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A sea change

A sea change innovates and integrates high quality European critical, interdisciplinary, and participatory artistic practices that deal with issues of blue economy into the lives of coastal communities in a more direct and purposeful manner, going beyond the profit agenda and tourist oriented cultural activities, and emphasising at the same time sustainable living, critical approach and social inclusion. It focuses on creative and innovative interventions in cultural and natural ecologies related to the sea, engaging an array of different cultural agents and citizens in a common effort to catalyse positive change and make real difference in the lives of involved European coastal communities. The project concentrates on the Mediterranean region, uniting four European partners based in Mediterranean countries highly dependent on the blue economy sector: Quo Artis Foundation (ES), MOMus-ECA (EL), NeMe (CY), and lead partner KONTEJNER (HR). As a consortium dedicated to the creation and promotion of socially and environmentally beneficial contemporary cultural practices, project partners in this initiative address the local and European blue economy urgencies in the areas most affected by them – on the coastline and along the seas.

Sea Change talks

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State of Matter is a State of Mind

Using media such as photography, video, and sound, Toni Meštrović continuously finds inspiration in the environment of the region from which he comes. The region of Dalmatia and the Croatian Adriatic Sea. A space where the sea and stone dominate, as well as the lack of drinking water. An island as a form surrounded by the sea, isolating and connecting at the same time. Elements of the space of his roots have been present from the very beginnings in his artistic contemplation and search for his own identity.

 

Sea blindness

Over the years, researchers, historians and creatives have employed the term “Sea Blindness’‘ to depict humankind’s inability to identify and understand certain issues related to our seas and oceans, such as environmental protection, migration flows or global logistics and their impact on coastal ecosystems. Sea Blindness is caused by a wide array of factors such as: negligence, ignorance, or a lack of interest to address these issues. We can find the general lack of interest and perspective towards problems at sea portrayed in Freightened: The Real Price of Shipping, a 2016 produced documentary by the French director Denis Delestrac which exposes the environmental and human costs of marine transport, a powerful and unregulated industry that moves millions of dollars and yet remains largely unknown to most people.

 

Living with others

Coastal cities in the Mediterranean are predicted to face significant threats from climate change, sea level rises, pollution, over-fishing, desalination, deep sea fracking, political, social, and communications volatilities. Blue resources management is under a centralised planning and control by the governments, with little to no involvement of local communities in the planning and implementation stages. The one-sided power dynamics allows the enforcement of national and international policies and agreements, but disregard local communities as effective contributors to the decision-making process.

 

Money, Ruins, and the Sea

In order to implement new concerns in its programme, continue developing its audience, and to further consolidate its international network, NeMe has invited Irini Mirena Papadimitriou, Creative Director of Future Everything, Manchester, to curate a project on the relevance of the sea in Mediterranean economies and ecologies. The subject matter is extremely relevant to Cyprus as for many years, tourism has been our main industry, and the sun, sea, and sand, our main product promoted by that industry. NeMe’s intention is to initiate a critical inquiry, through the eyes of international artists and theorists, about Cypriot subjects which have not been adequately locally questioned.

 

Flood Tide of Resistance

Extreme weather conditions have become the global norm. Forests are burning in Brazil and Siberia, permafrost soils are thawing, polar ice and glaciers melt, drought strikes once fertile regions, plant and animal species are becoming extinct on a massive scale. Yet even as the impact of climate breakdown comes to be felt everywhere, government climate policy worldwide is woefully inadequate to the urgency of the crisis. States prefer not to act at all: when forced, they act on a symbolic level at most. On one day they declare a climate emergency; the next day they still sponsor fossil-fuelled energy, building freeways, airports and gas pipelines, enclosing territory on whatever scale the projects demand.

 
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A Sea Change, creative europe, Cyprus Deputy Ministry of Culture

This project has been funded with the support from the European Commission. This communication reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.

 
 
 
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