TESTING GROUNDS Podcast Series
As the climate crisis accelerates, how can artists’ residencies be testing grounds for new – and better – ways of living and working?
A new, 8-part podcast series brings together artists, researchers and activists from across the Nordic region and Scotland to explore this question.


Episode 6: Narsaq International Research Station – Who Defines "Progress"? – Testing Grounds
- Episode 6: Narsaq International Research Station – Who Defines "Progress"?
- Episode 5: Cove Park – Young People's Voices on the Climate Crisis
- Bonus: Seasickness/Cur na Mara – a Short Story by Mairi Macleod
- Episode 4: Baltic Art Center – Artists' Role in an Age of Climate Crisis
- Episode 3: Skaftfell Art Center – The Tensions of Environmental and Cultural Sustainability for Artists and Institutions
- Episode 2: Artica Svalbard – Climate Change and the Built Environment
- Episode 1: Introducing NAARCA
- Introducing: Testing Grounds
Each episode in the series looks at the crisis through the lens of one artists’ residency. In the second episode, we travel deep into the Arctic Circle, to Longyearbyen – home of Artica Svalbard – to hear a conversation between an architect and an anthropologist about how climate change is affecting people’s relationship with their built environment. Episode three features Skaftfell Art Center in Iceland and examines how arts institutions and artists can be more sustainable – in terms of their impact not only on the environment, but also on local communities. Our fourth episode brings us to Gotland, an island in the Baltic Sea, where the artists at Baltic Art Center are grappling with ideas on artistic legacy in the context of the climate crisis.
Check out our latest bonus epsiode ‘Seasickness/Cur na Mara’, a short story commissioned by NAARCA from Gaelic writer Mairi Macleod.
Testing Grounds is produced and edited by Katie Revell and includes original music by Loris S. Sarid and artwork by Jagoda Sadowska.
Production on Testing Grounds has paused, but will start again in August with the final four episodes featuring Saari Residence, Cove Park, Art Hub Copenhagen, and Narsaq International Research Station. Listen here or search for “Testing Grounds” in your favourite podcast app.
Captioned versions of the episodes are available on Cove Park’s YouTube channel.