The WE ARE OCEAN Global Program will contribute a selection of projects to COP26 to sharpen public awareness about ocean protection and climate change in the context of international policy-making and to trigger public participation by engaging young people, policy-makers and other stakeholders coming together in Glasgow in November 2021.

WE ARE OCEAN + INTO THE OCEANIC @ COP26

is an interactive journey created by ARTPORT_making waves (Anne-Marie Melster)and INTO THE OCEANIC (Elizabeth Ogilvie and Rob Page) which gathers several interdisciplinary projects to one city wide program. We will bring the ocean to Glasgow and put it at the center of our discussions. Why: At least every second breath we take is generated by the oceans and humankind cannot survive on a planet with lifeless seas. All ecosystems are connected by water and damage to one ecosystem causes rippling effects throughout the world. At a fundamental level, marine life helps determine the very nature of our planet. The effect of climate change, ocean acidification and oxygen depletion have already triggered a phase of extinction of marine species which contribute significantly to the oxygen cycle and regulation of Earth’s climate. (text: Elizabeth Ogilvie)

The ocean is as dependent on us, humankind, as we are on the ocean. It is time to act, we talked a lot already. WE ARE OCEAN + INTO THE OCEANIC @ COP26 will engage civil society and policymakers to start to take action by joint activities and commitments. Through the below mentioned projects we aim at intensifying public engagement bringing together citizens, UN delegates, local politicians, international scientists, NGOs, educators and more stakeholders.

ARTPORT_making waves, its curator and director Anne-Marie Melster, and INTO THE OCEANIC, its film directors Elizabeth Ogilvie and Rob Page, joined forces to deliver a strong interdisciplinary art program to the people of Glasgow and Scotland and bring the ocean to civil society.

AGENDA

Outdoor screenings of INTO THE OCEANIC creative film installation by Elizabeth Ogilvie & Robert Page in collaboration with Double Take Projections.

 

Monday 1^st November to Friday 12th November 16 h – 23:00 h:

Glasgow Caledonian University, Cowcaddens Road, Glasgow

 

Friday 12th November
Mobile Projection Bombing
A sequence of arresting outdoor projections at key locations in Glasgow throughout the evening. By turning iconic building façades into canvases of light and colour, projection bombing is one of the best ways to catch audiences by surprise. The vibrant nature and magnificent scale of projection communication stops passers-by in their tracks to consider the projected message and generates a buzz around the ongoing INTO THE OCEANIC campaign.

 

Thursday 11^th November 16h-00:00 h:

 

• Outdoor projection of INTO THE OCEANIC, Elizabeth Ogilvie & Robert Page in collaboration with DOUBLE TAKE PROJECTIONS, Royal Society of Edinburgh, (RSE), Blue Carbon Conference, George Street, Edinburgh

Friday 12th November

Finale: SEC Armadillo The dramatic finale of the INTO THE OCEANIC projections is across the iconic façade of SEC Armadillo

 

 

WE ARE OCEAN | INTO THE OCEANIC HUB: Glasgow School of Arts, Vic Café & Bar, The Art School, 20 Scott St, Glasgow G3 6PE, from 8-12 November 2021. 

This location is very central, just off Sauchiehall Street and very close to Centre for Contemporary Arts and its great cafe and bars.

(No registration needed for Tuesdyay and Thursday sessions, registration on site, maximum audience permitted 30 persons, the wearing of the masks is obligatory: Monday/Wednesday and Friday are closed sessions for registered students of GSA)

 

Monday, 8^th November 2021, 13:30 pm – 17 pm:

13:30 — 14:40
Screening of INTO THE OCEANIC artist’s documentary
Questions & comments
14:40 — 16:00
Open discussion with Professor William Austin, Chairman of Blue Carbon Scotland, School of Geography & Sustainable Development; Saltmarshes, Lucy Miller, Scottish Oceans Institute University of St Andrews; Dr Richard Lilley, CEO & Co-Founder, Project Seagrass; artists Elizabeth Ogilvie & Robert Page, students & public and curator / director of ARTPORT Anne-Marie Melster
16:00 — 17:00
Interdisciplinary fishbowl seminar & discussion

 

Tuesday 9^th November 2021, 1:00 pm – 5 pm:

A dedicated WE ARE OCEAN Global Program Day animated by the curator Anne-Marie Melster:

1 to 3 pm: WE ARE OCEAN Global Program:

with films and talks from WE ARE OCEAN Berlin/Brandenburg (artist Lisa Rave), WE ARE OCEAN Marseille (artist Marc Johnson), WE ARE OCEAN Vancouver (artists Cease Wyss and Olivier Salvas), WE ARE OCEAN Venice (Barena Bianca and launch of the vrtual map) WE ARE OCEAN Jakarta-Venice-Stockholm (artists Tita Salina, Irwan Ahmett, Barena Bianca, Asa Andersson, Carl Michael von Hausswolff) and the GALA Water Walks (with several partners of ARTPORT_making waves within the network of Green Art Lab Alliance).

3-4 pm Featured guest Annika Erikson* and guests on how coastal communities are coming together to protect our seas as well as exploring how to use them to reverse and not accelerate climate change.

