Michael Najjar

08 June, 2022

Arctic expedition

In May 2022 Michael Najjar went on an adventurous expedition into the high Arctic. The artist was on board of the expedition ship MS Villa and traveled for 10 days along the west coast of Svalbard high up to the 80th degree of latitude until reaching the pack ice coming from the North Pole. The challenging expedition was part of the artist's new series "cool earth" which deals with our planetary future in times of climate change. New artworks based on the shooting in the Arctic will be released soon.

The Arctic is the epicenter of climate change. No other part of our planet is warming up as quickly, and the changes are already dramatic. At the same time, the Arctic is the area of our planet that we understand the least. Svalbard is the fastest warming place on the planet. Climate change is happening here in fast motion, between 1971 and 2017, the average temperature on this archipelago, less than a thousand kilometers south of the North Pole, rose by 4 degrees celsius. On average, winters have become almost ten degrees warmer over the past 30 years. It is likely to happen that the Arctic will soon be completely ice-free in summer.

Why are temperatures warming faster in the Arctic than the rest of the world? Because of a process called "polar amplification". The loss of sea ice is one of the most important reasons. When bright and reflective ice melts, it gives way to a darker ocean; this amplifies the warming trend because the ocean surface absorbs more heat from the Sun than the surface of snow and ice. Losing sea ice reduces Earth’s albedo, the lower the albedo, the more a surface absorbs heat from sunlight rather than reflecting it back to space.

The melting process of glaciers has shot up by a fivefold over the past four decades and is now accelerating exponentially. The polar regions have lost 28 trillion tons of ice mass in the past 30 years. Since the global temperature will continue to rise, continuation of this melting process is inevitable. If critical tipping points are reached in the polar region, this could lead to the collapse of the massive ice sheets.

The expedition was organized by Secret Atlas, the company is specialized in small ship polar expeditions. The artist wants to thank especially Andy Marsh and Michele D'Agostino, founders of Secret Atlas, as well as the whole crew of the MS Villa for their fantastic support during this epic expedition.

28.Oct 2025, 07:42

20.Oct 2025, 13:53

19.Oct 2025, 09:50

13 October, 2025

TV feature in 'Ringvaade' on ETV, Estonia

13.Oct 2025, 13:01

04.Oct 2025, 07:20

03.Oct 2025, 16:20

02 October, 2025

New artwork "tracking station II"

01.Oct 2025, 13:25

29 September, 2025

"orbital ascent" at attocube, Germany

22 September, 2025

Acquisition by SpallArt Collection

21.Sep 2025, 13:52

19.Sep 2025, 10:16

19.Sep 2025, 10:11

15 September, 2025

New artwork "oculus lunaris"

28 August, 2025

ENTER Art Fair Copenhagen

Nooderlicht Biennale. Machine Entanglements

Podcast – FUTURE of SPACE out now

Shanghai Photofairs Presentation

Exhibition at BANK Gallery New York

Article - The Art Newspaper

New catalogue CIVILIZATION Kunsthalle München

Exhibition opening Kunsthalle München

New artwork "fusion power II"

Exhibition at BANK New York

Greenland expedition video documentary

MARUM Bremen Core Repository

Artwork installation at SGP company, Germany

10 February, 2025

New artwork "arctic shield"

03 February, 2025

Michael Najjar nominated for Prix Pictet

17 December, 2024

Art Basel Miami Beach

19 November, 2024

New artwork "arctic streams"

18 November, 2024

Exhibition views Fotografiska Stockholm

14 November, 2024

Solo presentation at Paris Photo

10 October, 2024

Exhibition at Fotografiska Stockholm

30 September, 2024

Residency at Shanghai Museum of Glass

15 September, 2024

Lecture Astronomy Museum Shanghai

DEEP PURPLE - Scientific Expedition to Greenland

Exhibition at Kunsthalle Bahnitz

Flashback: UKE Hamburg

New artwork "netropolis | shenzhen | 2024"

Interview with Space Ambition

New artwork "CDF-X"

Exhibition JUT Art Museum, Taipei

New artwork "fusion power"

ARCO Madrid

29 February, 2024

Exhibition "A Constant State of Transformation", Melbourne

15 January, 2024

Podcast "FotoPsychoLogisch"

29 November, 2023

Symposium "Enter the Future"

29 November, 2023

Exhibition at Caixa Forum, Madrid

28 November, 2023

Exhibition at ArtScience Museum, Singapore

15 November, 2023

"orbital ascent" special edition

10 November, 2023

Exhibition at BANK Gallery, Shanghai

23 October, 2023

Podcast "Fotografie neu denken"

10 October, 2023

Michael shoots at ITER Fusion Ractor in France

27 September, 2023

Nanjing Artfair, China

21 September, 2023

Wired UK magazine

07 September, 2023

Ars Electronica Festival - Who owns the truth?

