NORTHERN Exchange: Cold War Histories and Nuclear Futures

This research output is the contribution to the exhibition catalogue for the Relate North 2016 exhibition held in Lerwick, Shetland. The work exhibited, a collection of audio interviews and a film,9 was part of Northern Exchange, a collaboration in August 2016 between artists and students (Dagrún Magnúsdóttir, Elín Sveinsdóttir, Venni Ahlberg, Anu Corin, Valerie Gemkow, Iiris Perkkiö, Rebecca Boyd and Elizabeth Crichton) from three ASAD partners and Icelandic communities associated with the Cold War sites at Vestfirðir, Keflavík, Höfn and Þórshafn. Various approaches were used to explore relationships between Cold War military installations and local people, looking to past, present and future. In Vestfirðir, participants visited the NATO radar station on the remote Bolafjall, and local trainee teachers took part in a creative workshop. This project links to Permar and Timmins’s longer-term work exploring the Cold War with northern communities across the Arctic fringe. During the exhibition members of the Shetland community were invited to add their own memories and thoughts to the work.