FISHSKINLAB - ARCTIC ENCOUNTERS

ARCTIC ENCOUNTERS

The chapter, "Arctic Encounters: Material Culture, Indigenous Worldviews, and AI Projections", a case study of a 3D-modelled fish skin parka created in collaboration with Jonathan Katz., appears in the volume Artistic Dialogues with the Arctic North: Environmental Change and Identity in Transition, edited by Antonia Shons for Routledge.

https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9781003545880-16/arctic-encounters-elisa-palomino-jonathan-katz

The chapter explores Alaska Native fish skin garments and the stories of reciprocity, resilience, and kinship with the land and its beings. Arctic Natives recognize a world animated by spirits, animals, plants, and humans, all sharing a primordial humanity. In contrast, Artificial Intelligence (AI), driven by anthropocentrism, seeks to replicate human cognition in machines. While these traditions diverge, there are ways to bring them together.

Many Arctic communities still face distance from their own heritage, as ancestral garments are held in museums far from home. This chapter considers how emerging 3D technologies such as CLO Virtual Fashion may help bridge those distances. Through digital modelling, Arctic garments can return, virtually, to the communities that created them, opening new pathways for cultural revitalisation, intergenerational dialogue, across the North. The chapter hopes to contribute to wider conversations on heritage, technology, and the living knowledge of the Arctic.