Subhankar Banerjee: Land-as-Home – Vision for an Eco-Culturally Sustainable American Arcti

Land-as-Home - Vision for an Eco-Culturally Sustainable American Arctic

Subhankar Banerjee, Artist; Educator; Activist; Inaugural Recipient of Lannan Foundation Cultural Freedom Fellowship

The American Arctic is at the front line of policy debates concerning climate change and fossil fuel development. Yet the Arctic continues to be a misrepresented and misunderstood place in the consciousness of the American public. Banerjee has spent the past decade photographing, writing and lecturing about issues of conservation, human rights and eco-cultural sustainability in the Arctic. His work has gained international acclaim and has been spotlighted in Senate floor debates. As our dependence on foreign oil continues and the economy falters, should the United States open up the entire American Arctic for oil, natural gas and coal development? Or can the collective imagination of the nation develop a sustainable energy policy that honors ecological conservation and human rights of the indigenous communities who have inhabited these lands for many millennia?