Events Past 2009

PAST ANTARCTIC EVENTS - 2009 and 2010.

Included here are notices of lectures, conferences and other gatherings or events of Antarctic interest that appeared in 2009 and 2010 in 'Antarctic Events' but are now history.

Last updated: 5 February 2011.

INDEX OF EVENTS (Most recent first):

Friends of SPRI Events In Cambridge (16, 30 October; 13, 27 November 2010. Scott Polar Research Institute, Cambridge).
Race to the End of the Earth (29 May 2010 - 2 January 2011. American Museum of Natural History, New York City).
James Caird Society AGM, Members' Evening and Lecture (12 November 2010. Dulwich College, London).
10th Ernest Shackleton Autumn School (22-25 October 2010. Athy, Co. Kildare, Ireland).
"Rock, Ice, and Eggs – The Science of Scott's Last Expedition" Andy Clarke and Meredith Hooper (20 October 2010. Royal Geographical Society, London, UK).
Art of Exploration: The Polar Vision of Sir Wally Herbert (30 May - 30 August 2009. Cafe, Discovery Point, Dundee. June-September 2010. Grenna Museum, Grenna, Sweden).
Friends of SPRI Events in Cambridge (6, 20 February; 6, 20 March; 10 July, 2010. Brentwood, Coniston, Cumbria, UK).
Antarctic Visions: Cultural Perspectives on the Southern Continent (21-23 June 2010. Hobart, Tasmania).
"A Terrible Beauty" Works of Edward Wilson (12 March-30 May 2010. Breantwood, Coniston, Cumbria, UK).
James Caird Society Members' Evening and Lecture (7 May 2010. Dulwich College, London).
The Heart of the Great Alone: Scott, Shackleton and Antarctic Photography (2 October 2009-11 April 2010. The Queen', Gallery, Palace of Holyroodhouse, Edinburgh, Scotland).
69° South: The Shackleton Project (13 March 2010. MASS MoCA, North Adams, Massachusetts).
SPRI Michaelmas Term Lectures (31 October and 28 November 2009. Pfizer Lecture Theatre, School of Chemistry, Lensfield Road, Cambridge).
Friends of SPRI—AGM (14 November 2009. BMS theatre, Cambridge).
James Caird Society—AGM and Members' Evening (14 November 2009. Dulwich College, London).
9th Annual Shackleton Autumn School (23-26 October 2009. Athy Heritage Centre, Athy, Ireland).
Two Polar Exhibitions at The Peobody Essex Museum: 'Polar Attractions' And 'To The Ends Of The Earth, Painting The Polar Landscape' (Through 1 March and through June 2009. Peobody Essex Museum, Salem, Massachusetts).
Friends of SPRI Summer Lunch (6 June 2009. Cambridge).
Face To Face: Polar Portraits (Various dates and venues).
James Caird Society Members' Evening and Lecture. (8 May 2009. Dulwich College, London).
Antarctic Witness. (24 March - 23 April 2009. Royal Geographical Society, London).
Memorial Celebration for Sir Wally Herbert and Dr. Fritz Koerner. (7 April 2009. Royal Geographical Society, London).
Nimrod—An Exhibition Celebrating the Centenary of Shackleton's British Antarctic Expedition 1907-1909 (21 October 2008 - 4 April 2009. Scott Polar Research Institute, Cambridge).
Icescapes; Impressions from the Polar Regions. The Work of Lucia deLeiris (17 January - 29 March 2009. Newport Art Museum, Newport, RI).
The RRS William Scoresby—Cradle to Grave (7 March 2009. SPRI, Cambridge).
Islands to Ice—The Great Southern Ocean & Antarctica (8 March 2006 to 1 March 2009. Tasmanian Museum & Art Gallery, Hobart).

FRIENDS OF SPRI EVENTS IN CAMBRIDGE

16 October 2010. "Sir Hubert Wilkins Forgotten Hero?" Jim McNeill, Explorer and Adventure Travel organiser
Highly accomplished explorer, award winning cinematographer, record breaking sub-mariner and pioneering aviator, Australian born Sir Hubert Wilkins was a true hero of his time with ticker tape parades in New York and global news coverage celebrating his amazing acts of derring-do and serious exploration. Why is it then that few, today, have heard of him and even fewer know of the length and breadth of his exploits? Jim McNeill presents a thought provoking potted history and relates it to modern-day exploration. SPRI Lecture Theatre.

30 October 2010. "Melting ice rising seas: Antarctic Climate Change and the Environment" Dr. Colin Summerhayes, Emeritus Associate, SPRI
Despite global warming, the ozone hole is keeping Antarctica colder than it would be otherwise and making sea ice grow. The Antarctic Peninsula is warming, affecting penguins; East Antarctica, however, is still cold. Warm ocean currents reach the continental shelf off West Antarctica, melting glaciers from beneath and making them speed up. Antarctica and Greenland are now both losing land ice, making sea level rise faster than expected. In future the continent will warm more, land ice will melt, sea ice will shrink, and penguin productivity will drop. There are significant implications for coastal communities in the impending sea-level rise.
Dr. Colin Summerhayes, a marine geologist, is a past Director of the UK's Institute of Oceanographic Sciences Deacon Laboratory and a former Deputy Director of the National Oceanography Centre, Southampton. He is currently an Emeritus Associate at the Scott Polar Research Institute (SPRI) of Cambridge University. SPRI Lecture Theatre.

13 November 2010. Cambridge & World preview of Ponting's 90° South
The digitally remastered film of the Terra Nova expedition . Details to follow. BMS Lecture Theatre.

27 November 2010. Friends AGM and buffet supper. "The Northern Party in the shadows of the heroic age?" Robin Back, Chairman, Friends of SPRI
Originally named the Eastern party, a small group of seamen under the command of Lt. Victor Campbell with one scientist, Geologist Raymond Priestley, intended to land and explore King Edward VII land to the East of the Ross ice barrier in 1911. Things turned out somewhat differently Faced with disaster and starvation, the party overwintered in an ice cave 'living off the land' but all survived in an extraordinary tale of courage and endurance. SPRI Lecture Theatre.

(17 August 2010)

RACE TO THE END OF THE EARTH American Museum of Natural History, Central Park West at 79th Street, New York.
Exhibition Opens May 29 and remains on view until January 2, 2011. http://www.amnh.org/exhibitions/race/

Race to the End of the Earth will recount one of the most stirring tales of Antarctic exploration: the contest to reach the South Pole in 1911-1912. The exhibition will focus on the challenges that the two competing explorersNorwegian Roald Amundsen and British Royal Navy Captain Robert Falcon Scott had to face as they undertook their 1,800-mile journeys from the edge of the Ross Ice Shelf to the Pole and back. Nutrition, human endurance, equipment, logistics, and Antarctica's extreme weather conditions were among the many challenges that each team had to face, with outcomes that included both triumph and tragedy. The exhibition also reveals the legacy of these early expeditions by linking it with modern science in the Antarctic and the latest research on this unique continent's distant past and its potential future.