(*Annika Erikson, Founder & CEO of Articheck, a company leading the arts to more sustainable practices through technology tools. More on that in her recent Article for the Race to Zero website.)

4-5 pm: WE ARE OCEAN screening of several short videos of the WE ARE OCEAN Curated Film Program (Forensic Oceanography: Liquid Traces (Excerpt), 2014, 2:15 m;  Parvathi Nayar: By the Mouth of the River, 2018, 13:17 MIN and Ursula Biemann: Subatlantic)

followed by an open discussion with the audience about how art can push the ocean protection talks far beyond talking.

 

Wednesday, 10^th November 2021, 13:00-17:00 h:

Screening of INTO THE OCEANIC artist’s documentary with an open fishbowl discussion and seminar together with

Dr Bee Berx, Scottish government scientist; ZOOM with Dr Catherine Chambers, senior scientist, Stefansson Arctic Institute, research manager, University Centre of the Westfjords, Iceland; artists Elizabeth Ogilvie & Robert Page, students & public and curator / director of ARTPORT Anne-Marie Melster

 

Thursday, 11^th November 2021, 1:00 – 4:30 pm:

WE ARE OCEAN Sápmi: An afternoon dedicated to Salmon and Sámi with Presentation of the project and screenings of short videos of WE ARE OCEAN, Michelle-Marie Letelier: “Outline for the Bonding” and “The Bone” (extract) and a special performance of Being Salmon Being Human:

Inspired by Martin Lee Muller’s book by the same name, and drawing on salmon stories from Sámi and First Nations peoples of Scandinavia and North America, the performance takes us on a journey through the extraordinary lives of wild salmon – sentient beings who are born in rivers, traverse the oceans, and return towards the end of their lives to their birth rivers to spawn and gift forward more life. The performance explores what becomes of this awe-inspiring creature and her journey in the face of an expansive, profit-driven feedlot industry. We find that traditional storytelling shares a common ancestry and foundation with contemporary ecophilosophy – namely the wonder about the more-than-human world of calving glaciers, the night sky, ancient forests, sentient beings of the sea, and the age-old-question of who we are in relation to the land, the air, and the oceans. The performance explores what becomes of this awe-inspiring creature and her journey in the face of an expansive, profit-driven feedlot industry. Martin Lee Mueller appears on stage alongside renowned circumpolar sound poet Torgeir Vassvik and folklorist and storyteller Tiril Bryn.

After the performance the Chilean artist Michelle-Marie Letelier will be connected to us through ZOOM and exchange with the performance artists and the audience.

 

Friday, 11^th November 2021, 13:30 – 17:00:

Screening of INTO THE OCEANIC artist’s documentary with an open fishbowl discussion together with

– Jayson Byles, forager & environmentalist; Mike Stubbs, artist & climate activist; ZOOM with Stephen Hurrel, artist & climate activist working across a wide range of media, with projects including Clyde Reflections, exploring marine environments; ZOOM with Luis Guzman, bio-architect & multi-media artist; artists Elizabeth Ogilvie & Robert Page, students & public and the curator / director of ARTPORT Anne-Marie Melster

and screenings of

WE ARE OCEAN Berlin/Brandenburg by Lisa Rave, WE ARE OCEAN Marseille by Marc Johnson,  WE ARE OCEAN Vancouver by Cease Wyss & Olivier Salvas (screening of excerpt); WE ARE OCEAN Venice (virtual map “How is it there? … Here ..” by Barena Bianca).

 

WE ARE OCEAN Film Screening & Fishbowl Discussion (on site):

Goethe-Institut Glasgow, 3 Park Circus, Glasgow G3 6AX

Wednesday 10^th November 2021, 6:30 – 8 pm:

In-person film screening and fishbowl discussion on “How interdisciplinary collaborative projects between art, science and education are driving social change in marine conservation”.

Art – science – education: WE ARE OCEAN- Berlin/Brandenburg @ Goethe Institut Glasgow
Screening of WE ARE OCEAN Berlin/Brandenburg by Lisa Rave and Fishbowl Discussion with Anne-Marie Melster (curator of the program), Elizabeth Ogilvie & Rob Page (Artists and film directors of INTO THE OCEANIC), Martin Lee Muller (VIL.LAKS, Oslo, Norway)

(No registration needed, registration on site, free access, first come first go, maximum audience permitted 30 persons, the wearing of the masks is obligatory, drinks will be served)

 

COP26 Blue Zone, Nordic Pavilion:

We will contribute to the program of WeDontHaveTime with film screenings (WE ARE OCEAN Marseille: Marc Johnson: “Coral Theater” and WE ARE OCEAN Berlin/Brandenburg: “Lisa Rave: WE ARE OCEAN film” and talks (program to be announced soon).

 

VENUES AND ADDRESSES:

 

5. WE ARE OCEAN @ COP26 Hub: Glasgow School of Art, Vic Café & Bar, The Art School, 20 Scott St, Glasgow G3 6PE, United Kingdom from 8-12 November 2021.
6. Goethe-Institut Glasgow, 3 Park Circus, Glasgow G3 6AX, 10 November 2021
7. Royal Society of Edinburgh, 22-26 George Street, Edinburgh, EH2 2PQ, 11 November 2021
8. COP26 Blue Zone, Nordic Pavilion