Stein Henningsen
“My work questions climatic, political, social and financial systems with conceptual clarity and activist commitment.”
Stein Henningsen is a performance and visual artist based in the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard. Since 2005, his work has been presented at numerous biennials, festivals and international events across Scandinavia, Europe, North America and Asia.
Influenced by the visual language of traditional photography, Henningsen approaches performance as an evocative form of visual poetry. His practice addresses contemporary political, social, financial and climate-related issues, seeking to create compelling and resonant images that invite audiences to reflect on their own role in relation to global challenges. His background in engineering and international marketing brings analytical rigour to an otherwise experimental practice.
One of his earliest significant works, Crosses of Liberty (2005), was a travelling installation and performance consisting of life-size reproductions of the American crosses found in the cemeteries of Normandy. The work toured Europe and established his approach to subjects with a strong political dimension. Further information: crossesofliberty.com.
Driven by a desire to foster critical awareness, his current projects continue to address the urgent state of the planet, with particular attention to the tangible consequences of climate change that he witnesses directly in his Arctic environment.
Motivated by his wish to share his experiences of the Arctic and raise awareness of its rapid transformation, Henningsen founded the Arctic Action International Performance Festival in 2015: https://arcticaction.info. Across seven curated editions in Svalbard, he has invited more than fifty performance artists from Scandinavia and elsewhere to develop works specifically connected to the unique Arctic landscape.
As the festival’s founder, Henningsen has created an important platform for artistic production inspired by the Arctic and aimed at international audiences, highlighting environmental fragility, geopolitical tensions and cultural resilience.
His international exhibitions and participation in festivals demonstrate his ability to translate the realities of the Arctic into works with universal reach and resonance.
