Northern Exchange: Cold War Projects: Curtain

Northern Exchange is an on-going series of participatory events and projects designed to collect and share memories and perceptions of the Cold War on both sides of the former Iron Curtain. The triangle forms the basis of this vehicle for recording people's recollections about the past but also their thoughts on the present predictions of another Cold War and our nuclear futures. The title references both nuclear exchange, a term used to describe the firing of nuclear weapons, but also the exchange of memories and recollections that are at the centre of this collaborative work. Triangles have been collected from the Timespan Gallery (February 2015), Syktyvkar State University (March 2015), University of Alaska Anchorage, University of Alaska Fairbanks, five locations in Iceland (August 2016), Atria Assisted Living (Philadelphia, USA, April 2015), Shetland College UHI (2015), Haroldswick in Shetland (April to August 2017) and through email and individual contacts with people in Canada and the United States. Individual pieces are combined into larger exhibition pieces comprising 73 elements. These are exhibited in various places and contexts, including art galleries and community venues. There are also recorded audio interviews from some of those who have produced a triangle in this project. The triangles have been exhibited publicly in Syktyvkar, Russia; Timespan, Helmsdale; and Anchorage, Alaska.