The Arctic Underground Sound Project

The Arctic Underground Sound Project continues my exploration of the hidden world beneath the surface, this time  across Alaska and Arctic Sweden. The project captures the unique and often dramatic underground sounds of these extreme landscapes, including thawing permafrost, flowing underground rivers, and the underwater shifting accoustics of spring river ice break-up. Together, these recordings reveal a changing planet as it is heard from beneath its surface.

Alongside these recording, the project includes conversations with locals, Indigenous community members, miners, artists, scientists, and others who live and work in these sensitive environments. Their voices situate the sounds within lived experience, offering perspectives on ecological change in the Arctic.

The full installation will open in 2027 at the Museum of the North in Fairbanks. The project is created in collaboration with Toolik Field Station, Abisko Scientific Research Station, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Mary Beth Leigh, Jason Dobkowski, and other partners.

Executive Producer: Mary Beth Leigh