We will continue the search for cultural traces as well the work on individual project objectives. For the Forum, an extended group of artists, scientists, curators and the local communities will gather on site and reflect about the findings and results of the Field Trips and their implications. You can read more about the background, participants and objectives here.
The Field Trip #04 is taking place in joint partnership with the Terra Ignota – Sonic Islands project, enabled by the Goethe Institut International Coproduction Funds and from Musikfonds e.V.

field trip #03 2021

Almost 100 years ago the artist and explorer Rockwell Kent crossed the Baldivia Chain between Seno Almirantazgo and the Beagle Channel via the Lapataia Valley. His documentation* of the landscape and climate is one of the first descriptions of this passage and serves as an important historic reference. Especially interesting in our context is his perspective as an artist becoming an explorer – sensing, registering, translating and documenting in an unconventional way.

The intention of the research trip February 15 – March 5 2021 under the scientific direction of Alfredo Prieto is to highlight the significance of indigenous traces present in Tierra del Fuego, inter-ethnic traces which are bio-cultural routes of the past (stemming from the exchange of goods and genes). In particular, we will explore potential indigenous cultural marks that Rockwell Kent described, traces that would connect the ancestors of the Yagán community with the Kawesqar and Selk’nam in the Almirantazgo Seno area.

Despite their substantial archeological importance, there is currently no possibility to carry out full archeological studies since that would require excavation with the prior permission of the National Monuments Council. For now, an ethnographic survey will be carried out together with a multidisciplinary team in order to look for potential cultural traces that justify future excavation. To this end, we will be using non-conventional search tools and analyze the technical possibility of developing non-invasive prospecting instrumentation.

Although the search for cultural footprints is one of our goals, this expedition along the Kent Pass will also deal with the impact of climate change in this region and will continue the general search for the potential of interaction between art and science for knowledge production and mediation.
We’ll also continue the collection of materials for the exhibition that will be organized jointly with artist Nicolás Spencer in the Museum of Contemporary Art in Santiago (October 2021).

*Rockwell Kent, Voyaging, Southward from the Strait of Magellan, G.P. Putnam’s Sons/The Knickerbocker Press, 1924

Participants:
Nicolas Spencer (CL/AT), Alfredo Prieto (CL), Carsten Stabenow (DE), Raviv Ganchrow (US/IL/NL), Thierry Dupradou (FR), Mirko Petrovich (CL), Sofia Balbontin (CL), Rene Rissland (DE), Jost Bradtke (DE), Jacqueline Puratich (CL)

field trip #02 2019

From 7 to 22 December 2019, a second trip is going further south to sharpen possible research directions. On suggestion of the archaeologist Alfredo Prieto the group is intending to search for a possible prehistoric meeting place of the ancient tribes in the Bahia Blanca Valley.

participants:
Nicolas Spencer (CL/AT), Alfredo Prieto (CL), Diego Cortés (CL), Elisita Balbontin (CL), Valentina Montero (CL), Gerd Sielfeld (CL), Dominga del Campo (CL), Joali Paredes-Mariño (VEN)

field trip #01 2019

The first field trip in the frame of the actual Terra Ignota project was carried out from 2 until 18 March 2019. Starting from Punta Arenas, the group traveled as far south as possible by car to the end point of the road constructions in the Cardon Central.

The aim of this first trip was mainly to get a bit more familiar with Tierra del Fuego – place, history and context and to define potential interesting locations and research questions.

Main stations along the route were the former oil-worker settlements Cerro Sombrero and Campamento Puerto Percy established by ENAP (Empresa Nacional del Petróle) in the 50s. Porvenir, the biggest Chilean city in Tierra del Fuego, the national park and research center Karukinka, Estancia Caleta Maria at Seno Almirantazgo and Casa Museo Alberto Baeriswyl in Puerto Yartou.

participants:
Nicolas Spencer (CL/AT), Alfredo Prieto (CL), Lisa Lurati (CH), Carsten Stabenow (DE), Eric Mattson (CA)

Polar 2018

Artistic vision

The Antarctic continent is the one continent that is still seemingly secluded from the rest of the world. It was the last great land mass discovered by humans and uninhabited until the beginning of its colonization in the early 1820s. For decennia, it has served as a collaborative research territory, governed and safeguarded by the Antarctic Treaty.

The remoteness and specific conditions found on the Antarctic continent are often essential factors for making scientific work possible. As one of the ‘final frontiers’ the continent is now slowly discovered by tourism, which brings new challenges to this scarcely populated continent, and will result in increased human traces on the continent.

In the short time remaining during which the Antarctic region will still be relatively undisturbed, it is urgent to gather the knowledge that can only emerge from an integrated and comprehensive approach towards science, technology and the arts.

