Arctic Passage Art Installation

Hosted by the Harry Ransom Center –

Award-winning photographer and documentary filmmaker Louie Palu will install a series of photographs frozen in large ice blocks on the Ransom Center’s plaza. The photographs were made in the high Arctic over the course of three years while Palu was on assignment for National Geographic.

The project explores the evolving situation related to the geopolitics of the Polar region, the history of the Arctic, its connection to the Franklin Expedition, and climate change. Many of the photographs seen in this project are from the some of the most inaccessible locations on the planet. The blocks will melt over the course of the day, gradually revealing the photographs.

A related conversation at 4 p.m. further examines the installation and our understanding of the Arctic through photography. Palu will speak about the context of his installation and his experience photographing in the Arctic. Jessica S. McDonald, the Ransom Center’s Nancy Inman and Marlene Nathan Meyerson Curator of Photography, will discuss the aesthetic, conceptual and editorial impacts of the work with artist Palu and Sadie Quarrier, senior photo editor at National Geographic.

The installation is part of the SXSW Art Program. The events are free and a SXSW badge is not needed.

Read about the origin of the project:
https://ransom.center/arctic-passage-origin

Palu’s work in the Arctic was supported by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, National Geographic and Pulitzer Center.

The installation “Arctic Passage” and related talk are being supported by the Harry Ransom Center, Joan Morgenstern and SXSW.

Follow the project at #SXSWArcticPassage.