InterCECCtions | Maria Valentina Vallejo (MA in Culture Studies): Arctic Routes, Southern Ways

Maria Valentina Vallejo, MA student in Culture Studies, talked about the research residency of the project Arctic Routes, Southern Ways in the last InterCECCtions of 2024.

Arctic Routes, Southern Ways is a joint initiative that will compare/contrast 2 different colonial legacies to create alternative narratives and methods of knowledge production in art institutions and academia. Portugal established an overseas empire that lasted from the 15th century until recently and spread over 5 continents. In Norway, the Sámi minority has lost rights over the Sámi territory, and they have been exposed to a fierce Norwegianization. Hegemonic narratives of the search for national unity in Norway, or the view of a “good” colonialism or “lusotropicalism”, in Portugal, bring these otherwise distant countries close in the way that such experiences have prevailed in many instances of public discourse, policies in institutional practices, in academia and in art institutions. Departing from 3 interconnected threads: 1) decoloniality: spaces of inclusion & diversity; 2) environmental sustainability; 3) local (vs) global practices, the project will review invisibilities and tendencies of art institutions and academia. The main objectives are: 1) question tacit colonial practices in higher education and in art institutions and to analyse the mechanisms by which they are perpetuated; 2) bring together the experiences of both Norway and Portugal and describe how the fantasy of cultural homogeneity affects the full acknowledgment  of marginalized communities and their knowledge(s): the Sámi in Norway, “Afropeans” in Portugal; 3) challenge long-prevailing colonialism by exploring ways to create alternative narratives towards more inclusive and sustainable forms of knowledge production and artistic practice.

The project brings together two academic institutions (CECC-Universidade Católica Portuguesa and UiT-The Arctic University of Norway) and two contemporary art centres (HANGAR, from Portugal, and Bergen Kunsthall, from Norway), and will organize several scientific activities throughout its lifetime.

Artic routes was officially launched in 16 January 2024, is coordinated by CECC, financed by an EEA grant and supported by a Globus OpStart grant from the Nordisk Kulturfond.