Takkuuk

An extraordinary immersive journey into the Arctic, infrared cinematography and a hypnotic BICEP score, draw audiences into the powerful stories of Indigenous artists navigating a rapidly changing world.

TAKKUUK, meaning ‘look closely’ in Inuktitut, was co-created by BICEP, visual artist Zak Norman, filmmaker Charlie Miller, and seven Indigenous collaborators across Greenland and Sápmi, as part of the EarthSonic initiative.

Specially built infrared cameras transform familiar Arctic landscapes into something strange and otherworldly, while the featured artists open up about what it means to hold onto language, land and identity when so much conspires against continuity.

Through sound, storytelling and performance, they show how culture endures under external pressure, including accelerating climate change.

The result is a genuinely collaborative work that sits somewhere between documentary realism and artistic abstraction, giving Indigenous voices the space to speak on their own terms.

Presented within the extraordinary surrounds of Studio Ulster, hailed as the world’s most advanced virtual production facility, TAKKUUK brings together cutting-edge technology and Indigenous storytelling in a setting unlike any other.

Programmed in partnership with Ulster Museum & Studio Ulster.

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Created in partnership with the charity In Place of War, as part of their EarthSonic programme, the installation sees the renowned Northern Irish electronic duo BICEP — otherwise known as Andy Ferguson and Matthew McBriar — collaborating with a number of Indigenous vocalists, including Katarina Barruk, Andachan, Sebastian Enequist (from Sound of the Damned), Tarrak, Nuija, Niilas and Silla. The music was recorded in 2024 by Detroit-based producer and musician Matthew Dear in Árni Árnason from The Vaccines studio, during Iceland Airwaves festival in Reykjavík.