Artists in Antarctica

What transformation happens when writers, musicians and artists stand in the vast, cold spaces of Antarctica? This book brings together paintings, photographs, texts and musical scores by Aotearoa New Zealand artists who have been to the Ice. It explores the impact of this experience on their art and art process, as well as the physical challenges of working in a harsh and unfamiliar environment. Antarctic science, nature and human history are explored through the creative lens of some of New Zealand’s most acclaimed artists, composers and writers, including Laurence Aberhart, Nigel Brown, Gareth Farr, Dick Frizzell, Anne Noble, Virginia King, Owen Marshall, Grahame Sydney, Ronnie van Hout and Phil Dadson. It also includes a foreword by CEO of Antarctica New Zealand Sarah Williamson and a chapter by Antarctic arts researcher Dr Adele Jackson contextualising Aotearoa New Zealand’s relationship with Antarctica.

Patrick Shepherd was an honorary Antarctic Arts Fellow in 2003/04, and in 2016 he visited the continent again as a tutor with a group of postgraduate students from the University of Canterbury, where he is a senior lecturer. He is an artist and composer whose compositions have been performed by many ensembles, including the Berlin Chamber Orchestra (Germany), Kuzbass Symphony Orchestra (Russia), Duo Stump Linshalm (Germany), Choir of Christ’s College, Oxford (UK) and Aoraki Duo (Australia), as well as in New Zealand by the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra and New Zealand String Quartet.