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Cape Farewell is an expedition of writers, oceanographers, sculptors, scientists and film makers united in the common aim of raising awareness about climate change. The idea, conceived over four years ago by artist David Buckland, was that Cape Farewell would literally sail into the heart of the climate change debate by navigating The Noorderlicht, an ancient Dutch schooner, to areas of the arctic only recently made accessible by the retreating ice-caps. In 2003, ‘04 and ‘05 the team, including the novelist Ian McEwan, sculptors Heather Ackroyd and Dan Harvey, and the photographer Gautier Deblonde, sailed around the remote Norwegian islands of Svalbard. They experienced temperatures of minus 35 degrees Celsius and managed the huge, turbulent sea conditions of the Devil’s Dancefloor. These bleak, cold, yet beautiful surroundings played host to many artistic endeavours, including David Buckland’s chilling messages projected across the ice cliffs."We are trying to communicate our understanding of the changing climate on a human scale, so our individual lives can have meaning in what is a global problem," explained David about the project’s aspirations. The finished artwork included the bones of a mink whale retrieved by Heather Ackroyd and Dan Harvey, who then encrusted the skeleton with alum crystals emphasising the whale’s fragility. Alex Hartley’s photographic work paid homage to the early arctic explorers, and documents the recent discovery and naming of an island only uncovered by the diminishing glaciers in the past five years. A specialist team of experts from the National Oceanography Centre, in Southampton, joined the crew and artists on the trip, with the intention of surveying this pristine environment and monitoring the effects of climate change. This uncharted region pro-vided the perfect location to take scientific readings because the lack of local pollutants from vehicles and factories made it possible to achieve results representing the true condition of the earth’s atmosphere. One of the key aims of the Cape Farewell expeditions was to help raise awareness on the issues surrounding climate change. By utilising all the information gathered and working in accordance with the national curriculum and examination boards, GCSE Science and Geography modules have been created – Geography 21 and Science 21. They aim to provide both a comprehensive look at the areas visited during the voyages undertaken by Cape Farewell as well as increase the focus on climate change issues in education. The expeditions, art and sculpture all make up The Ship: The Art of Climate Change exhibition, which was recently launched in London at the Natural History Museum. Previous exhibitions have been hugely successful, particularly the December 2005 display outside the Bodleian Library in Oxford. Here, more than 20,000 brochures were distributed containing information on ways in which climate change can be prevented. The artwork inspired by the Cape Farewell expeditions is truly a moving reminder of the condition, beauty and fragility of the world in which we live. In a time when the bombardment of facts and statistics can numb people to the presence of global warming, the art produced on and evoked by these voyages carries a provocative message and brings the harsh realities of climate change into perspective. Contact: Cape Farewell, This is one of many stories available from Positive News newspaper. For more stories like this please visit: www.positivenews.org.uk (In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.) |
Breaking the Ice