The Lessons of the Land: New Genre Arctic Art and Land-Based Learning project transforms art education by merging land-based learning with digital media education. As a part of the New Genre Arctic Art Education initiative, this project aims to build a hybrid model for student-teachers, combining digital and onsite learning experiences. The initiative promotes respect, cultural sensitivity, and sustainability in Arctic communities by integrating dialogical, participatory art-based methods with land-based education and digital media.
"The activities will embrace and promote respect, cultural sensitivity, and cultural and social sustainability. This means involving and consulting local Indigenous, multicultural and non-indigenous communities about our activities and knowledge construction. We'll be learning in the arts with our focus on the Arctic," said Dr. Heather McLeod, leader of the project.
Course Implementation and Collaborative Outcomes
A core feature of the project is designing and implementing a course tailored to each participating country, delivered in collaboration with partner universities and local schools. Digital art-based processes and outcomes are shared across partner institutions online, creating a cross-border engagement and collaboration platform.
Results will be disseminated through participatory community events, ASAD network meetings, and both virtual and onsite exhibitions, amplifying Canadian Indigenous voices within a global circumpolar perspective. The findings will also contribute to educational publications.
One result of the project will be the book Relate North: Lessons of the Land. The call for book chapters has been disseminated. This collection will seek to share understandings and approaches to both Indigenous land-based education and land-based education more generally, including the interface of interdisciplinary and collaborative pedagogy. Book chapters can include examples of visual arts and design projects, traditional and contemporary craft, arts-based research, and educational initiatives from across the circumpolar North that engage with the Land as a teacher.
Strengthening Circumpolar Cooperation
The project’s overarching goal is to enhance cooperation and partnerships between Canadian and Scandinavian universities within the UArctic thematic network. ASAD encompasses 28 arts, design, and visual culture education institutions. The network carries out activities that integrate Indigenous and traditional knowledge with contemporary academic practices. This collaboration leverages Canada’s expertise in northern Indigenous cultures and fosters a shared understanding of art education’s role in addressing ecological, social, and cultural challenges in the Arctic.
Memorial University of Newfoundland and Labrador carries out the project in collaboration with University of Lapland, Umeå University, Nord University and Yukon University.
Memorial University’s Leslie Harris Centre of Regional Policy and Development has awarded $ 40 000 funding for the project from the Global Arctic Leadership Initiative Fund for Indigenous and Northern Collaborative Research and Education Engagement.
Read the original news on the ASAD website.