Polar Silk Road—a project by Köken Ergun and Sasha Azanova

Polar Silk Road is a piece about the melting ices of the Arctic and the hunt for new transport routes between China and Europe. One of the many effects of global warming is receding ice, which in turn opens shortcuts for trade and other forms of transport. The artists Köken Ergun and Sasha Azanova have looked into how China exploits this in order to expand its ambitious Belt and Road Initiative, an infrastructure project announced by Xi Jinping in 2013.

The Belt and Road Initiative is a comprehensive network of trade corridors comprising railways, oil and gas pipelines, ferry lines, ports and military bases across more than one hundred countries. The Polar Silk Road aims to be a short, and thereby cheaper, alternative to the traditional route from China via the Malacca Strait, the Indian Ocean and the Suez Canal to Europe. In this way, the Polar Region becomes a new strategic frontline via ports in Shanghai, Sabetta on the Yamal Peninsula where gas is extracted, Kirkenes, and Rotterdam. Part of the plan is to create an “arctic corridor” from Kirkenes to Rovaniemi, from where transportation can continue southwards.

The first part of Köken Ergun and Sasha Azanova’s art project is an installation consisting of two maps and a video. The vertical maps depict the world using the North Pole as a central point of departure. The unusual perspective highlights East-West relations and makes the ports on the Polar Silk Road clearly visible. The video is a close-up of an icebreaker driving through the ice in the north. The installation will be on display in the Art Workshop.