"The race to the South Pole by Amundsen and Scott is one of the greatest stories of courage, endurance, and perseverance in expedition history," said Ellen V. Futter, President of the American Museum of Natural History. "The Museum can well identify with Scott and Amundsen's thirst for adventure and knowledge about the world as it has, since 1887, conducted thousands of field expeditions to the far reaches of the globe, including to Antarctica, to study the natural world and the cultures of humanity. Today, with their own courage and perseverance, our 200 scientists set off on more than 120 research expeditions each year in an active program of cutting-edge field science which continually deepens our understanding of the world around us."

Photographs, paintings, and rare historical artifacts from these Amundsen and Scott expeditions will place visitors in the midst of Antarctic exploration and research at the dawn of the last century. Highlights include actual items of clothing and tools used by Amundsen and Scott and their crews during their journeys; life-sized models of portions of Amundsen's and Scott's base camps; an immersive landscape that provides a dramatic backdrop to the race and transports visitors to the frigid, windswept South Pole; and a diorama featuring the largest of all penguin species alive today, the emperor penguin. Three of Scott's team members took a dangerous five-week expedition dubbed "the worst journey in the world" by expedition member Apsley Cherry-Garrard to recover emperor penguin eggs for scientific study.

Interactives and hands-on activities will help visitors of all ages understand what it would have been like 100 years ago to travel to the coldest place on Earth, as well as what it is like to conduct research there today. Upon entering the exhibition, visitors will be able to choose a character card featuring a Norwegian or British team member and, while moving through the exhibition, find clues about the character's experience enroute to and at the South Pole. With the aid of a touch screen computer kiosk, visitors can leaf through photographs, drawings, and manuscripts produced by the two teams. A stunning video projection will show rich underwater life surrounding Antarctica taken by videographer Norbert Wu. An interactive computer map of Antarctica will allow visitors to scan what lies underneath the ice and to visualize the ocean currents and weather systems. Visitors will also be able to take a personality test modeled after those used for real expeditions to imagine how they might personally fare in an extreme environment over long periods of isolation.

The exhibition will vividly re-create, through dioramas and period detail, the high points of the race: how Amundsen and Scott prepared for their polar journeys and how they met, or were defeated by, the numerous challenges they faced. Additional interactives and hands-on activities will reveal what scientists are learning about Antarctica's surprising landscape under the ice and how people manage to live year-round in this forbidding yet fascinating place.

Race to the End of the Earth is organized by the American Museum of Natural History, New York (www.amnh.org), in collaboration with the Royal BC Museum in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada.
The exhibition is curated by Ross MacPhee, curator, Division of Vertebrate Zoology, American Museum of Natural History.
Generous support for Race to the End of the Earth has been provided by the Eileen P. Bernard Exhibition Fund.

American Museum of Natural History
The American Museum of Natural History is one of the world's preeminent scientific, educational, and cultural institutions. Since its founding in 1869, the Museum has advanced its global mission to explore and interpret human cultures, the natural world, and the universe through a wide-reaching program of scientific research, education, and exhibitions. The Museum accomplishes this ambitious goal through its extensive facilities and resources. The institution houses 45 permanent exhibition halls, state-of-the-art research laboratories, one of the largest natural history libraries in the Western Hemisphere, and a permanent collection of more than 30 million specimens and cultural artifacts. With a scientific staff of more than 200, the Museum supports research divisions in Anthropology, Paleontology, Invertebrate and Vertebrate Zoology, and the Physical Sciences. In 2006, with the launch of the Richard Gilder Graduate School at the Museum, it became the first American museum with the authority to grant the Ph.D. degree. The Museum shares its treasures and discoveries with approximately four million on-site visitors from around the world each year. AMNH-produced exhibitions and Space Shows can currently be seen in venues on five continents, reaching an audience of millions. In addition, the Museum's website, amnh.org, extends its collections, exhibitions, and educational programs to millions more beyond the Museum's walls.

—From a press release kindly provided by the Museum.

UPDATE: I had the pleasure of visiting the exhibit on 7 October. My visit was greatly enhanced by being personally escorted through it by Ross MacPhee, the curator of the exhibit (and the author of the very good accompanying book).
The exhibit is of medium size and can easily been taken in thoroughly in an hour. The not-insignificant charges range from $14 for kids to $24 for adults. You can book online.
Unfortunately there is no listing of what's on display and photography isn't allowed (always a pet peeve with me). So I jotted down some notes and this is what I came up with:

There's an introductory film that gives a quick overview of Antarctica, then shows some historic footage of Scott and Amundsen. As it concludes you are invited to take 4x6 cards from a dispenser, six cards in all, each one focusing on a member of the either the British Team Scott, Cherry-Garrard, Bowers) or the Norwegian Team (Amundsen, Bjaaland, Wisting). The cards allow you to choose a person to "follow" through the exhibition. On one side is the name, a photograph and a characterization (e.g. Ski Champion). On the other side is another couple of photos, and three categories: age, personality, expertise. Kind of hokey, I suppose, but they make nice souvenirs.
There are various hands-on exhibits which seemed popular. At least one kindle-type photo book you can page through (although a little cranky when I used it.)
There are very well done panels on "sailcloth with grommets" that give information on the two expeditions. Terra Nova in BLUE; Fram in RED.
There are two recreations of the Cape Evans hut: "Scott's Den" and "The Tenements". Pretty accurate, I thought.
Close by is a full-size diorama of Cape Crozier (based on a Wilson watercolor) with beautifully and realistically executed 'plastic' penguins. According to MacPhee, the night sky with its stars is accurately based on the sky at the time that Wilson, Bowers and Cherry-Garrard were there on their egg-collecting journey.
There's an exhibit detailing and explaining the difference between the clothing used by Scott (gaberdine, etc.) and Amundsen (furs).
The under-ice workroom at Framheim is recreated, the runners of a sledge in the process of being planed down.
There are four small excellent and instructive dioramas in plexiglas cases: 1) Breakdown of a motor sledge; 2) Ponies behind a snow wall; 3) Two Amundsen dog teams; and 4) Daily rations, based on the Ponting photograph. These were created by artisans at the AMNH, masters of this craft.
The timelines of Amundsen and Scott as they progress to the Pole are excellent. They start off not by giving the actual date but by stating "Day 1…Day 2…, etc. for each expedition, color-coded red and blue. (Those going through the exhibit are assumed not to know who "won" the race.) Once one comes upon Amundsen's tent in a circular enclosure (i.e. arrival at the Pole; a nice reproduction of the tent with projected views of the polar plateau on the surfaces of the enclosure), the timeline turns to actual dates, beginning with Amundsen (16 January onward) and then Scott (24 January onward). Another large-size diorama of "Arrival at Depot in Mid-Ice Shelf," is evocative.
There is a replica of a sledging medical kit; indeed, some excellent replicas throughout, produced by the AMNH.
There is an animated video version of "The Sphere" return-from-the-pole segment which runs for a few minutes.
At the end of the exhibition is a section on Antarctic science and some underwater video by Norbert Wu. Also some fossils and an exhibit "Ice Free to Ice Bound."
There are interactive maps (push a button) which highlight things such as:
    - Ice bergs
    - Katabatic winds
    - Currents and storms
    - Sea ice
    - Two landmasses
    - Buried mountains
    - Many lakes
    - Lake Vostok
    - Ice collapse
    - Ice thinning
    - Habitat loss
On display here is an Australian "Prefab Igloo" (referred to as an "apple" or "tomato").
Concluding the exhibition are "Polar Portraits" by Scott Sternbach, who participated in the NSF Artitsts and Writers Program: Eight large black and white photographs of scientists and support workers. Well, the conclusion is actually the special museum shop you end up in as you leave the exhibition. I came away with a coffee mug and a couple of books.
ON DISPLAY from various institutions:
From Scott Polar Research Institute:
    - Two oil paintings showing Ross's Erebus and Terror.
    - Cherry-Garrard's camera.
    - Two pairs of Scott's goggles.
    - Cherry-Garrard's goggles.
    - Sun compass.
    - Aneroid barometer.
    - Canvas journal wallet.
    - Man-hauling harness.
    - Spiked ice crampons.
    - Pony snow shoe.
    - Mt Buckley coal brought back by Scott.
    - Letter from Scott to Mr and Mrs Reginald Smith, dated March 1912. On sheet torn from sledging journal.
From the Fram Museum:
    - Amundsen's movie camera.
    - Wisting's compass.
    - Amundsen's skis.
    - Ice axe.
    - Dogbell.
    - Medical kit.
From the National Maritime Museum:
    - Scott's pocket watch.
    - Terra Nova saucer.
    - Theodolite from Terra Nova expedition.
    - Sealskin overshoes attributed to Scott.
    - Cook's Voyage to the South Pole.
From the American Museum of Natural History:
    - Hudson's journal of the Peacock (Wilkes' expedition)
    - Amundsen's chronometer.
    - Sledge.
    - Amundsen's shot gun.
    - Amundsen's binoculars.
From the Royal British Columbia Museum:
    - Cecil Meares' sledge flag.

