Safe

Safe focuses on the Svalbard Global Seed Vault, located on an island in the Svalbard archipelago near Greenland, in a territory administered by Norway. A surprisingly minimalist concrete structure juts out from the side of a snow-covered mountain. The images first depict the pristine surroundings and then, inside, the walls, pipes, and shelves on which numerous metal boxes are stacked. The labels on the boxes provide clues about the building’s function and the reasons for choosing this location. Here, in a naturally and permanently frozen environment, hundreds of thousands of seed varieties are preserved and protected from the risk of extinction. Safe invites viewers to reflect on humanity’s active role in the rapid transformation of “nature.”