A model of the exhibition stand

The project started in early 2013 when the University of the Arctic (UArctic) approached the Faculty of Art and Design about collaborating on the design of an exhibition stand. The idea was to create a meeting area with an Arctic focus and inspiration.

A group of international exchange students, attending the Arctic Inspiration course led by University Lecturer Lauri Snellman, developed the concept and initial designs for an open meeting space. With feedback from the rest of the project team (Virpi Nurmela, Faculty of Art and Design; and Outi Snellman, Scott Forrest, and Hannele Palviainen, UArctic International Secretariat), the students created a stand design that conveyed a sense of the North: homey, clean, welcoming, quiet, airy.

In late spring, Industrial Design students Terhi Silvennoinen and Malla Haapala constructed the stand together with Barry Todd, an Irish exchange student who had been involved in the design process from the beginning. The design was based on the use of local materials, easily transportable and handmade elements, reusability, and fixtures that can be sourced from many locations.

The central element of the stand was to be a projector screen, for which another Arctic Inspiration student, Pietro Lodi from Italy, was asked to produce a video with themes that would reflect the unique atmosphere of the Circumpolar North. The result is a combination of serene landscapes, calm oceans and lakes, the coolness of snow and ice, the nightless nights of summer, and the magical aurora borealis, but above all, the warm sense of home that northerners share.

The exhibition stand will be used in promotional events for the UArctic. The stand makes its debut at the European Association for International Education (EAIE) conference in Istanbul, 10–13 September 2013. Scott Forrest and Barry Todd are hosting the stand in Istanbul together with UArctic member organizations that were invited to partner at the conference, sharing time at the booth to make international contacts and promote their institutions as destinations of study and partners of international education cooperation. The seven institutions participating in the EAIE 2013 at the UArctic stand are the University of Lapland, Oulu University of Applied Sciences, and the University of Eastern Finland from Finland; the University of Saskatchewan from Canada; the University of Tromsø and University of Nordland from Norway; and the North-Eastern Federal University from Russia.

For more information:
Information Manager Scott Forrest, secretariat (at) uarctic.org
www.uarctic.org