The exhibition's website—once you get past the annoying blizzard sound effects—has a variety of information including quite a few photographs, historic and modern. http://www.amnh.org/exhibitions/race/

All in all, well worth a visit.

—R. Stephenson
(14 October 2010)

JAMES CAIRD SOCIETY AGM, MEMBERS' EVENING AND LECTURE.

Friday, 12 November 2010, 6pm, Great Hall, Dulwich College, London.
Dr Frank Swinton, "Life at 75 degrees South."

The lecture will be followed by Dinner in the North Cloister and Lower Hall. The cost is £35 which includes wine before and with dinner. For further information contact The Hon. Secretary, Pippa Hare, Fig Tree Cottage, High Street, Cranbrook, Kent TN17 3EN.

10th ERNEST SHACKLETON AUTUMN SCHOOL (Click here for photos and commentary on this and past Athy gatherings.)

22-25 October 2010. Athy, Co Kildare, Ireland.
This year's lineup as of 24 September:

Friday 22nd October
7.15pm Opening of Shackleton School and the exhibition "Last Days of the Arctic".
7.45pm The launch of Chet Ross's book "Lieutenant Nobu Shirase and the Japanese Antarctic Expedition of 1910-1912 - A Bibliography". The book will be launched by his Excellency Toshinao Urabe, Japanese Ambassador to Ireland.
8.30pm Shackleton Memorial Lecture by Fintan O'Toole.
Saturday 23rd October
10.30am "Last Days of the Arctic" by Ragnar Axelsson.
12 noon "The SS Terra Nova (1884-1943) and other Polar Exploration Ships of the Heroic Age" by Mike Tarver.
1pm The Hon Alexandra Shackleton will unveil a plaque at Athy Town Hall dedicated to her grandfather Sir Ernest Shackleton.
2.30pm "The Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition" by Dr T.H. Baughman.
4.00pm "Lieutenant Nobu Shirase and the Japanese Antarctic Expedition, 1910-1912" by Chet Ross.
8pm Autumn School Dinner at the Carlton Abbey Hotel.
Sunday 24th October
10.30am "Uncovering the story of Scott's Other Expedition" by Meredith Hooper.
12 noon "Life inside drifting Antarctic pack ice" by Professor David Thomas.
2.30pm Afternoon Film - "Red Tent".
4.30pm Open forum chaired by Bob Headland.
9pm Drama/Music "Where a Single Footprint Lasts a Thousand Years" This October the school will premiere, in Shackleton country, a performance of music, theatre, poetry and readings relating to Ernest Shackleton and exploration. In association with the Shackleton School, Michael Holohan has devised a unique event, featuring his own signature composition of music-theatre, complemented by poetry and readings. This is a premiere performance in Ireland's Shackleton country.
Monday 25th October
10.00am Excursion/Field Trip Bus tour through Shackleton country. A visit to Ballitore and the home of Mary Leadbeater, writer and ancestor of Ernest Shackleton, the Quaker Meeting House and the Shaker Store.
Saturday & Sunday
10am- 5pm Antarctic Adventurers The Antarctic Adventurers are a group of British re-enactors who specialise in recreating the world of Shackleton, Scott and Amundsen. They recreate a three man sledging party of the 1901 1913 period with clothing, sledges and equipment of the time.
Athy Heritage Centre & Museum
The Museum is world renowned for featuring the only permanent exhibition devoted to Sir Ernest Shackleton the Irish Antarctic explorer which includes unique artefacts, film footage and audio guides. A unique experience.
Exhibition: "Last Days of the Arctic"
Polar Photography comes to Athy from 22nd October -26th November 2010. New polar work from the Icelandic photographer Ragnar 'Rax' Axelsson forms the photographic exhibition 'Last Days of the Arctic' to be held in Athy Heritage Centre-Museum Images for the exhibition will be drawn from his new book 'Last Days of the Arctic' which will be released in a number of languages on 1 October. Rax has spent the last 40 years photographing in the Arctic, in particular among the hunters of Greenland. His most recent book 'Faces of the North' documenting life in Greenland was described in the New York Times as 'stunning'.
Leading up to the 10th Shackleton Autumn School from 14th September to 15th October 2010.
FIRE & ICE A Photographic Journey of Antarctica Official opening on 14th September at 7.30 by Prof. Gamble.
This exhibition is of a collection of photographs taken throughout the 1980s and 1990s by John Gamble a Professor in Geology at UCC while on fieldwork in Antarctica. He has the rare distinction of having 3 terrestrial landmarks named in his honour Gamble Glacier and Gamble Cone in Antarctica and the Gamble Volcanic Complex a submarine volcano on the Tonga Kermadec Island Arc in the SW Pacific. It includes images of volcanoes, life in the field, shots of wildlife and a visit to the historic huts of Scott and Shackleton on Ross Island.