Is the Antarctic still truly an isolated continent, a blank canvas? Will the Antarctic remain a place for sustainable geo-political viability, while preserving its characteristics of today? How does this isolated position contribute to imagining alternative realities and futures? Will Antarctic resources be used and extracted in a responsible way and what tools and parameters can or should be used to index and measure this?

These are the questions that motivate the artists and curators of the POLAR project to start their three year exploration. A project supported by the Ministry of Culture, Arts and Heritage, the Chilean Navy and a group of international governmental organizations

POLAR wants to contribute to ideas about future Arctic settlement and the sustainable use of natural resources. We want to imagine what Antarctica, and an Antarctic society can become – beyond the populations of extraterrestrial research stations and the increasing touristic trend. We aim to propose a diversity of artistic projects, which can contribute to the further development of technologies and scientific scopes relating to the Antarctic territory. The idea will be to provide research and results from these explorations so the Chilean Government can also benefit from the technologies and methods created for the expedition. The main objective is to contribute to and foster narratives towards sustainable technologies, local perspectives for development, as well as discussing the cultural implications and potentials.

Our artistic visioninforms the goals for polar building on previous investments

Members of the POLAR group have been supported by the Chilean Arts Council in the past, and this has resulted in works be- ing presented in the Magallanes and Chilean Antarctic. POLAR stems from these initial investments by the Chilean Navy (First Naval Zone), the Government of Chile through the Ministry of Culture and the National Council of Culture and the Arts and the Government of Austria through its chancellery and Embassy. POLAR is a continuation and constitutes a next dimension through its engagement of a wider group of internationally renowned artists and curators.

Envision an antarctic culture

A main goal of this mission is to understand and envision an Antarctic culture; a culture that has developed as a result of the diverse groups of actors, scientists and professionals, driven by various needs, backgrounds and politics that come to this part of the Earth for (scientific) research. This leads into speculation about what the future and potentials of such an Antarctic Culture could look and sound like (beyond mass tourism).

To achieve this, POLAR will explore human and non-human traces in various ways: we will record non-audible signals, research image and resolution in what is seemingly ‘empty’ space, question and speculate about human and non-human relations in situations of vacuum and isolation, and examine what lies beyond human perception.

Contribute to a dialogue between arts and science

With this mission, we want to strengthen the potential of artistic research in the Antarctic. All artists and curators involved in the project have a research-driven approach, and POLAR wants to contribute to a larger scientific dialogue by offering new connections and by proposing alternative perspectives.

Explore alternative antarctic futures

Artistic research and exploration can not only create alter- native perspectives, but build (unexpected) connections and dialogue – and in doing so, provide directions for alternative futures. We envision that POLAR will create space for speculation and fiction that relates to the Antarctica as ‘free zone’. The research and work undertaken during POLAR will feed into the wider practice of the participating artists and contribute to the global awareness about isolated and endangered environments in a continent that will be increasingly affected by civilization.

Increasing awareness on antarctic issues

From this mission, several artistic propositions will emerge. The final result of the trip will consist on a publication, world- wide talks and exhibitions, and a series of outreach events such as community engagement workshops, radio broadcast and podcasts, including in the conversation other scientists and artists working on the subject; all this with the aim of drawing the public’s attention, arise awareness and a call for action towards a continent that is gradually changing from un- touched to scared by the human mark.

To finalize

Chile is acting as the international gateway to the Arctic; and the Chilean Navy specifically provides essential services such as – but not limited to – supplies delivery and cleaning to the whole area. It would therefore be an honour and a great opportunity to contribute to the work of the Navy in a new way, and in return, increase the visibility of the Navy’s role in the wider society.

Results

POLAR was an artistic research project initially conceived for a duration of three years, carried out by a group of artists and curators in the Chilean Antarctic from 2018 to 2020. The mission was originally planned to be undertaken by an international group of carefully selected artists, curators, and writers, all with previous experiences of extreme travel—whether above the Arctic Circle in northern Norway and northwestern Russia, the pre-Chilean Antarctic area, or the Arctic itself: Nicole L’Huillier (CL), Víctor Mazón Gardoqui (ES), Rosa Menkman (NL), Valentina Montero (CL), BJ Nilsen (SE/NL), Nicolás Spencer (CL/AT), Mario de Vega (MX/DE), and Annette Wolfsberger (AT/NL). However, due to numerous changes in dates and requirements by the navy, the group was reduced to Víctor Mazón Gardoqui (ES), Rosa Menkman (NL), Nicolás Spencer (CL/AT), and Mario de Vega (MX/DE). The travel conditions did not allow for a clear development of the artistic projects, and after more than a month of sailing with minimal land contact and extremely restricted movement, future exploration editions were canceled, with hopes for better conditions to realize this project.