Co-curated by Olga Zaslavskaya, Vera Kuklina, and Tatiana Degai, the exhibition Arctic StoryWorlds: Frozen Matters brought together a vibrant mix of voices, artworks, and interdisciplinary dialogue centered on Arctic narratives, Indigenous knowledge, and the ever-shifting frozen landscapes.
Through a series of Facebook posts, we’ll closely examine the exhibition’s core themes, share behind-the-scenes insights, and reflect on the powerful intersections of art, science, and Indigenous worldviews. Whether you visited in person or are discovering Frozen Matters for the first time, we invite you to join us in this ongoing exploration.
A heartfelt thank you to all the scholars, artists, Indigenous creators, and community members who contributed to Frozen Matters, and to everyone who engaged with the exhibition. Your presence, feedback, and enthusiasm made it a great experience.
🔗 Explore the online catalog https://frozen-matters.com/
📍 Follow along at ArtSLInK Facebook https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100076374721442
Khövsgöl Nuur—Mongolia’s sacred “Ocean Mother”—is one of the world’s oldest and deepest lakes, a vital freshwater source and a revered site for Indigenous communities. For centuries, its frozen surface has served as a winter highway, linking remote settlements, sustaining trade, and supporting cultural continuity.
But this frozen lifeline is vanishing.
Climate change is reshaping winter. Warmer temperatures now arrive as early as April, cracking the ice and severing access long before the season’s natural close.
The ice is alive—shifting, groaning, unpredictable. Our driver probed deep cracks with a crowbar before crossing. Fellow travelers left signs—sticks, gloves, even a lone boot—to mark danger beneath the surface.
Explore more:
🔗Arctic StoryWorlds: Frozen Matters – frozen-matters.com
Mongol Zurag by Olga Lo
Olga Lo’s work, Mongol Zurag, is a visual saga born from an expedition to Mongolia in March 2024. Every character in her work is a real person she encountered in the Arctic regions of the country—no intermediaries, just raw, lived experience translated into art.
Olga not only explored the frozen landscapes but also engaged deeply with local stones, soil, colors, national motifs, traditional garments, and everyday rituals. Every hue in Zurag was digitally extracted from the Mongolian land itself—earth, stone, water, and sky—making the work a direct visual echo of the place.
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The Atlas of Ice Forms by Ekaterina Shramko
The Atlas of Ice Forms, a visual and conceptual journey into the diverse beauty of ice formations, inspired by the breathtaking landscapes of Lake Baikal. This unique project blends art and science, capturing intricate details of ice structures while exploring their ecological significance and aesthetic wonder. Featuring illustrations from the book Baikal. The Empire of Ice (2022) by Piotr Malczewski, this collection is both an artistic tribute and a scientific documentation of ice’s fragile resilience.
