The Ship changes port
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By Dalené Fourie
The Ship: the art of climate change has ended its run at the Natural History Museum and is moving to Liverpool. Most of the works of the 16 artists and writers who were taken to the Arctic to raise awareness of climate change will be on display in Liverpool museums and in the citys cathedral for two weeks from 15 September. Weve also had inquiries about sending the exhibition to the United States, Germany and Japan, says Bob Bloomfield, head of innovations at the Natural History Museum. He is pleased by the exhibitions success. I dont know the final figure yet, he says, but weve met our target of 150,000 visitors. The works range from Gautier Deblondes photographs of the disappearing landscape to Max Eastleys soundscape of cracking, melting ice, which dramatically brings home the effects of the warming of the Arctic. It is great that the museum has hosted the exhibition but odd that it hasnt given more recognition and space to global warming. We havent got a huge amount directly related to climate change in the museum, Bloomfield admits. He refers to an exhibition next year on urbanisation and biodiversity, but gives the impression that climate change will not be a major feature of the display. He is more positive, however, about the young peoples Climate Summit that was held in conjunction with The Ship (a reference to the 100-year old Dutch schooner, The Noorderlicht, on which the artists travelled). Participants from 18 countries met in July, and their resolutions have been sent to the British government. Cape Farwell, which organised the Arctic visit and two previous trips by artists, is also trying to get the topic incorporated into the GCSE syllabus. * Cape Farewell |
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