Nick Drake performs his moving poem written during the 2010 Arctic expedition and featured in the High Arctic exhibition.

In late 2010, Nick Drake sailed around Svalbard, an archipelago 500 miles north of Norway, with artists and scientists onboard Cape Farewell’s 2010 Arctic Expedition.

The Farewell Glacier, Nick Drake’s poem and a collection of poetry published under the same name, grew out of this journey to the High Arctic. Published in 2012 the collection gathers together voices from across the Arctic past – explorers, whalers, mapmakers, scientists, financiers, the famous and the forgotten – as well as attempting to give voice to the confronting mysteries of the High Arctic: the animal spirits, the shape-shifters, and the powers of ice and tundra. It looks into the future, to the year 2100, when this glorious winter Eden will have vanished forever.

Poetry by Nick Drake also featured in High Arctic, an immersive artwork by UVA shown at the National Maritime Museum in 2011-12. Inspired by the expedition, the interactive environment used sculptural forms, poetry, an evocative soundtrack and cutting-edge technology to create a unique installation experience.

“Most of us will not experience the High Arctic’s ear-splitting silence, nor its ‘stupendous thundering and roaring’, but by being the catalyst for arresting and inspiring work like The Farewell Glacier, it will speak to all of us who take the time to listen and understand.”

Kate Monson, Good Energy

The Farewell Glacier – a collection of poems by Nick Drake
2010 Arctic expedition
High Arctic exhibition
About Nick Drake