Cape Farewell, UK
Cape Farewell brings artists, scientists and communicators together to bring about long-term change in cultural attitudes towards climate change.
Created by artist David Buckland in 2001, Cape Farewell has led seven expeditions to the High Arctic, the frontline of climate change including two youth expeditions. From these expeditions has sprung a body of artwork:
- An exhibition curated with the Natural History Museum and now on tour with the Barbican Art Gallery, International Department. The exhibition comprises a range of media including photographic work, video, installations, and prints from a selection of leading contemporary artists including Antony Gormley, Rachel Whiteread, Alex Hartley and the novelist Ian McEwan. The exhibition was last shown in Tokyo during the G8 meetings (July 2008) where it was opened by Sarah Brown, wife of Gordon Brown.
- A film co-produced by the BBC Art from a Changing Arctic
- A book Burning Ice
- The CD ARCTIC by Max Eastley
- Educational resources for GCSE Geography and Science
- A UN award-winning website
- Ongoing arts and events programme.
An expedition was made in September 2008 to Disko Bay on the west coast of Greenland, in partnership with the National Oceanography Centre, Southampton, The University of Southampton and British Geological Survey. Scientists onboard extended their investigations into climate whilst artists, writers, and communicators kept blogs posting their response. The crew included musicians Jarvis Cocker, Leslie Feist, Laurie Anderson, Vanessa Carlton, Robyn Hitchcock, Ryuichi Sakamoto, KT Tunstall, Martha Wainwright, Luke Bullen, and beatboxer Shlomo,comedian Marcus Brigstocke, composer Jonathan Dove, theatre makers Mojisola Adebayo, Suzan-Lori Parks, visual artists Kathy Barber, David Buckland, Sophie Calle, Jude Kelly, Michèle Noach, Tracey Rowledge, Julian Stair, Chris Wainwright, architects Francesca Galeazzi, and Sunand Prasad, poet Lemn Sissay, photographer Nathan Gallagher, BBC presenter Quentin Cooper, Senior Lecturer (Open University), Joe Smith, activist David Noble, media executive Lori Majewski and film director Peter Gilbert. Oceanographers included Simon Boxall, Emily Venables and geoscientists Carol Cotterill and Dave Smith.
There have since been three more expeditions, to the Andes, the Arctic, and the Scottish Islands - to which a further expedition is scheduled for 2013.