As a result of global warming Shishmaref, a small island on the west coast of Alaska slightly south of the polar circle, inhabited by 600 Inupiaq, will crumble into the ocean in less then ten years time. Fourteen houses have been moved to safer ground already, another six are jeopardized by the violent waves of winter storms. The island and its inhabitants seem set to become the first clear victims of global warming and inadequate international environmental awareness.

A majority of the Inupiaq population have voted to move to a new location on the Alaska mainland across the bay, where they hope to preserve their traditional way of life as much as possible. Debates held during the past few years about where to relocate, revealed tensions between the older generations and adolescents. The youth are bored with five bingo evenings a week and the modest sports hall as the only entertainment facility available. The grown-ups – and especially the women – fear the influence of the city and the accompanying confrontation with alcohol and drugs, still totally absent on Shishmaref, responsible for the collapse of so many small communities in this region and others.

The countless news crews that visited the island over the past years paid no attention to the society as such. Almost all of them reported from the island in front of the house that hangs precariously over the eroding coastline. The climate message was the main focus of their stories. To filmmaker Jan Louter and photographer Dana Lixenberg, in contrast, the climate was a backdrop for the histories of people, of a community, of a life in all its paradoxical intricacies. Images of the hunt and of immense seascapes and snow-covered landscapes interact with intimate portraits and scenes from cluttered interiors. The impression it leaves yields more questions than answers: questions about identity, dignity, transience and mortality. What does it mean for an individual, for a culture to be forced to leave the land where their forefathers were born?

The Last Days of Shishmaref is a project employing diverse media which supplement and enhance one another: a website, a documentary film, a book, a touring exhibition and an educational project for secondary schools, accompanied by a DVD. Combining a variety of contemporary and historical materials and the input of professionals as well as the community, the project will appeal to both readers with an interest in anthropology and photography as well as those concerned with climate change.

Authors

Dana Lixenberg (born in Amsterdam, 1964) lives and works in New York and Amsterdam. She studied photography at the London College of Printing (1984–1986) and at the Gerrit Rietveld Academie in Amsterdam (1987-1989). In 1993 she was awarded a project grant by the Fonds BKVB (The Netherlands Foundation for Visual Arts, Design and Architecture) for a series of portraits at the Imperial Courts Housing Project in Los Angeles, CA. She soon received commissions from a wide variety of magazines such as the New York Times Magazine, The New Yorker, Newsweek, Vrij Nederland and Vibe, among many others. Many of these collaborations continue to this date. All the while, Lixenberg continued working on long‐term personal projects, mostly focused on individuals and communities on the margins of society. She was the subject of a documentary titled Dana Lixenberg: Thru Dutch Eyes in 1999, and in 2005 she was featured in an episode of the documentary series Hollands Zicht (Dutch Vision), both produced for Dutch television. Her publication Jeffersonville, Indiana was awarded Best Dutch Book Design, 2005. Her most recent publication, The Last Days of Shishmaref, has been awarded Best Dutch Book Design, 2008.

Jan Louter (Hoogvliet, 1954) has 25 documentaries to his name, varying in length from 50 to 80 minutes. Made possible in part by various film foundations, his documentaries have aired on public broadcasting stations (NPS, VPRO and AVRO in the Netherlands). Many of his long and short documentaries have been displayed at national and international film festivals and sold to foreign TV stations. His film A sad flower in the sand – about the work of writer John Fante – aired on national TV in the USA. The film received a special mention from the jury from the 15th AFI film festival in Los Angeles (2001). Louter has documented various writers and artists, including a number of major Dutch authors such as Jan Wolkers (De onverbiddelijke tijd, 1996) and Gerrit Komrij (De gelukkige schizo) and artist Jan Monteyn (Love me or leave me, 2005). Jan Louter creates documentaries for a broad audience, documentaries that appeal to the imagination both visually and conceptually. The viewer is challenged to let go and be swept up in the story. The influence that the past has on the present is a recurring theme in all his films. In The Last Days of Shishmaref, he partners with a professional team that includes cameraman Melle van Essen, soundman Leo Franssen, editor Riekje Ziengs and composer Paul M. van Brugge.

Platforms

Two Caribou heads - The Last Days Of Shishmaref
Two Caribou heads - The Last Days Of Shishmaref
© Dana Lixenberg
Nathan Weyiouanna's huis - Nathan Weyiouanna's house -The Last Days Of Shishmaref
Nathan Weyiouanna's huis - Nathan Weyiouanna's house -The Last Days Of Shishmaref
© Dana Lixenberg
Leslie Eutok - The Last Days Of Shishmaref
Leslie Eutok - The Last Days Of Shishmaref
© Dana Lixenberg
Helen Olanna with Angel, her daughter - The Last Days Of Shismaref
Helen Olanna with Angel, her daughter - The Last Days Of Shismaref
© Dana Lixenberg
Reindeer meat (at Shirley & Clifford Weyiouanna's) - The Last Days Of Shishmaref
Reindeer meat (at Shirley & Clifford Weyiouanna's) - The Last Days Of Shishmaref
© Dana Lixenberg
The Last Days Of Shishmaref
The Last Days Of Shishmaref
© Dana Lixenberg
The Last Days Of Shishmaref
The Last Days Of Shishmaref
© Dana Lixenberg
The Last Days Of Shishmaref
The Last Days Of Shishmaref
© Dana Lixenberg
Corben Nayokpuk- The Last Days Of Shishmaref
Corben Nayokpuk- The Last Days Of Shishmaref
© Dana Lixenberg
The tannery - The Last Days Of Shishmaref
The tannery - The Last Days Of Shishmaref
© Dana Lixenberg
Walrus Stew - The Last Days Of Shishmaref
Walrus Stew - The Last Days Of Shishmaref
© Dana Lixenberg
The Last Days Of Shishmaref
The Last Days Of Shishmaref
© Dana Lixenberg
Exhibition - The Last Days Of Shishmaref
Exhibition - The Last Days Of Shishmaref
Exhibition - The Last Days Of Shishmaref
Exhibition - The Last Days Of Shishmaref
Exhibition - The Last Days Of Shishmaref
Exhibition - The Last Days Of Shishmaref
Exhibition - The Last Days Of Shishmaref
Exhibition - The Last Days Of Shishmaref
Exhibition - The Last Days Of Shishmaref
Exhibition - The Last Days Of Shishmaref

