Ihsan Arsalan

This project investigates the emerging relationships between indigenous people, state actors, and glaciologists in the aftermath of catastrophic glacial lake outburst floods, from the Karakoram Mountains of Pakistan to European laboratories. “When Frozen Worlds Flood” is a transdisciplinary collaborative study with indigenous people of Gilgit-Baltistan and glacier scientists that examines how they are shaping Karakoram glacial activity while being transformed by it, and how people, scientists, and glaciers encounter forces of the state, frontiers, and geopolitical specters. This project innovates “Traverse Ethnography” as a method and employs it in conjunction with participatory cartography, documentary-making, artistic practice, and scientific tools to reevaluate colonial legacies, environmental activism, and scientific retooling. Therefore, this study challenges the singular narrative of glacier loss in the current climate change discourse.