Verena Dengler

Every year, people from all over the world are drawn to the Svalbard archipelago in the Arctic Ocean, driven by a longing for glaciers, fjords, polar bears, and the northern lights. In the summer of 2018, Verena Dengler also undertook a journey to the island group located north of the Arctic Circle. From the works produced during her sojourn, she has compiled a wall collage, Dr. Envy Nordpol besucht das nördlichste Sushi-Restaurant der Welt (2018) especially for the exhibition. The archipelago, which belongs to Norway, is of special importance with regard to climate change. In fact, the average global temperature has risen by four degrees since 1971. Glacier melt, the thawing of the permafrost, and extreme precipitation have been direct consequences. Coal, the fossil fuel so harmful to the climate, was mined at Spitzbergen from 1906 onwards. The present-day ghost town of Pyramiden is testimony to a once flourishing coal mining industry. Today, Svalbard is not just a popular tourist destination, but also a research laboratory for the Arctic and, with the Svalbard Global Seed Vault, the world’s largest crop seed bank. The photographs the artist took using her mobile phone are a kaleidoscope of impressions of her journey. The watercolours painted on site complete the collage, emphasising the subjective in Dengler’s portrayal of this part of the world. 

Verena Dengler, born 1981, lives in Vienna, Austria.