Following an open call for applications, Oslo-based filmmaker Silvia Rossi with visual artist and collaborator Elena Mazzi were selected for a four-week NAARCA Residency that took place at the Narsaq International Research Station in October 2025.
During their residency, Silvia and Elena adopted a community-engaged approach to explore Rob Nixon’s concept of slow violence – the gradual, often invisible environmental harm inflicted over time. Facilitating workshops for young people, they examined the role of the Kvanefjeld mine within the local community, considering how it may become a symbol of the complexities and contradictions embedded in the Green Transition on a global level.
Reflecting on their experience, Silvia and Elena says:
During our residency in Narsaq, we embarked on a process that was both exploratory and collaborative, a journey that unfolded through encounters with the landscape, the community, and the stories that connect them.
Our time in Narsaq was mainly divided between two projects. The first was developed in collaboration with the local school. Together with the ninth-grade students, we created a workshop on filmmaking and storytelling focused on the social geography of the town. The participants were encouraged to explore their surroundings and translate their reflections on local life into short moving-image works.
The second project continued our ongoing artistic research into the consequences of geopolitical interests surrounding the region’s mineral resources. Through video, we examined how these dynamics influence the daily life, identity, and future of the local community.
The environment of Narsaq with its striking natural beauty and layered histories became a central element of both projects. It shaped not only the students’ narratives but also our own reflection on ecology, resource extraction, and collective resilience.
The residency provided a valuable framework for collaboration, allowing artistic practice to intersect with local realities giving us the possibility to document, question, and give visibility to the transformations taking place in contemporary Arctic communities.
The NAARCA Residencies programme builds on NAARCA’s ongoing work since 2021, addressing the climate crisis, biodiversity loss, and climate justice through the lens of the four pillars of sustainability: ecological, social, psychological, and cultural. These residencies, made possible with support from the Nordic Culture Fund, support cultural exchange, deep research and reflection, community engagement, and the creation of new work and ideas on climate action.
Images courtesy of Silvia Rossi and Elena Mazzi.