The Polar Silk Road
Against the backdrop of global warming and melting polar ice caps, photographer Gregor Sailer spent 5 years documenting the Arctic regions. With temperatures up to -55ºC he’s not only pushing the limits of analogue photography but also combines documentary photography with a fine art aesthetic. The Polar Silk Road, available as a book, documents the economic exploitation of the Arctic regions and the territorial claims of the respective neighbouring states.
Photography Gregor Sailer
North Warning System, Tuktoyaktuk, Northwest Territories, Canada, 2020. © Gregor Sailer
The Polar Silk Road deals with the economic exploitation of the Arctic regions and the territorial claims of the respective neighboring states.
The associated consequences are geopolitical tensions as well as the expansion of military structures and research stations, which Sailer highlights in his project.
Royal Air Force Fylingdales, North York Moors, United Kingdom, 2020. © Gregor Sailer
Barracks I, Kangerlussuaq, West Greenland, 2019. © Gregor Sailer
EastGRIP XXIX, Northeast Greenland Ice Sheet, Ice Core Project, 2019. © Gregor Sailer
»In recent years, the Chinese Belt and Road Initiative, a global transport infrastructure development program, has highlighted Beijing’s ambition of becoming one — or even the — imperial power of the 21st century. While this initiative is primarily directed at the inland areas of Eurasia and at parts of Africa, the notion of the Polar Silk Road —first proposed by the Chinese government in 2018 — largely refers to shipping lanes through the Arctic Ocean. Today, these lanes include the so-called Northern Sea Route north along the Russian coast (previously known as the Northeast Passage) and the Northwest Passage north of North America. If sea ice loss continues at current rates, a Transpolar Sea Route across the center of the Arctic Ocean might become possible before midcentury.«
From the essay by Peter Schweitzer
EastGRIP I, Northeast Greenland Ice Sheet, Ice Core Project, 2019. © Gregor Sailer
EastGRIP XX, Northeast Greenland Ice Sheet, Ice Core Project, 2019. © Gregor Sailer
“Gregor Sailer’s project The Polar Silk Road, created between 2017 and 2022, picks up on this tradition of historical Arctic photographs. The parallels are fascinating”
From the essay by Walter Moser
EastGRIP XXIV, Northeast Greenland Ice Sheet, Ice Core Project, 2019. © Gregor Sailer
Radio Installation, Tacan, West Greenland, 2019. © Gregor Sailer
Krafla Geothermal Power Station, Iceland, 2021. © Gregor Sailer
Military Facility, Norwegian Armed Forces, Andøya, Norway, 2020. © Gregor Sailer
EISCAT, Ramfjordmoen, Norway, 2020. © Gregor Sailer
The Polar Silk Road can be seen at the Kunst Haus Wien Museum in Vienna until 19.03.23 and in Berlin at the Alfred Ehrhardt Stiftung between 14.01 – 02.04.23.
About Gregor
Gregor Sailer (b. 1980 in Schwaz, Tyrol) works as a freelance photographer. He has exhibited and published internationally, his work can be found in the Fotomuseum Winterthur, the Österreichische Staatsgalerie, the Belvedere Vienna, the Kunsthalle Vienna, the Museum der Moderne Salzburg, the Collection Centre National des Arts Plastiques, Paris, the Museum der Moderne Salzburg, and many others.
Following The Potemkin Village and Closed Cities, The Polar Silk Road is Gregor Sailer’s third publication with Kehrer Verlag.
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