WE ARE OCEAN Montreal @ COP15 Biodiversity, Artists for Nature Positive
When: 7 December 2022, Time: 12:30 – 3 pm
Where: Nature Positive Pavilion, COP15 Biodiversity

Audience: for accredited participants of COP15 Biodiversity

WE ARE OCEAN Montreal is an interdisciplinary art-science-education program for youth empowerment, supported by WWF for COP15, presented by ARTPORT_making waves with the artist T’uy’t’tanat-Cease Wyss and the curator Anne-Marie Melster. It is an immersive and participatory event to include young civil society of Vancouver and to bring together generations and stakeholders from different fields.
The event is made up of three parts:
1. Art meets the Ocean: An artistic workshop-intervention by T’uy’t’tanat-Cease Wyss: In an ocean plant educative performance the indigenous artist will bring the Pacific Ocean of British Columbia to accredited youth representatives by collectively building a plant installation.
2. Diving into the ocean through the video projections of WE ARE OCEAN Vancouver we aim at opening the floor to the indigenous voices bringing together art and botanical knowledge for a broader oceanic education.
3. The Fishbowl Discussion will bring together stakeholders from different fields to engage in a discussion about real solutions for the ocean and how art-science collaborations can contribute to Ocean Literacy. An interdisciplinary panel will discuss, together with the audience, if and how arts can help to build interest and understanding of ocean issues and the interdependence of ocean and humans with the public and particularly the young generation.

The commissioned artist: T’uy’t’tanat- Cease Wyss (Skwxwu7mesh/Sto:Lo/Metis/Hawaiian/Swiss)

T’uy’t’tanat- Cease Wyss is an interdisciplinary artist who works with nature-based material and digital media. Cease is an Indigenous Ethnobotanist and an emerging cedar and wool weaver with a textiles art practice that includes plant materials for weaving and creating natural dyes. Cease is a beekeeper and a member of the Aboriginal Writers Collective West Coast and currently resides in North Vancouver where she is known for her strong community work