This is the world's best polar gathering!
For more information: http://www.shackletonmuseum.com
(10 September 2010)

ART OF EXPLORATION: THE POLAR VISION OF SIR WALLY HERBERT

Cafe, Discovery Point, Dundee. See http://www.rrsdiscovery.com/index.php?pageID=183
30 May - 30 August 2009.
Grenna Museum, Grenna, Sweden.
June-September 2010.
"This stunning exhibition captures the spirit of the Polar World, as never seen before—through the eyes of a man who is the bridge between the heroic age of exploration and modern adventure; a visionary who has walked in the footsteps of all the greatest explorers, and learned the art of survival from the Inuit themselves.
This superb collection, reproduced from the late Sir Wally Herbert's paintings and drawings, echoes his experiences in the Polar World and his connection with the polar pioneers of the past.
The exhibition is not only a celebration of polar life and landscapes rarely visited by man, but it is also a journey into the very heart of the last of the great polar pioneers. This exhibition will give its audience an insight into the experience of the polar wilderness."
—From http://www.spri.cam.ac.uk/museum/exhibitions/polarworld/tour/
(14 February 2009)

"ROCK, ICE, AND EGGS – THE SCIENCE OF SCOTT'S LAST EXPEDITION" Andy Clarke and Meredith Hooper

Wednesday, 20 October 2010, Royal Geographical Society, 1 Kensington Gore, London. 7pm (doors open 6pm).
Andy Clarke, retired scientist of British Antarctic Survey, and Meredith Hooper, author of the recently published The Longest Winter: Scott's Other Heroes, will talk about the influence of Scott's expedition on the science of Antarctica.
Tickets for the lecture will be £15 or for the lecture and reception £35.
Andy and Meredith will be at the reception together with members of the Fuchs Foundation Antarctic Expedition 2010.
This is one of the first of many events to celebrate Scott's centenary and as such is an historical occasion not to be missed.
Tickets for the lectures and reception are available through making a donation to the Foundation by way of the Ticket Application Form.
In addition general donations given in advance will be entered into a prize draw to be made that evening.

FRIENDS OF SPRI EVENTS IN CAMBRIDGE

"With Scott in the Antarctic, Edward Wilson—Explorer, Naturalist, Artist," Isobel Williams. 6 February 2010. 8pm. Pfizer Lecture Theatre, School of Chemistry.

"Penguins to Polar Bears," Paul Goldstein, Photographer. 20 February 2010. 8pm. Wolfson Lecture Theatre.

"Conservation," Fiona Carhill, SPRI Conservator. 6 March 2010. 8pm. Pfizer Lecture Theatre, School of Chemistry.

"The South Sandwich Islands," Bob Headland (in conjunction with the South Georgia Association). 20 March 2010. 8pm. Pfizer Lecture Theatre, School of Chemistry.

Friends Summer Lunch. 10 July 2010. 12pm. In the Institute.

(6 February 2010)

ANTARCTIC VISIONS: CULTURAL PERSPECTIVES ON THE SOUTHERN CONTINENT

4-6 September 2008, Christchurch, New Zealand and Hobart, Tasmania in 21-23 June 2010.

"Gateway Antarctica and the English programme at the Univeristy of Canterbury, together with the School of English, Journalism and European Languages at the University of Tasmania, will host a conference examining Antarctica from a cultural perspective. Drawing on the arts, social sciences and humanities, the conference will focus attention on the ways in which we perceive and represent the southernmost continent. This will be followed by a second conference in Hobart, Tasmania, in 2010."

"Call for conference papers

In September 2008 Gateway Antarctica and the English Programme at the University of Canterbury, Christchurch, together with the School of English, Journalism and European Languages at the University of Tasmania, will host a conference examining Antarctica from a cultural perspective. Drawing on the arts, social sciences and humanities, the conference will focus attention on the ways we perceive and represent the southernmost continent. This will be the first Humanities-based Antarctic studies conference and will be followed in 2010 by another at the University of Tasmania in Hobart. Keynote speakers will include: Francis Spufford and Margaret Mahy.

Papers of twenty minutes with 10 minute question times are invited. Topics might include:

• Narrating Antarctica
• Antarctica in literature, art and film
• Visualising Antarctica
• Rethinking the heroic era
• Antarctic masculinities
• Postcolonial Antarctica
• Antarctic spatiality
• Antarctic gothic
• Antarctic travel
• Antarctic disasters
• Domestic Antarctica
• Environmental Antarctica
• Antarctic archives and artifacts
• Human-animals relations in Antarctic

For information: www.engl.canterbury.ac.nz/extra/imagining_antarctica.shtml

Email: mark.williams@canterbury.ac.nz

Source: http://www.engl.canterbury.ac.nz/extra/imagining_antarctica.shtml
(11 March 2007)

UPDATE: The dates for "Imagining Antarctica" have been tentatively set for 21-23 June 2010.
(29 March 2009)

UPDATE:

ANTARCTIC VISIONS: CULTURAL PERSPECTIVES ON THE SOUTHERN CONTINENT
21.06.2010 - 23.06.2010
Location: University of Tansmania - Hobart
Category: Conference
Following the success of the "Imagining Antarctica" conference at the University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand in September 2008, the University of Tasmania will host "Antarctic Visions," a second conference examining Antarctica from a cultural perspective. Drawing on the arts, social sciences and humanities, the conference will focus attention on the ways we perceive and represent the southernmost continent. Connections with other disciplines - particularly scientific disciplines - are encouraged, as are new approaches to familiar challenges, such as the whaling and climate change debates. While the primary focus of the conference is on the far south, papers which combine Antarctic and Arctic material are welcome. The conference coincides with the Hobart Midwinter Festival, which offers a rich selection of polar-related exhibitions, activities and presentations.
Papers of twenty minutes with ten-minute question times will be invited. Panel proposals are also welcome. At this time, we are giving you advanced notice of the conference. A call for papers, with links to a website, details of registration, abstract submission, etc, will be sent out within the next couple of months.

Source: http://new.arcticportal.org/index.php?view=details&id=100%3Aantarctic-visions-cultural-perspect-on-the-southern-contin&option=com_eventlist&Itemid=72 (4 September 2009)

UPDATE: More detailed information is now becoming available on the Antarctic Visions conference. First, there is now a webpage. Here you can download the Call for Papers and the Registration Form. No agenda is included yet but two Keynote Speakers are announced: Max Jones who wrote The Last Great Quest: Captain Scott's Antarctic Sacrifice, a cultural history of the Scott expedition, and editor of OUP edition of Scott's journals. And Christy Collis, author of a number of articles on Antarctica, concentrating on postcoloniality and spatiality.

The listing of possible topics above has been revised:

• Climate change and the South Polar regions: what can the humanities add to the conversation?
• Antarctica in literature, music, art, photography and film
• The influence of perceptions of Antarctica on policy
• Rethinking the heroic era
• Tasmanian connections to the Antarctic
• Human-animals relations in Antarctic Resource exploitation (including whaling)
• Gender and Polar Studies
• Postcolonial Antarctica Subantarctic islands: histories and cultures
• Polar pastimes
• Food in polar history
• Cultural geography of Antarctica
• Polar psychology
• Antarctic travel and tourism
• Antarctic archives, libraries, artefacts and museums

The convenors of the conference are: Prof. Ralph Crane (University of Tasmania), Dr Elizabeth Leane (University of Tasmania), Dr Steve Nicol (Australian Antarctic Division), Dr Mark Williams (Victoria University of Wellington).

