Nowhereisland

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Nowhereisland documents a major public artwork by British artist Alex Hartley, and produced by Situations, Bristol.

Hartley travelled to the High Arctic region of Svalbard in Norway where he discovered an island recently revealed by a retreating glacier.

He and his expedition team took the island into international waters, declaring it the world’s newest nation, with citizenship open to anyone.
Over 23,000 people from 135 countries signed-up during the island’s 2,500 mile journey to the South West coast of England. It was greeted in ports and harbours by choirs, bands, parades and thousands of people on cliff tops, beaches and promenades.

At the end of its 12-month life, the island was broken up and pieces given to each citizen; some went into orbit, and some have been used within the pages of this book.

The year-long online ‘resident thinker’ programme featured 52 contributors including Yoko Ono, Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, Vidal Sassoon and Sir John Tusa.

Nowhereisland was one of the major Artists Taking the Lead commissions for the London 2012 Cultural Olympiad.