From Space to Place

This contribution explores the Norge Expedition of 1926 (the first transpolar flight from Svalbard to Alaska) as a landmark event in Arctic history and as a living piece of cultural heritage. A century later, the material and visual traces of the expedition continue to shape the identity of the Svalbard archipelago: the mooring mast in Ny-Ålesund, the Amundsen Villa, the documentary footage filmed during the flight. Through the concepts of sense of place and cultural imaginary, the text reflects on how the Norge Expedition has contributed to the construction of an Arctic imaginary that persists and evolves, layered onto the successive human activities that have marked the archipelago, from whaling and mining to scientific research and tourism. The expedition emerges not only as a historical event to commemorate, but as a site of ongoing place-making, where objects, monuments, and images actively participate in the narration of a remote and contested place.