Nyskjeret

Nyskjeret (Norwegian: 'new skerry') is a small island, approximately the size of a football field,[1] in the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard, a Norwegian territory in the Barents Sea, 500 miles from the mainland. It emerged during the 1990s from the now melted portion of a retreating glacier.[2][3] It was discovered in 2004 by the British artist Alex Hartley, who named it Nymark ('new ground')[4] and in 2012 exhibited a portion of it as Nowhereisland.

The emerging island was observed on satellite images as early as 1998.[2] Alex Hartley came upon it in 2004 during a Cape Farewell expedition of scientists and artists, collaborating on a cultural response to global warming and the diminishing Arctic ice pack. He made a claim of ownership and applied to the Name Committee for Norwegian Polar Regions to register the island under the name Nymark,[1] saying that he planned to create a micro-nation there.[5] The claim and name were rejected, and the island was given the name Nyskjeret.[2]

The Cape Farewell expedition documented the island with a wall exhibit including framed rock samples, letters, maps and photographs as part of Cape Farewell - Art and Climate Change,[6] which appeared in the National Conservation Centre in Liverpool as part of the 2006 Liverpool Biennial.[7]

As part of the London 2012 Cultural Olympiad[8] and with permission of the Governor of Svalbard, Hartley removed some rocks from the island and toured a floating model of it incorporating them round the South West coast of England as Nowhereisland. Visitors were encouraged to sign up for free citizenship and discuss what policies the "nation" should have. The project was also intended to provoke thought about borders and about global warming.[3][9]

References

  1. 1 2 "Briton claims new Svalbard island". Phys.org. UPI. 10 May 2006.
  2. 1 2 3 "Mapping in the Arctic". The Arctic System. Norwegian Polar Institute. Retrieved 25 August 2026.
  3. 1 2 Christopher Middleton (6 September 2012). "An entirely new nation, 'Nowhereisland', arrives in Devon". Daily Telegraph.
  4. ↑ In Norway, Nymark is a part of the city of Bergen, the location of Brann Stadion.
  5. ↑ "Britânico quer criar uma república no Ártico". UOL Últimas notícias (in Portuguese). AFP. 11 May 2006.
  6. ↑ "Home - Cape Farewell - The cultural response to climate change". capefarewell.com. Retrieved 24 January 2021.
  7. ↑ "Cape Farewell: Art and Climate Change". Liverpool Museums. Archived from the original on 29 January 2008.
  8. ↑ "Cultural Olympiad: London 2012". 9 May 2011. Archived from the original on 9 May 2011. Retrieved 24 January 2021.
  9. ↑ Victoria Miro (27 November 2011). "Alex Hartley: The world is still big – review". The Guardian.

78°42′25″N 20°30′23″E / 78.70689°N 20.50639°E / 78.70689; 20.50639


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