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Organized by Cape Farewell, a cultural program founded by artist
David Buckland in 2001 to raise climate awareness, the 12-day
trip will explore through art and scientific study how global
warming threatens the way of life for the islands' inhabitants.
The group plans to make a three-minute film each day during the
expedition. A book and museum exhibition are also planned on
their return.
The trip - the group's ninth major expedition - comes after data
showed global temperatures have risen to their highest on record
both on land and at sea, and as extreme heat and flooding events
around the world highlight the reality of climate change.
"I think it’s been a huge wake up call. It’s come home that this
is serious," Buckland said of the recent climate extremes.
The 30-strong team - 20 international members and 10 young local
artists - will embark on a 450 nautical mile Kõmij Mour Ijin
"Our Life Is Here" voyage, sailing through the atolls of the
Marshalls, where rising sea levels are projected to put 96% of
the capital Majuro at risk of frequent flooding, according to a
World Bank study.
For Buckland, the scale of the climate disruption will be
visible even before he begins - his journey to the starting line
will take him through Hawaii, where recently wildfires have
claimed the lives of at least 53 people.
"Am I optimistic? I thought when I started this that we just
have to get it going and in five, ten years’ time there was a
path to fix it ... and 23 years later, I'm still going banging
on the drum," he said.
(Reporting by Hanna Rantala and Suban Abdulla, editing by
William James and Christina Fincher)
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