"A TERRIBLE BEAUTY" WORKS OF EDWARD WILSON

12 March - 30 May 2010. At Brantwood, Coniston, Cumbria. www.brantwood.org.uk.

(6 February 2010)

JAMES CAIRD SOCIETY MEMBERS' EVENING AND LECTURE.

Friday, 7 May 2010, Great Hall, Dulwich College, London.
Sue Flood will give a lecture entitled 'Behind the Scenes on the BBC Series "Planet Earth" and the "Blue Planet"—Film making in the Polar Regions.'

THE HEART OF THE GREAT ALONE: SCOTT, SHACKLETON AND ANTARCTIC PHOTOGRAPHY

2 October 2009-11 April 2010 The Queen's Gallery, Palace of Holyroodhouse, Edinburgh, Scotland.
This exhibition of remarkable Antarctic photography by Herbert George Ponting and Frank Hurley marks the 100th anniversary of Captain Scott's ill-fated journey to the South Pole. Ponting's dramatic images record Scott's Terra Nova expedition of 1910-13, which led to the tragic death of five of the team on their return from the South Pole. Hurley's extraordinary icescapes were taken during Ernest Shackleton's Polar expedition on Endurance in 1914-17, which ended with the heroic sea journey from Elephant Island to South Georgia. Both collections of photographs were presented to King George V and are today part of the Royal Photograph Collection.
—http://www.royalcollection.org.uk
(29 May 2009)
—Thanks for Michael Rosove
Two Firsthand Reports:

"The exhibit was exceptionally well done, and the atmosphere of the rooms was highly appropriate for the material."
—Michael Rosove. "I have just visited the display of Ponting and Hurley photographs in the Queens Gallery in the Palace of Holyrood in Edinburgh which is open daily until the 11 April 2010. The cost of entrance is £5.50 (although you get a reduction to £5.00 if you are over 60!). The Ponting photographs are all large size (up to 28x22 inches) and one or two are printed on coloured paper. By contrast all the Hurley pictures are small (8x6 inches) and less dramatic for that. Also on display is the Union flag which Scott took to the pole (in remarkably good clean condition) as well as a few printed items (Voyage of the Discovery, Last Expedition, South, The Great White South, South Polar Times 1-3 (the Queen only acquired Vol 3 in 2008 - the other two were acquired by Edward VII), Heart of the Antarctic, three polar medals, a couple of Wilson drawings, the minature white ensign flown on Scott's sledge on the southern journey and a bronze bust of King George V by Kathleen Scott. The royal copy of Aurora Australis MOC[K TU]RTLE [SOUP] was not on display but the "catalogue" (actually a book of 256 pp) says that it has been rebound (shock, horror!). There is an audio guide to some of the photographs as you walk round, which can be achieved in about an hour. . . .
The collection on display is nicely done but I feel does not do justice to the Hurley photographs particularly because of the smaller size. Refering to my copy of "South With Endurance" (the RGS, State Library of NSW, and SPRI compilation volume) there are larger reproductions in that book than were hanging on the wall of the gallery. So all in all there is nothing new here (other than a view of the flag and Polar medals and Wilson prints) that hasn't been seen before, but if you are in the area worth a visit, and you can also buy a bottle of Palace of Holyrood "Royal" Speyside malt whisky in the shop." —Chris Edwards.
(9 December 2009)

69° SOUTH: THE SHACKLETON PROJECT

Saturday, March 13, 2010. 8pm. At Club 8-10 MASS MoCA, North Adams, MA 01247, USA. www.massmoca.org/event_details.php?id=527

Puppets! Who would have thought?!

"This new work by the exciting young puppet theater company Phantom Limb tackles the extraordinary story of the Shackleton expedition. In 1914, Ernest Shackleton and 27 others set out to be the first team of explorers to cross Antarctica. After their ship, the Endurance, became frozen and was eventually crushed by the ice and sunk, they embarked on a harrowing two-year journey of survival in the harshest climate on earth. Ancient and universal themes including the price of knowledge, the inevitability of adversity and struggle, and ultimately, the power of endurance and camaraderie provide emotional ballast with re-interpretations that resonate powerfully in twenty-first century hearts and minds. The production combines a dark aesthetic with fantastic music (one of the founders, Erik Sanko, was in the seminal downtown NYC jazz group The Lounge Lizards) and the primary focus of this developmental residency will be music for the piece, a collaboration with the Kronos Quartet." (From the website)

"(North Adams, Massachusetts) A smaller-than-life reenactment of the 1914 trans-Antarctic expedition by Ernest Shackleton and 27 brave souls will be played out in 69 South: The Shackleton Project by the exciting young puppet theater company Phantom Limb, directed by Phil Soltanoff. Fresh off a trip to Antarctica, the troupe's founders Eric Sanko and Jessica Grindstaff will be in residence at MASS MoCA prior to this work-in-progress showing of their new work on Saturday, March 13 at 8 PM. During the residency they will focus on combining the music composed for the renowned Kronos Quartet with the action in this historical marionette performance.
Described as "a series of dynamic tableau vivants" this show will take viewers on a journey of adversity, endurance, and camaraderie. In 1914, Sir Ernest Shackleton set out on an expedition to be the first to successfully traverse the continent of Antarctica. This ambitious -- and somewhat reckless -- mission set the stage for one of the best stories of human survival, tenacity, and heroics. Before even reaching Antarctica's mainland, Shackleton's boat, the Endurance, became trapped in an ice floe. During the next 497 days, Shackleton and his men lived on the ice, converting the ship into a winter station, and patiently waiting to be freed from the ice and attempt an escape for land and survival. All together the performance aims to bring the unknown Antarctica to an audience and reinvigorate the spirit of forgoing individual glory for the sake of collective survival.
This workshop performance focuses on the musical composition performed live, and aims to involve a portion of the theatrical elements being explored in the creation of the work, including puppetry, photography, and film combined with an unconventional acoustic palette to create an artistic and emotional journey. 69 South: The Shackleton Project is the result of a newly formed puppet theater company Phantom Limb and a chance collaboration with the renowned Kronos Quartet. The two were introduced to each other when Kronos' violinist, David Harrington, asked Phantom Limb's co-founder (and renowned musician) Sanko to trade CDs. The Shackleton Project will be Phantom Limb and Kronos Quartet's second collaboration. For their first collaboration, Dear Mme., Sanko created a marionette stage within a 15-foot tall puppet's chest, where the puppet's romantic dreams were enacted and accompanied by the Kronos performing an original soundtrack composed by Sanko.
Sanko and wife Jessica Grindstaff are relatively new to puppet theater having created their first marionette play, The Fortune Teller, featuring music by Danny Elfman and narration by Gavin Friday in 2006, and recently premiered their latest collaboration with theatre wizard Ping Chong entitled The Devil You Know. Grindstaff has an established reputation as a creator of haunting, meticulously constructed music box dioramas and paintings in wax and chalkboard, while Sanko has been long admired as a singer, songwriter, and bassist in the experimental-alternative music scene, including 16 years as the bassist of the Lounge Lizards, and leader of his own renowned band, Skeleton Key. Sanko emerged in recent years as a talented self-taught puppeteer and Phantom Limb's first creation, a Gothic horror hit whose characters embody the seven deadly sins, was performed to sold-out houses. The Company was subsequently commissioned to create a score and theatrical presentation for Kronos Quartet, with Sanko authoring a musical composition entitled Dear Mme. and the Company devising a live theatrical presentation. The company has become well known for using Sanko's zeal for puppetry and Grindstaff's history as an installation artist, painter, and set designer to create and direct memorable marionette puppetry. Upcoming projects include an adaptation of Lemony Snicket's latest best-selling work for young readers, The Composer is Dead, directed by Tony Taccone and premiering at Berkeley Rep. in Fall 2010.
Tickets for the work-in-progress showing of 69 South: The Shackleton Project are $12. MASS MoCA members receive a 10% discount. Tickets are available through the MASS MoCA Box Office located off Marshall Street in North Tickets can also be charged by phone by calling 413.662.2111 during Box Office hours or purchased on line at www.massmoca.org.
MASS MoCA, the largest center for contemporary visual and performing arts in the United States, is located off Marshall Street in North Adams on a 13-acre campus of renovated 19th-century factory buildings. MASS MoCA is an independent 501c(3) whose operations and programming are funded through admissions and commercial lease revenue, corporate and foundation grants, and individual philanthropy. Except for an initial construction grant from the Commonwealth, and competitive program and operations grants from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Massachusetts Cultural Council, MASS MoCA is privately funded: 90% of annual operating revenues are from earned revenues, membership support, and private gifts and grants."
(From a press release)
—Thanks to Seamus Taaffe.
(25 February 2010)

