The art offerings of the Nordics are well established: from the capitals’ gleaming national galleries to the scrappier artist-run spaces in less polished neighborhoods. But travel away from the established centers, and you will stumble upon some of the region’s most visually arresting art sites. In each of the following three art spaces – the Steilneset Memorial in Norway, Artipelag in the Stockholm archipelago and Copenhagen’s Cisternerne – a unique alchemy fuses the space with the unique landscape in which it sits. Together they yield something magical.

The Steilneset Memorial in Vardø, Norway attempts to atone for a centuries-old story of state violence that once occurred there. To arrive at the memorial, you need to journey the Norwegian Scenic Route Varanger, which takes you through some of Norway’s starkest Arctic landscape. This 160-kilometre-long drive is a designated national tourist route and boasts more than 200 installations along its route, including viewpoints, rest areas and artworks. Each project connects to the surroundings and history of its site, but perhaps none more chillingly than The Steilneset Memorial.