Exhibition

In the exhibition Dana Lixenbergs photographs are presented alongside a spatial montage of film scenes from Jan Louters film, shot by cameraman Melle van Essen. The Last Days Of Shishmaref was on show at LPll, Rotterdam (The Netherlands) from 9 November 2008 until 11 January 2009.

  • 09.11.200811.01.2009LPII, Rotterdam (NL)

  • Photography: 56 framed prints (19 prints: 80×100/ 37 prints: 50×60).

    Film based installation:
    projected on 5 – 9 screens (160×285 cm),
    5 – 9 LCD monitors with film excerpts
    3 – 6 iMacs with website
    3 projections (animated maps, timeline, realtime climate related newsfeed)
    Wireless DSL-network

    Required space: 300-900 m2 (installation can be customized).

Book

Family ties play a central role in the book with photos by Dana Lixenberg and Taco Hidde Bakker. The portraits, details from interiors, village tableaux, land- en seascapes give a nuanced impression of a close community balancing between a past rooted in tradition and an uncertain future. Lixenberg took her pictures with a large-format camera, a method that requires an intimate collaboration between the photographer and her subject.

Buy
  • The Last Days of Shishmaref
    Dana Lixenberg and Taco Hidde Bakker,
    Texts by: Eefje Blankenvoort
    Design: Mevis & Van Deursen
    Pages: 208
    Cover: Softcover
    Size: 165 x 225 mm
    Language: Dutch, English
    Production: Paradox
    Publisher: Paradox, Episode Publishers
    Launch: 2008
    ISBN: 9789059731110

Still from 'The Last Days of Shismaref'
Still from 'The Last Days of Shismaref'

Film

In the documentary Lixenberg and Louter depict the impending end of the traditional lifestyle on the island of Shishmaref trough the lives of three Inupiat families. Despite the alarming situation, the documentary has not become a political manifesto but rather a film about identity, transience, mortality, and the clash between different eras and cultures.

  • Production: Juul Kappelhof
    Directed by: Jan Louter
    Camera: Melle van Essen
    Montage: Riekje Ziengs
    Music: Paul van Brugge
    Sound design: Mark Glynne
    Line production: Renske Meertens

Still from the educational video - The Last Days of Shishmaref
Still from the educational video - The Last Days of Shishmaref

Education

Alongside the exhibition, an extended educational programme was developed.

Workshop ‘The Power of Images’
During the exhibition, schoolclasses were able to attend a workshop entitled: The Power of Images. Imagine that the country you live in will be gone in a while, because it will disappear into the sea. What do you do to give the world a wake-up call and make people take action? A well chosen picture can make your message stronger. Inspired by the story and pictures of Shishmaref, pupils researched the influence that photos in the media have on their own conceptualization. In the photography assignment, the pupils themselves created a convincing image to convey a message. Students chose themes like climate change, identity, image manipulation and media.

Recollections of a drowned land
Kunstgebouw Zuid-Holland developed an educational project based on The Last Days of Shishmaref. This program was made in the framework of Zuid-Holland Waterland, a project for secondary schools on water and water management. The topic was discussed in detail from local, national and international perspectives, with Shishmaref as the international angle. In this module, creative assignments encouraged pupils to consider the experiences of young people on the island of Sarichef and how they themselves perceive them.

Video workshop
During one of the final weeks of school in Shishmaref in late April, 2008, four students of the Shishmaref School enrolled in a video workshop, organized by Taco Hidde Bakker (Paradox) and Takashi Sakurai (Alaska Center for Documentary Film, Fairbanks USA). By making videos, the young reporters were raising income for the S.O.S. foundation (Save Our Shishmaref). This organization, run by students of the Shishmaref School, aims to support and speed up the relocation efforts of the village people.

Supported by

  • Fonds BKVB
  • Mondriaan Foundation
  • Prins Bernhard Cultuurfonds
  • VSBfonds
  • SNS Reaal Fonds
  • Eyes on Media
  • EPSON
  • CoBO Foundation
  • The Netherlands Film Fund

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  • Rotterdam Film Fund
  • Rotterdam Climate Initiative
  • Gemeente Rotterdam

General Credits

Production: Iris Sikking, Curated by: Bas Vroege, Graphic Design: Mevis & Van Deursen, Web Design: Antenna-men, 3D Design: Jeroen de Vries, Sound design: Mark Glynne, Education and PR: Lotte ten Voorde, AV assistance: Thomas Vroege, Frank Ortmanns, Research: Taco Hidde Bakker

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