REPORT: I should have read rather than just looked at the press release. If I had, I probably wouldn't of gone. But, having done so (involving 2 hours there and 2 hours back in bad weather), all I can do is scratch my head and ponder "what the hell was that!" There was absolutely nothing in the less-than-an-hour performance that had anything recognizably to do with Shackleton or the Endurance. Well, perhaps the music. All that happened is some people come out wearing plasterers stilts, inexpertly work some puppets (dressed more or less in polar kit) around a bit, followed by some others (or some of same) in orange jumpsuits who come out and kind of laze about. No dialogue, no scenery as such (despite the publicity showing otherwise), and nothing worth taking home. It turns out that this is just a work session of sorts as they gear up for an opening of some sorts in some venue next year. Well, good luck to them.
—R. Stephenson
(14 March 2010)

SPRI MICHAELMAS TERM LECTURES

31 October 2009 at Pfizer Lecture Theatre, School of Chemistry, Lensfield Road, Cambridge. 8 pm.
Prof. Paul Berkman, Head, Arctic Ocean Geopolitics Programme, SPRI. Antarctic Lessons for the Arctic.

28 November 2009 at Pfizer Lecture Theatre, School of Chemistry, Lensfield Road, Cambridge. 8 pm.
Dr. David Wilson. Nimrod Illustrated: Pictures from Lieutenant Shackleton's British Antarctic Expedition 1907-1909..

(17 October 2009)

FRIENDS OF SPRI—AGM

The AGM of the Friends is scheduled for Saturday, 14 November 2009 at BMS theatre (chemistry), Cambridge, UK. From 5 pm.
Details to be forthcoming.
(10 May 2009)

JAMES CAIRD SOCIETY—AGM AND MEMBERS' EVENING.

Friday, 6 November 2009, Great Hall, Dulwich College, London.
Henry Worsley and Will Gow will lecture on their recent 920 mile/66 day unsupported journey across the Ross Ice Shelf, up the Beardmore Glacier and over the Polar Plateau to the South Pole, an undertaking that was their way of commemorating the centenary of the Nimrod expedition. The title: In Shackleton's Footsteps: A Return to the Heart of the Antarctic.

The AGM and lecture will be followed by Dinner in the North Cloister and Lower Hall. The cost is £35 which includes wine before and with dinner. For further information contact The Hon. Secretary, Pippa Hare, Fig Tree Cottage, High Street, Cranbrook, Kent TN17 3EN.
(1 October 2009)

9th ANNUAL SHACKLETON AUTUMN SCHOOL

Bank Holiday weekend, Friday-Monday, 23-26 October 2009 at Athy Heritage Centre, Athy, Co Kildare, Ireland.
(15 March 2009)

For a pdf of the brochure, click here.

UPDATE: Information is now up at the Heritage Centre's website http://www.shackletonmuseum.com
(20 August 2009)

9th Shackleton Autumn School 23rd -26th October 2009
Book launch on the Friday night before the Shackleton Memorial lecture. 'THE SHACKLETON LETTERS - BEHIND THE SCENES OF THE NIMROD EXPEDITION' by Regina Daly.
Friday 23rd Caroline Casey - Shackleton Memorial Lecture on the Friday night.
Saturday
10.30 Hans Kjell-Larsen 'Captain C.A.Larsen' Cost €7.00
12.00 Prof Andrew Lambert 'The Gates of Hell: the Franklin expedition, science and cannibalism' Cost €7.00
2.30 Dr David Wilson- 'Nimrod Illustrated: Pictures from Lieutenant Shackleton's British Antarctic Expedition' Cost €7.00
4.00 Dr Russell Potter 'Those wrecked or stranded ships': Unresolved aspects of the Franklin Expedition Cost €7.00
8.00 Dinner: Cost €40.00
Sunday
10.30 Michael Rosove ' The Great Books of Shackletonia' Cost €7.00
12.00 Lady Herbert. 'The Way of the Explorer' Cost €7.00
3.00 Film: Selection of excerpts from polar films to be hosted by Dr Huw Lewis Jones & Dr Russell Potter Cost €7.00
8.00 Drama Premier John MacKenna's new play Cost €12.00
Monday
10.00 Bus Tour: Cost €10.00

Full Weekend Ticket: Cost €95.00
Also to be launched during the school:
Rob Stephenson 'The Library of the Antarctic Circle'
Nimrod The Journal of the Shackleton Autumn School. Volume 3
Log on to our new website dedicated to the school: http://www.shackletonmuseum.com
For booking forms and any queries contact:
Margaret Walsh
Athy Heritage Centre & Museum,
Emily Square,
Athy.
County Kildare,
Ireland
Tel: 059 8633075 Fax:059 8633076
Email: athyheritage@eircom.net

http://www.athyheritagecentre-museum.ie
http://www.shackletonmuseum.com

—From an e-mail from the Heritage Centre
(20 August 2009)

TWO POLAR EXHIBITIONS AT THE PEOBODY ESSEX MUSEUM: 'POLAR ATTRACTIONS' AND 'TO THE ENDS OF THE EARTH, PAINTING THE POLAR LANDSCAPE'

Art & Nature Center, Peobody Essex Museum, East India Square, Salem, Massachusetts 01970.

