Greenland’s Big Ice is melting. How do we melt the ice in the human heart? Art will save the day. Photography by Emile Holba.
Illustrations by Brian Goggin.
Audio by Charles Monroe-Kane. Website design by Emile Holba.
All rights reserved by Sermersuaq: The Last Ice Project.
No reproduction without prior permission.
The Sermersuaq glacial ice for the project will be extracted and carved in winter on the Ilulissat Icefjord. It will then be transported to the mainland via a Greenlandic Inuit dog sled. There the ice will be added to the reliquary.
Bombus Polaris
Bombus Polaris is one of only two bumblebees that live above the Arctic Circle. The dog sled built to carry the blue Sermersuaq glacial ice from the Ilulissat Icefjord was named Bombus Polaris after a resilient Arctic bumblebee species. Known for its ability to survive near-freezing temperatures, it is a social bee whose queens and workers can often be seen basking in the conical petals of Arctic poppies (Papaver radicatum), which act like miniature mirrors reflecting sunlight into the heart of the flower.
The Bombus Polaris symbolizes both strength and vulnerability—resilient in the harsh climate of Kalaallit Nunaat (Greenland), yet increasingly fragile in the face of climate change. It is a fitting namesake for the sled, which carries with it a fragile gem of ancient ice, linking the natural and human worlds in this urgent story of transformation.
Sled building notes from Brian.
I worked on Bombus Polaris with Ole Svendsen, Greenlandic Inuit Dog Sled builder and dog musher, to build this traditional Kalaallit Nunaat (Greenland) dog sled in his workshop in March of 2025. We started by selecting the durable materials that would enable us to support up to a two metric tonne load of glacier ice (from an iceberg). He has been building dog sleds for fishermen and women in Ilulissat his whole life, as has his father and his father and his father before him.
We used straight grained, knot free pine to build the cross pieces that span the runners. We based the shape of these evenly spaced pieces on the shape of the older sleds where they used salvaged wood from barrels to connect the two parallel runners and help to structure the sled. These rounded shapes added arcing shapes to the sled.
In the past, Ole told me, sled makers would use driftwood to build their sledges. The driftwood came from Siberian pine forests via the Transpolar ice drift that moves sea ice from the coast of Siberia across the Arctic Ocean to Kalaallit Nunaat (Greenland) over a number of years. When wood was not available, Ole said, the fishermen would use frozen fish wrapped in sealskin for runners.
We made a pair of runners with wood he had stored in the shipping container he uses as a shed outside his shop. The runners are a vital part of the sled design requiring precise cuts and angles, and they also have signature upturned shapes at the front that act as a signature of the builder and the location where the sled was made. In other words the shapes vary depending on where they are from.
After cutting out, sanding and shaping all of the pieces, we sealed the wood and coated the cross pieces, runners and handlebar pieces in the traditional light blue associated with Ilulissat. We left the red ironweed cross piece on the handlebar unpainted, using oil to finish
So the sled can glide more easily over uneven snow or ice we laminated a nylon strip carved with a groove down the underside to fit snug around the edge of the runner, held tight with a steel bracket bent around the upturned curving (rockered) front part of the runner to keep the slick surface from peeling off. Traditionally sled makers would use bone layered with fat and ice, however now the nylon is what Ole prefers to use, because he says these new materials work so much better and he prefers them.
Using the crosspieces we spanned the runners tilted outward at a 7 degree angle to provide stability and reduce drag when turning. The side angle when seen from the back is subtle, but very important for maneuverability and control.
Ole’s friend, fisherman and Greenlandic Inuit hunter, Arna Johansen helped us lash together the cross pieces and attached the handle bar with the strong nylon rope. The sleds are not nailed, but instead lashed to allow flexibility and withstand the twisting and torquing forces of uneven terrain, while also being easy to repair in remote locations with minimal tools. In the past sealskin rope was used for this purpose, but as Ole said those ropes can break easily and also serve as a tasty snack for the sled dogs!
Once the sled was tied together Ole went out to his shed and gave me two caribou pelts to use to pad the sled, wrap tools, use it as a soft cover to sit on or cushion the ice when we transport it. We tied the pelts on and then took the sled out for a test on the fjord. It glided like a dream, very smooth and stable when turning and carrying a load. We left the sled staged and ready for us in a cabin near the fjord along with some of the saws we will use for the ice extraction.