Čuoikkariššu / Mosquito Shower
The installation is a sound shower invited as part of the Arctic Art Forum 2026, opening on March 7, 2026, at the Climate House of the Natural History Museum of Oslo, Norway.
Curated by Italian sound artist and ecologist Nicola Renzi together with Indigenous Sámi scholar and yoik performer Mai Britt Utsi, “Čuoikkariššu / Mosquito Shower” engages with AAF26’s theme of Climate Microchanges by turning attention to tiny beings with outsized ecological impact in the Arctic. “Micro” refers not only to physical size, but also to sound: a buzzing that may appear faint and minuscule, yet in its ubiquity, it shapes how tundra environments are experienced and lived.
Changes in soundscapes often accompany — and sometimes even precede — changes in the landscape. In fragile Arctic ecosystems, even the smallest shifts matter. Mosquitoes play essential roles: they support food webs, influence animal movement, and contribute to the balance of tundra life. Today, the Arctic is warming rapidly. Mosquitoes are appearing earlier in the year, their life cycles are changing, and new species are moving north. While scientists are still learning how these transformations will affect ecosystems and biodiversity, Indigenous ecological knowledge offers insights grounded in long-term coexistence and close attention even to the microscopic change.
In the European Arctic, the Sámi Indigenous peoples have come to live with mosquitoes as part of a broader network of care across all Earth beings. Attending closely to their presence also means attending to their sound, and the stinging discomfort we commonly associate to these insect’s buzzing for some Sámi may be heard as a beautiful yoik melody.
With “Čuoikkariššu / Mosquito Shower”, Nicola Renzi and Mai Britt Utsi invite audiences to listen with care. And if one stops long enough, a melody will appear.
The stereo sound shower is the result of intense binaural recordings of mosquito swarms stinging and buzzing around Nicola Renzi’s ears. Collected in northern Norway (Kautokeino municipality), these field recordings are interwoven with mosquito yoik melodies performed by Mai Britt Utsi and heavily processed through audio mosaicing to match mosquito timbres.
AAF 2026 programme: https://arcticartinstitute.com/aaf2026/
Natural History Museum’s event (in Norwegian): https://www.nhm.uio.no/hva-skjer/0314arctic.html