Arctic Culture and Climate

Arctic, British Museum

Home to rich cultures for nearly 30,000 years, the Arctic is far from the inhospitable hinterland it’s often imagined to be.

From ancient mammoth ivory sculpture to modern refitted snowmobiles, the objects in this immersive exhibition reveal the creativity and resourcefulness of Indigenous Peoples in the Arctic. Developed in collaboration with Arctic communities, the exhibition celebrates the ingenuity and resilience of Arctic Peoples throughout history. It tells the powerful story of respectful relationships with icy worlds and how Arctic Peoples have harnessed the weather and climate to thrive.

The dramatic loss of ice and erratic weather caused by climate change are putting unprecedented pressure on Arctic Peoples, testing their adaptive capacities and threatening their way of life.

What happens in the Arctic will affect us all and this exhibition is a timely reminder of what the world can learn from its people.

Long ago people knew something was going to happen to this earth. How they knew it, I don’t know. An Elder mentioned in the 1940s that this climate is going to change. They meant climate change.
– Martha Snowshoe, Teetl’it Gwich’in

See the curator’s tour Here

Duration 22 October 2020 - 21 February 2021
Times online
Cost Free
Venue British Museum
Address Great Russell St, London, WC1B 3DG
Contact 442073238181 / information@britishmuseum.org / www.britishmuseum.org

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