Ever wonder what it’s like to experience a year in the arctic? A pop-up exhibit in Northeast this weekend could take you there without leaving D.C.
The Arctic Refuge Experience. Step In. Step Up. takes place Friday through Monday in the Union Market neighborhood. The pop-up plans to whisk visitors away to the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska using 66 million pixels of projected video enhanced with sounds, scents, and other wilderness sensations.
“The goal is to bring the Arctic Refuge to life knowing it’s this incredible, pristine landscape in the northernmost part of our country,” says Lulu Gephart, senior director of marketing for the Wilderness Society, a nonprofit land conservation organization.
The event is hosted by the Wilderness Society, the Gwich’in Steering Committee, and the Arctic Refuge Defense Campaign, which aims to stop oil and gas development in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. The pop-up exhibit is a response to the possibility of oil drilling coming to the land in the refuge, which is home to some of the indigenous Gwich’in people.
Congress legalized oil development in part of the refuge in 2017; and a plan this year from the Trump administration would open up about 1.56 million acres of the 19 million-acre site for lease by energy companies. Opponents of the plan argue that oil drilling would be dangerous for the population of animals and wildlife on the refuge.
All net proceeds from The Arctic Refuge Experience will go to the Gwich’in Steering Committee and Gwich’in Youth Council. The event has also been hosted in Brooklyn and will make its way to San Francisco in the coming weeks.
There are three rooms for guests to explore during their 30-minute session in the exhibit. The first is a Northern Lights room that includes a welcome from Gwich’in people in the region, and the second room is where most of the immersive experience happens: Guests are surrounded by screens depicting the outdoor landscape of the region, getting up and close with caribou, arctic foxes, polar bears, and other wildlife. Fog billows at the ground that resembles the arctic tundra, and the air is filled with natural, earthy scents from alpine to salty sea air. Visitors can feel wind and heat and listen to the chanting and singing of the Gwich’in people as it coordinates with the visuals on the screen.
Finally, there’s the action room, where guests can view facts and statistics about the current status of the Arctic Refuge and can cover a wall with signatures and pledges to support the region, whether it’s by attending a rally, signing a petition, or leaving a voicemail to oil company CEOs.
The Instagrammable exhibit hopes to target young people who weren’t involved in the last arctic refuge fight in 2005, Gephart says, when Senate Democrats narrowly blocked a proposal for drilling in the refuge. Naturally, photos are encouraged throughout the entire exhibit.
“We thought it as important to create this experience to help people understand the value of protecting these places,” Gephart says. “For people who care about human rights issues and climate change, this is a storm to see how these issues play out in a specific place.”
The Arctic Refuge Experience takes place at AutoShop, Friday-Sunday, noon-8 p.m., and Monday, 11 a.m.-7 p.m. Tickets $10 for adults, free for children under 13. Sold online and in person until 30 minutes before closing. Guests are encouraged to arrive within 15 minutes of their ticket time.
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