Relate North 2025 invites artists, designers, craftspeople, and creative practitioners to submit works for an online art exhibition exploring the theme “Lessons of the Land.” This digital exhibition is part of the broader Relate North symposium, which highlights creative and critical engagements with the North, including Arctic and near-Arctic regions. The symposium and exhibition will take place on November 3-4, 2025.
For more information about the Relate North 2025 symposium, please see: https://www.asadnetwork.org/2025/05/28/call-for-proposals/
Theme: Lessons of the Land
We understand that Land is not simply a backdrop for artistic expression—it is a teacher, a collaborator, and a living presence. In this exhibition, we invite work that responds to Land as pedagogy: a force that informs identity, creativity, belonging, and resistance.
Land holds stories. It shapes cultural practices, nurtures worldviews, and informs artistic and craft-based traditions. It is deeply tied to Indigenous sovereignty, well-being, and environmental stewardship. At the same time, Land is at the center of urgent political, ecological, and cultural questions—especially in the face of climate change and ongoing colonial legacies.
This exhibition asks: How does Land teach us—and how do we listen through creative practice?
We welcome submissions that explore:
- Land-based, place-based, or site-specific artworks rooted in sub-Arctic, Arctic, and Northern regions
- Creative practices and projects that engage with the land rights of Indigenous peoples in the global North
- Works addressing climate disruption and ecological change through visual storytelling
- Artistic practices that reflect relationships with more-than-human worlds
- Projects exploring Land as a site of kinship, memory, healing, and responsibility
- Artworks considering budding relationships to Land amongst Newcomers to the global North are encouraged.
Submission guidelines
- Submit up to 3 digital works (images or short videos)
- Include a brief artist statement (maximum 300 words) explaining how your practice engages with the theme
- Include a short artist biography (maximum 80 words)
- Send your submission to: madelineak@mun.ca and rseifpanahi@mun.ca
- Submission deadline: September 15, 2025
- Notification of selection: September 30, 2025
Lessons of the Land: New Genre Arctic Art and Land-Based Learning
The symposium is part of the project Lessons of the Land. 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.