This Is Arctic Land is a series of public interventions for the Arctic Arts Summit in Ubmeje/Umeå 2026 by artists Jérémie McGowan and Amund Sjølie Sveen. Realised in collaboration with UmArts and the Tráhppie Sami Cultural Centre, the project takes form as a large banner on the facade of Tráhppie, a collection of signs outside UmArts, a monumental billboard in the city square, and a limited-edition DIY stencil kit in the Arctic Arts Summit conference pack.
Borrowing its rhythm and form from the well-known slogan “This Is Sami Land”, This Is Arctic Land pays homage to the importance of protest for land, self-determination and identity, in support of Ubmeje/Umeå in Sápmi. The project both addresses and participates in the processes of “Arctification” occurring in many northern areas today. Who chooses to be(come) part of the Arctic, or (re)brand themselves as “Arctic”, and to what ends? What is at stake, and what does it mean?