Final test flight of Spaceship Unity

Civilization exhibition at Saatchi Gallery, London

Michael at the Starbase

28 February, 2023

New artwork "starbase II"

10 January, 2023

ART SG Singapore

12 December, 2022

"cool earth" exhibition at Studio la Città Gallery

11 November, 2022

Screening at COP27

12 October, 2022

Lecture at Deutsche Museum München

17 September, 2022

CIVILIZATION exhibition at Museo San Domenico

02 September, 2022

Frieze Seoul

Galería Juan Silió presents "cool earth" exhibition

New series "cool earth"

New Artwork "starbase"

mission:space re-edited version

06 January, 2022

New artwork "down to earth"

06 December, 2021

Michael visits STARBASE

09 September, 2021

New book "outer space v2"

07 September, 2021

Exhibition at Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg

Historic Spaceflight of VSS Unity

"Overview Effect" exhibition at Museum for Contemporary Art, Belgrade

Solo Exhibition "outer space" in Beijing

National Air and Space Museum aquires 3 artworks for permanent collection

22 January, 2021

New publication "Space is the Place - Current Reflections on Art and Architecture"

05 December, 2020

"outer space | portfolio box 2020" is now available

07 October, 2020

"New Classics of Mountains and Seas" Exhibition at Zhejiang Museum, China

05 October, 2020

"FUTURO" exhibition at Galleri d'Italia, Vincenza

12 September, 2020

"Space Works" exhibition at Tampere Art Museum, Finland

10 August, 2020

"CIVILIZATION" at Auckland Art Gallery, New Zealand

05 August, 2020

New artwork "crew dragon"

Large scale mural "lunar explorers"

skype interview with curator Benjamin Weil

New artwork "ascension"

06 February, 2020

"terraforming" video on view at Studio National des Arts Contemporains

01 February, 2020

VSS Unity spaceship transferred to Spaceport America

12 December, 2019

new artwork "space renaissance"

19 November, 2019

Video interview on "outer space"

20 October, 2019

"Beyond the Horizon" - exhibition at Wittenstein Innovation Factory

25 September, 2019

"outer space" exhibition opens in Shanghai

12 August, 2019

"terraforming" exhibition at Galería Juan Silio, Spain

New artwork "lunar explorers"

Photo shooting at CERN

New artwork "ignition"

"intergalactic" exhibition at BNKR in Munich

SpaceX Falcon Heavy launch

Shooting of Soyuz rocket launch in French Guiana

CIVILIZATION exhibition opened at the UCCA Beijing

08 February, 2019

Lecture at the European Space Research and Technology Center

30 January, 2019

A Bright Future - New Scientist magazine publicates the artwork "synlight"

14 December, 2018

VSS Unity - Welcome to Space !

30 October, 2018

Opening of the epic landmark exhibition „CIVILIZATION“ at Museum MCA, Seoul, South Korea

10 September, 2018

Shooting at European Space Research and Technology Centre (ESTEC)

New artwork "orbital outpost"

Exhibition at Bank/MABSociety Gallery in Shanghai

Virgin Galactic completes first rocket-powered test flight of VSS UNITY spaceship

26 February, 2018

Michael takes pictures in an active volcano in New Zealand

11 January, 2018

New book publication „Planetary Echoes - Exploring the Implications of Human Settlement in Outer Space

05 January, 2018

Michael portrays the world´s biggest artificial sun

20 November, 2017

Michael participates in the exhibition “Rivoluzione Galileo. L’arte incontra la scienza”

02 October, 2017

Michael took pictures of the world´s largest telescope in China

20 September, 2017

Michael´s work now on view at the 7th Moscow Biennale 2017

Michael participates at the 7th Moscow Biennale 2017

Michael Najjar signs contract for cosmonaut training at ‪yuri gagarin cosmonaut training center‬

Panel discussion on occasion of the exhibition “Planetary Echoes“

Video trailer of the exhibition opening "Planetary Echoes“

Alfred Ehrhardt Foundation Berlin presents Michael´s new solo exhibition "Planetary Echoes“.

