For the last 10 years APE has funded and supported over 360 awareness raising or mitigating climate change projects around the world.
In 2013 we decided we would like to create our own project, after all we are ‘Artists’ Project Earth. We decided that the Oceans was to be our focus, as climate change has played havoc to our marine lifeline,with plastic pollution, acidification and overfishing etc. Hence our idea for a whale sculpture, and so Blue Whale Project was born. Now two years on the dream has been realised.
We are grateful for Arts Council England’s generous grant, and Bristol, the Green Capitol of Europe 2015, the management of Bristol 2015 in partnership with@Bristol and the creative team, Cod Steaks, whose concept, design and installation of the 2 Bristol whales we are now enjoying in their majestic display in Millennium Square, Bristol.
The two whale sculptures are there to remind us of the great beauty and fragility of marine life, and our responsibilities to it. The world’s oceans harbour an unimaginable variety of life, from minute bacteria, to the largest living creatures – Blue Whales. Protecting this rich diversity of life has become one of our greatest challenges. We need to find new ways to think and to act. We hope you get a chance to visit these wonders of Bristol, a symbol for our planet in peril.
In today’s throw-away culture we are forced to use single-use plastics every day, in the form of plastic shopping bags, food trays and bottles. Whilst these could all be recycled, most are dumped and many end up in our rivers and the sea. As consumers, we also contribute to sewage and chemical pollution, to overfishing, acidification and warming of the oceans, to sea level rises.
Artists Project Earth is organising four major events in Bristol, from 28th July through to 30th August, focusing on the beauty and fragility of ocean life. We want to encourage people to become part of the solution, recognising that the fate of the oceans and that of humanity are
intimately linked. These workshops are the first in a series of ‘APE Talks’ we will organise over the coming years.
APE trustees, environmentalist Herbert Girardet and songwriter/ producer Kenny Young, will host the four workshops below.15 eminent speakers will present and discuss solutions towards the protection and regeneration ocean life. We will also show film sequences and music videos from artists, Bob Dylan, Pharrell Williams, Jack Johnson and Coldplay and our own Rhythms Del Mundo.
www.ideasfestival.co.uk/artists-project-earth-talks/
1. 28th July, 7.30, Rosalind Franklin Theatre, At-Bristol : Book Now
An evening of unique ocean films and videos
Sue Lipscombe, Codsteaks, presenting the film about the making of the Bristol Whales
Doug Allan, BBC underwater cameraman, presenting some of his award winning footage
Adam White, award winning producer of ‘Big Blue Live’, showing BBC film sequences
Jo Ruxton, producer of ‘The Cry of the Whale’ feature film
Extract from ‘The Acid Test’, a film narrated by Sigourney Weaver
Click here for more information
Presenters:
Mohammed Saddiq, director, Wessex Water, on the GENeco waste water technology
Jo Ruxton, producer, showing sequences from her film ‘The Cry of the Whale’
Prof. Edward Kosior, world renowned specialist on new recycling technologies
Natalie Fee, radio presenter and founder, ’City to Sea’
Fresh fish from Cornwall and vegetarian cuisine from Bordeaux Quay’s chefs. The meal follows on from a unique transmission of the BBC’s ‘Big Blue Live’, the first ever underwater live broadcast of a gathering of whales and dolphins off the coast of California, 7.00 to 8.00 pm.