'POLAR ATTRACTIONS'

Through 7 June 2009.
"Explore the Arctic and Antarctic through compelling works of art by 30 contemporary artists. This interactive exhibition in the museum's Art & Nature Center highlights polar regions as distinct, biologically important systems shaped over time by cyclical changes and increasingly, by human influences. Hands-on stations offer a range of exploratory opportunities for visitors of all ages to connect with ideas presented in the exhibition."
—From the PEM's website.
"The Peabody Essex Museum invites you to discover our planet's polar regions in Polar Attractions, a new exhibition at the museum's interactive Art & Nature Center.
As magnificent as they are vulnerable, the Arctic and Antarctic inspire contemporary artists to capture the expansive panoramas, sculptural ice formations and resilient life thriving at the ends of the earth.
Polar Attractions explores creative responses to the polar environment and the science of climate change through 47 works of contemporary art and interactive stations.
'This exhibition encourages families to experience the polar regions through artwork and activities that demonstrate how nature and human influences have shaped these distinct, biologically important ecosystems over time," said Jane Winchell, The Sarah Fraser Robbins Director of the Art & Nature Center and PEM curator of natural history. "Visitors will be surprised by the range of color, scale and texture in the show. We hope they will think of this exhibition as an opportunity to see parts of the world most of us will never have a chance to visit.'
Works conveying the unique viewpoints of more than 30 North American artists including Native Alaskans and Canadian Inuit—are presented in four interconnected thematic sections: Ice, Landscape, Wildlife, and Human Interaction.
Ice. Whether glacial or sea-bound, ice sustains life and regulates the circulation of our oceans. Artists employ sound and video, brushed metal sculptures and paintings made with polar ice to capture the powerful presence of ice in the polar world. Mary Edna Fraser's Iceberg (above) is one example. Visitors can interact with an iceberg installation and discover its secrets for themselves.
Landscape. Scale-model polar landscapes viewed through periscopes accompany large- and small-format photographs capturing grand polar vistas and delicate flora. More than just ice and rock, these harsh regions display unexpected color and vibrancy.
Wildlife. Although the habitats may seem austere and punishing, the polar regions are home to many creatures that have thrived there for millennia. As ecosystems change, animals are severely tested. Encounter polar wildlife through sculptures you can touch, origami, contemporary paintings and birds from PEM's own historic collection. Visitors can team up to play the Arctic Tern Challenge, guiding a migrating tern on its perilous journey from one pole to another.
Human Interaction. From the interconnectedness of native cultures, to the impact of natural resource extraction and global warming, human interaction with the Arctic and Antarctic regions is a multihued tapestry of dark and light influences. In this section, sculpture, basketry, photography, drawings and video installations all address how human beings affect environmental changes. A spectacular sculpture (shown here, worn by the artist) interprets solar, lunar and tidal data in three-dimensional form, alluding to the importance of scientific research at the poles. Visitors can build their own three-dimensional mixed-media constructions and capture digital images to be posted on a museum Web site for others to view and consider.
Other media stations encourage deeper exploration of the themes and art featured in the exhibition through interactive computer stations, video footage and musical compositions.
Polar Attractions is supported in part by New Trade Winds/ECHO."
—From a PEM press release.
For more information go to PEM's website.
—Thanks to Jeff Rubin
(12 October 2008)

'TO THE ENDS OF THE EARTH, PAINTING THE POLAR LANDSCAPE'

Through 1 March 2009.
"Capturing the high drama and stark beauty of historic polar expeditions, To the Ends of the Earth, Painting the Polar Landscape presents more than 50 works by prominent artist-explorers, from monumental romantic canvases to early modernist works in pastel—all rarely shown in a single exhibition. The exhibition offers a range of artistic responses to the unique landscapes of the Arctic and Antarctic—from the documentary to the sublime and existential, by renowned painters such as Frederic Edwin Church, Rockwell Kent and Lawren Harris."

FRIENDS OF SPRI SUMMER LUNCH.

Saturday, 6 June 2009, Cambridge.

Details to be forthcoming.
(14 February 2009)

FACE TO FACE: POLAR PORTRAITS

Athy Heritage Centre, Athy, Co. Kildare, Ireland.
24 October - 21 November 2008.
The exhibit—which was first at SPRI from 25 July to 13 September 2008—later moves to London, New York, Dundee and Los Angeles. Dates not known at the moment.

"Face to Face: Polar Portraits" brings together both rare, unpublished treasures from the historic collections of the Scott Polar Research Institute (SPRI), University of Cambridge, 'face to face' with cutting-edge modern imagery from expedition photographer Martin Hartley.
This stunning exhibition and publication will be shown for the first time in Ireland at the Athy Heritage Centre & Museum, Co. Kildare, in October at the official opening the 8th Shackleton Autumn School. Also enjoying its launch in Ireland is the unique book by Huw Lewis-Jones ahead of its official release date in England.
The exhibition opens on 24th October, and runs for four weeks before its international tour.
Showcasing images from 1845 to the present day, "Face to Face: Polar Portraits" features historic images that include the very first polar photographs, the first portraits of explorers, some of the earliest photographs of the Inuit, and rare images never before published from many of the Heroic-Age Antarctic expeditions. These extraordinary portraits are contrasted with an intriguing mix of modern images by Martin Hartley, who has captured men and women of many nations, exploring, working, and living in the Polar Regions today, whether they be one of the world's greatest explorers, or a humble cook.
Almost all the historic imagery—daguerreotypes, magic lantern slides, glass plate negatives and images from private albums—that have been rediscovered during research for this project have never been before the public eye. In addition to 25 historic, and 25 modern polar portraits, the exhibition features a unique collection of historic photographic equipment, such as cameras owned by Captain Scott, Herbert Ponting, Sir Wally Herbert and Sir Ranulph Fiennes."
—From http://www.ipy.org/index.php?/ipy/detail/press_release_face_to_face_polar_portraits/
(8 November 2008)

UPDATE: Huw Lewis-Jones has just given me dates for the FACE TO FACE exhibition (some already past):

14-23 January 2009 - Explorers Club, New York. See http://www.explorers.org/calendar/view_entry.php?id=10726&date=20090114 and http://www.explorers.org/calendar/view_entry.php?id=10749&date=20090115.
7 March - 24 May 2009 - Cafe, Discovery Point, Dundee. See http://www.rrsdiscovery.com/index.php?pageID=182
[No information on the Los Angeles venue.]
Other venues to be announced in due course.

(14 February 2009)

JAMES CAIRD SOCIETY MEMBERS' EVENING and LECTURE.

Friday, 8 May 2009, Dulwich College, London.

6:30 pm in The Great Hall: Captain Bob Tarrant will give a lecture entitled "My reflections on Antarctica & HMS Endurance 2008-2008."
This will be followed by Dinner in the North Cloister & Lower Hall. £35 per head.
For information contact The Hon. Secretary, Pippa Hare, Fig Tree Cottage, High Street, Cranbrook, Kent TN17 3EN.
(29 March 2009)

ANTARCTIC WITNESS

Exhibition, 24 March - 23 April 2009, Pavilion, Royal Geographical Society, London.

