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Anne Vibeke Mou

Driving North on the Inuvik - Tuktoyaktuk Highway Tundra Walking the shores of Tuktoyaktuk The Point vanishing, Tuktoyaktuk Kitti Hall Community Centre, Tuktoyaktuk. Pop-Up Nail Bar at Kitti Hall community centre, Tuktoyaktuk, on Truth and Reconciliation Day. Photo by Jen Bagelman. Juxtaposed images of fire and snow, reflective of the wildfires that have advanced farther north in recent summers. Photo: Jen Bagelman Blair Nuyaviak used stickers and rhinestones for jellyfish designs. While she worked, she described how jellyfish are increasingly seen floating near the shores in Tuktoyaktuk. As the ocean warms and currents alter, the sea ice breaks up earlier and forms later, which leads more jellyfish to find their way here. The increased presence of jellyfish, Blair noted, has in turn led to a decrease of other fish and marine mammals. Photo: Jen Bagelman
On the eroding shores of the Arctic Ocean, between the tundra’s thawing permafrost and the forces of a rising sea, lies the Inuvialuit hamlet of Tuktoyaktuk - a longstanding community where residents face rapid changes and the question of relocation.

In September 2023 I was invited to Tuktoyaktuk and involved in setting up a pop-up nail bar with a group of women.

“The setting of nail polish, acetone-free remover and a cuticle pusher may not be one typically associated with environmental science and knowledge production. And yet it’s here, over manicures and nail clippings, that a deep understanding of a changing climate is articulated precisely, grounded in generations of lived experience.”

Read about the project on The Narwhal ↗

  
Brian Jones lampworking glass nails Glass Nails


“Western science models have long dominated the exploration of Arctic environments. The early 19th century saw various colonial expeditions aimed at extracting scientific data from northern regions to map and seek imperial expansion and prestige. These models often depend on laboratories and experts located far away in southern geographies to process and translate Inuit Nunaat, the lands of the Inuit.”  The Narwhal ↗

With scientific glassblowing, a skill traditionally employed to produce laboratory equipment, I made glass nails to bring as gifts.

Thanks to Brian Jones of Wearside Glass Sculptures at National Glass Centre, Eriel Lugt, Carmen Kuptana and the women of Tuktoyaktuk, Jen Bagelman and the CINUK-funded project Carving out Climate Testimony: Inuit Youth, Wellness and Environmental Stewardship.