Hello International Polar Year!

Posted by Jennifer Yap Mar 11, 2007

The streets are slick and hissing with the sound of tires cutting through melting snow. Spring cannot be far off now.

As for my earlier plans for snowman building, or any type of snow sculpting, for that matter…

The snow was dry and powdery and definitely in a non-cooperative mood. I gave up after failing to pack even one small snowball and spent the afternoon toboganning in -15C instead. Fun, but it was soooooo cold and windy.

Somehow, I had an affinity for trees and one particularly solid concrete pillar. As my friends yelled at me to steer with my feet - luge style - I stubbornly experimented with shifting my weight, desperately conjuring sailing season in my mind. I managed to navigate past the tree and concrete, but I now know that toboggans, while zippy, are no substitute for a sailboat.

While I prepare to bid adieu to winter, I’m also contemplating the beginning of International Polar Year, which kicked off March 1, 2007 and will last to March 2009 (so it’s 2 years, really). The geek in me is really excited by this international interdisciplinary research programme which involves scientists from 63 nations studying the environment and peoples of both poles.

So…in the next while, I will try to write about the art of circumpolar communities, nature (I know, sounds weird, but it’ll be fun), classic kitsch and, if I manage to get decent information, a wrap-up of the Vancouver Sculpture Biennale. There will also be more “how-to”s since those are extremely popular.

Drop me a line if there’s anything specific you’d like to read about and I’ll try my best to oblige.