"Chart Shackleton's dramatic Antarctic expedition of 1914-17 as seen by expedition protographer Frank Hurley. Including iconic images of the expedition ship Endurance being crushed by ice."
(29 March 2009)

MEMORIAL CELEBRATION FOR SIR WALLY HERBERT AND DR. FRITZ KOERNER.

Tuesday, 7 April 2009, Royal Geographical Society, London. 7 pm (doors open ca. 6 pm; ash bar before and after). Free..

Kari Herbert, Sir Wally's daughter, e-mails to say:

My mother and I will be hosting an evening of 'polar celebration' in honour of my father, Sir Wally Herbert and his good friend and partner in mischief, the late Dr Fritz Koerner on the 7th April 2009 at the Royal Geographical Society in London. As you no doubt know, the 6th April is the 40th anniversary of the British Trans-Arctic Expedition reaching the North Pole, and coincidentally the 100th anniversary of Robert E. Peary's claim of priority to the Pole. The Royal Geographical Society is only available on the 7th April, so a day later than the Big Day, but better late than never for this memorial evening.
The evening, starting at 7pm, will be an uplifting mix of film, story-telling and reminiscences from the Herbert and Koerner family and some of the world's leading lights in polar endeavour and science.
It will be memorable and happy occasion. Tickets are free for all, so please spread the word …
More details will follow soon … We will be putting more information up on our website soon at www.polarworld.co.uk

(14 February 2009)

NIMROD—AN EXHIBITION CELEBRATING THE CENTENARY OF SHACKLETON'S BRITISH ANTARCTIC EXPEDITION, 1907-1909

Scott Polar Research Institute, Cambridge, UK.
21 October 2008 - 4 April 2009

Ernest Shackleton announced plans for a scientific expedition to the Antarctic with the aims of reaching both the South Pole and the South Magnetic Pole - the British Antarctic Expedition, 1907-1909.
Departing on the expedition ship Nimrod in 1907, a shore party of 15 set up base on Ross Island in February 1908; they were to discover nearly 500km of the Trans-Antarctic Mountains flanking the Ross Ice Shelf. A party also made the first ascent of the volcano Mount Erebus (3794m) on Ross Island.
In October 1908, the main polar party, consisting of Shackleton, Eric Marshall, Frank Wild and Jameson Adams, set out from their winter quarters at Cape Royds to make an attempt on the South Pole. Crossing the Ross Ice Shelf and discovering a way through the mountains by means of the Beardmore Glacier, they man-hauled across the polar plateau, reaching 88° 26' South on 9 January 1909. Shackleton correctly calculated that if they carried on and reached the Pole, they would almost certainly die of starvation during the return journey and so they made the brave decision to turn for home. On his return to England Shackleton famously remarked to his wife that he thought she would prefer 'a live donkey than a dead lion'.
A second party comprising Professor Edgeworth David, Alexander Forbes Mackay and Douglas Mawson reached the South Magnetic Pole on 16 January 1909, when they raised the flag and claimed the area for King Edward VII. Using neither dogs or ponies, the men man hauled their sledges for the entire journey.
The men returned to a hero's welcome and, one hundred years on, the Scott Polar Research Institute is marking the centenary by placing expedition diaries and other material on public display. Shackleton's handwritten diary of the attempt on the South Pole will be updated weekly, so visitors will be able to rediscover the men's journey.
—From http://www.spri.cam.ac.uk/events/exhibitions/nimrod/
(8 November 2008)

ICESCAPES; IMPRESSIONS FROM THE POLAR REGIONS. THE WORK OF LUCIA deLEIRIS

17 January - 29 March 2009, Newport Art Museum, Wright Gallery, 76 Bellevue Avenue, Newport, RI.
Lucia has painted in both the Arctic and Antarctic and is a veteran of the National Science Foundation's 'Artist and Writers Program.' More at http://www.luciadeleiris.com
(14 February 2009)

THE RRS WILLIAM SCORESBY—CRADLE TO GRAVE

Saturday, 7 March 2009, 8 pm, SPRI - Pfizer (Chemistry) Lecture Theatre, Cambridge. Doors open at 7:30 pm. Further information at: www.spri.cam.ac.uk/friends/events/lectures.

The RRS Scoresby sailed many thousands of miles through the southern oceans, marking whales, carrying out oceanographic research and other activities both in wartime and in peacetme including Operation Tabarin, between 1926 and 1950. This lecture examines her origins and the significance of her role.
Ronald G. Pett, Electrical Engineering Manager (retd).
(15 February 2009)

ISLANDS TO ICE—THE GREAT SOUTHERN OCEAN & ANTARCTICA

An exhibit at the Tasmanian Museum & Art Gallery, 40 Macquarie Street, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia. 8 March 2006 to 1 March 2009
Museum hours: 10 - 5 daily. Free.
Website: www.tmag.tas.gov.au

"Islands to Ice is the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery's new exhibition exploring the definitions, perceptions, mythology and motivations of Antarctica and the Southern Ocean. It explores the places, the people, the creatures and the phenomena that make the great southern wilderness a world of its own. It is an invitation to journey south from Hobart across wild sapphire oceans to the crystal desert of the Antarctic."
Source: www.tmag.tas.gov.au/nowshowdetail.html

"The lure of the Far South proved a popular attraction for locals and visitors to Tasmania during 2005-06, with over 120,000 visitors viewing Islands to Ice: the Great Southern Ocean and Antarctic, the largest and most interactive exhibition gallery ever produced at the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery, during its first four months of operation. Islands to Ice is the Museum's new permanent exhibition exploring the definitions, perceptions, mythology and motivations of Antarctica and the Southern ocean. It is the first exhibition gallery in Australia to look specifically at the Southern ocean, Sub-Antarctic and Antarctica.
Islands to Ice offers a comprehensive look at this great southern expanse. It explains the geography of the Southern Islands and the Antarctic continent. It details the species that live in this harsh environment and presents the human endeavours that have lead to our understanding of the region. It also expands on the unique relationship Tasmania has with the South.
The larger-than-life gallery includes a huge diorama showcasing the great plethora of animals that live in the Southern ocean, from Weddell seals and sleeper sharks to tiny phytoplankton. Islands to Ice provides the opportunity to get up close and personal with a Wandering Albatross, patagonian Toothfish and Emperor penguin; perhaps the only chance many of us will have to marvel at these magnificent species.
Tales of great heroics are also told and the exhibition delves beyond the well known to the figures that left their own footnote to the region's history. Harrisson's sleeping bag and sledge from Mawson's expedition, Hatch's photographic plates; these important artefacts and others from 20th and 21st Century expeditions help explain the tales of many journeys South.
Islands to Ice is an invitation to explore the stark and silent realm of the South. It's a chance to travel through the icy millennium looking at exploration and survival in an environment that takes people to extremes.
Tasmania has a long association with Antarctica and the Southern ocean. This exhibition helps cement Hobart's reputation as a hub for the Antarctic."
Source: Department of Tourism, Arts and the Environment ANNUAL REPORT 2005-06

PAST ANTARCTIC EVENTS - 2009 and 2010.

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