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Since 1979, satellites orbiting the North Pole have gathered continuous data on sea ice — frozen water that floats on the ocean’s surface. Although these instruments provide a valuable view of changing sea ice conditions, they don’t capture the perspective of people on the frontlines of these environmental shifts. 

But art can. As part of a new project led by Isabelle Gapp, an art historian at the University of Aberdeen in Scotland, and funded by The British Academy, hydrologist Sarah Cooley is collaborating with artists in Canada’s to explore depictions of sea ice in Inuit art.

“The annual spring breakup of sea ice that causes the coastline to go from being completely solid, stable ice to open water is one of the most dramatic seasonal changes that occurs anywhere on Earth,” says Cooley, an assistant professor of planetary health at the Nicholas School of the Environment. “This highly dynamic nature of sea ice thus makes it really interesting from both an art perspective and a science perspective, especially as the ice changes due to the warming climate.”

Through interviews with Inuit artists, Cooley and her collaborator aim to learn how local perceptions of sea ice have changed through the lens of art. They are currently planning an autumn exhibition in Toronto that will showcase Inuit sea ice art from Kinngait paired with maps of sea ice produced from satellite data.

“Art is deeply woven into the cultural fabric of Kinngait and other Inuit communities, and there is an amazing history of Inuit art depicting the local environment,” Cooley says. “Getting to both analyze Inuit art archives and speak with the artists themselves allows us to learn about unique aspects of sea ice change that may otherwise be overlooked by the scientific community.”