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 Ice Ambassador will speak a powerful message for the planet and reach millions as it travels the world in an immersive multisensory exhibition. Icefjord Centre. Ilulissat, Kalallit Nunnat (Greenland).Sermersuaq: The Last Ice Project will be a multi-layered exhibit that culminates in a contemplative space where viewers in locations around the world can be with a glacial Ice Ambassador – a relic of artistic, cultural and existential significance.
Accompanying the ice gem and reliquary will be a film directed by Emmy award-winner Jon Halperin, photography by award-winning British photographer Emile Holba, a podcast by Peabody award-winning producer Charles Monroe-Kane, and original music composed by the internationally renowned Norwegian Pioneer of Ice Music, Terje Isungset.
The exhibit will illustrate how an international team can come together to create a meaningful modern myth – sourcing, sculpting and sharing a precious gem – from Kalaallit Nunaat (Greenland) to the world and back where it will live as a permanent exhibition. A reliquary is a container, often a box or shrine, used to hold and display holy relics. These relics are typically parts of the body or belongings of a deceased holy person, venerated as sacred objects.
— Oxford Learners DictionariesThe glacial ice freezer reliquary will feature a 20’ long, 6’ wide outer shell shaped like a capsule with sleek, aerodynamic curves inspired by Buckminster Fuller’s Dymaxion car. The capsule’s frame will be constructed from steel and salvaged oak timber reclaimed from California forest fires—materials related to the destruction caused by climate change.
The exterior will be fitted with double-pane E-glass, enclosing a sculpted glass container designed to hold the gem-shaped piece of glacial ice. This container will be filled with silicon oil, which prevents sublimation while allowing the ice’s natural, luminous blue tones to remain visible. The chamber surrounding the glass container will be maintained at -22ºF to preserve the ice.
The entire system will be solar powered, and when exhibited at the Icefjord Center in Ilulissat, it will run on local hydroelectric energy. The reliquary is not only a technological achievement but also a poetic vessel—preserving a vanishing piece of Greenland’s ancient ice as a symbol of planetary fragility.