UK Business Traveller Magazine features “Space Suite“ on the cover

13 February, 2017

Photo- and video shooting in Iceland

12 January, 2017

Michael portrays future Mars robot „Valkyrie“ at Edinburgh Centre for Robotics

19 November, 2016

Michael takes pictures of Arianespace VA233 milestone mission

12 October, 2016

Michael Najjar is one of the few Hasselblad Ambassadors worldwide.

05 October, 2016

Exhibition at Reggio Emilia / Palazzo da Mosta

22 September, 2016

Michael visits the new SpaceShipTwo at SpaceShipCompany in the Mojave desert.

12 September, 2016

„Space Suite“ shortlisted for European Hotel Award

Michael Najjar photographs the Vulcain 2 rocket engine in France

“space garden“ at museum Marta Herford

„outer space“ exhibition opens in New York

VA229 Mission successful launched into space

20 February, 2016

Virgin Galactic unveils new spaceship 16 months after fatal crash

17 February, 2016

Michael has arrived at Guiana Space Center

13 November, 2015

Michael inaugurates solo exhibition „outer space“ at Kunstverein Oldenburg, Germany

31 October, 2015

Exo-Evolution Exhibition at ZKM Museum, Karlsruhe

13 October, 2015

Michael took pictures at :envihab - Future Research Center for Space and Earth

07 October, 2015

Michael opens the world´s first Space Suite in Zurich

24 September, 2015

Studio La Città presents Michael´s solo show "outer space“

21 September, 2015

Michael completed basic suborbital space training program at NASTAR

08 September, 2015

Michael Najjar – one of the first test persons to perform jump and vibration training on the next generation DLR centrifuge

Solo exhibition at Museo Es Baluard, Palma, Spain

WIRED MAGAZINE features a large online article by Alyssa Coppelman on Michael Najjar´s "outer space" series.

Exhibition at Galería Juan Silió, Santander, Spain

New artwork related to the SpaceshipTwo Crash

New artwork "oscillating universe“

Article in The Wall Street Journal

15 January, 2015

MISSION:SPACE - Documentary Film Preview

12 January, 2015

Michael Najjar exhibits at Peter Kilchmann Gallery, Zurich

12 December, 2014

Michael participates at Kochi-Muziris Biennale, India

06 November, 2014

"Michael Najjar - outer space book published - Introduction essay by Buzz Aldrin

31 October, 2014

SpaceshipTwo crashes during testflight

15 October, 2014

"outer space" presented in Parabol Art Magazine Curated issue by Peter Weibel (Director ZKM)

04 October, 2014

Michael photographs the Eden Project

30 September, 2014

HALO Jump - video documentation

02 September, 2014

Michael´s work featured in ELEFANT Art Magazine

Michael is the first artist ever to perform a HALO Jump from an altitude of 10,000 m / 32,800 ft

Michael took pictures at Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan

DISTANZ to publish Michael Najjar's "outer space"

First presentation of "outer space" in Berlin

German TV Arts Programm "titel thesen temperamente" shows a portrait of Michael Najjar

Article + interview in "uncube" magazine

31 January, 2014

Article in Süddeutsche Zeitung Magazin

20 January, 2014

Arte TV features Michael´s working at ALMA

08 January, 2014

Article in Greenpeace Magazine, Germany

25 November, 2013

Michael has done a photoshooting at the Atacama desert

20 October, 2013

Michael returns to Star City for Cosmonaut Training

08 October, 2013

Michael photographs at JPL cleanroom

Michael visits Mojave Air and Space Port

michael takes a dose of centrifugal training

michael takes a dose of centrifugal training

20 February, 2013

"spacewalk" - first video work from the series

22 January, 2013

michael najjar starts collaboration with hasselblad

16 December, 2012

michael najjar completes first phase of cosmonaut training

09 September, 2012

michael najjar photographs "short arm centrifuge (sahc)" at the german aerospace center.

michael najjar photographs the james webb space telescope

michael at tedXkiruna conference, sweden

28 February, 2012

norman foster views the new work

23 February, 2012

article on wallpaper magazine

13 February, 2012

first work from the new series

05 November, 2011

"first artist in space" - interview on artnet

24 October, 2011

michael najjar meets richard branson

20 September, 2011

historic final mission

15 September, 2011

new series "outer space"