Cape Farewell: Raising Climate Change Awareness Through Art

We've been taking note of climate change's inroads into popular culture lately. Whether it's through celebrity -- Alanis narrating a PBS special -- or mainstream journalism -- Salon and Rolling Stone's review of climate change leaders -- we want to raise awareness about all the efforts to cool down our hot little planet. That's why we were excited to find Cape Farewell, an organization leading a series of expeditions into the Arctic, through a route previously icebound but now passable. They gather a group of scientists, teachers and artists to explore the seas in order to better understand the health of the worlds' ocean currents and the damage wrought by global warming. Cape Farewell aims to illustrate the workings of this crucial part of the planet and engage the public and schools in the debate about climate change. The artistic involvement is a core part of the project: its initiator, David Buckland, believes that one salient image, sculpture or event can speak louder than volumes of scientific data and engage the public's imagination in an immediate way. By combining the arts, film, radio, journalism and the adventure of the high arctic expedition, the Cape Farewell team are working with the international media to engage a wider, more mainstream audience. The next exhibition, The Ice Garden, will be held at the University of Oxford, December 15-18, 2005. ::Cape Farewell via ::We Make Money Not Art