Northern academics, artists gather in Iceland to talk about darkness

People from northern nations are in Iceland talking about the role darkness plays in northern countries.

The conference "Dynamics of Darkness In the North" is sponsored by universities and other organizations and is actually one of the events of the International Year of Light. 

Inuk artist and Yellowknife resident Tiffany Ayalik spoke at the conference in Reykjavík on Friday providing a Canadian Inuit perspective.

"It's one of those things that I think some people put this sort of really heavy thing on darkness," Ayalik says.

"But if we can all just sort of embrace it as a part of our life and that it's in balance with the beautiful light that we have it's a really healthy outlook to just embrace both sides equally, it's not just one or the other, or else it's a little unbalanced," she says.

Ayalik acknowledges that long hours of darkness during the winter is difficult for some.

"Especially for people who are new to the North, it can be really hard on people adjust and that can really wear down on people and can affect mental health," she says.

"Other speakers will be mentioning issues of mental health from others countries so I'm really excited to learn about that and what programs and what skills and what coping mechanisms people have in other parts of the world."

The conference covers a wide range of topics, many are related to culture and art, but also more utilitarian subjects including a Swedish study on artificial lighting in public spaces.

Ayalik is one of the actors in Christopher Morrison's play, Night, set in Pond Inlet. 

She'll be discussing the play at the conference and reciting portions. Here's an audio excerpt from the play she provided during her interview on CBC North with Juanita Taylor.

Ayalik says the value of bringing people from northern countries together is they often face the same challenges and can help each other.