Storm Warning: What does climate change mean for coastal communities?

18 Nov 2023-13 Apr 2024

PV 17 Nov 2023, 7-9pm

Overview

Storm Warning, a collaboration between Focal Point Gallery, Southend-on-Sea and Newlyn Art Gallery & The Exchange, Penzance, seeks to raise awareness of the impact of the climate crisis on coastal communities in South Essex and Mount’s Bay, Cornwall.

It includes new, innovative artworks and engagement projects by Fiona Banner, Angela YT Chan, Rebecca Chesney, Wyrd Flora, Joey Holder, Harun Morrison, Something & Sons, Heloise Tunstell-Behrens, and David Watkins. New, thought-provoking commissions will be presented simultaneously at each venue that explore issues facing the two coastlines alongside research into nature-based solutions that are relevant locally and resonate more widely.

‘The artists featured in this exhibition take a range of approaches, working with ecologists, activists, citizen scientists, marine biologists, and those working in the fishing industry. The resulting works range from the playful and immersive to projects which foreground the role artists can play as activists and strategists. We hope this exhibition will not just show the impact of the climate crisis on our locations but also highlight the change we can each make as individuals.’ - James Green, Director Newlyn Art Gallery & The Exchange and Katharine Stout, Director, Focal Point Gallery

The scale of the climate crisis and change that needs to happen to counteract its impact often seems overwhelming and out of reach to individuals, and so each gallery will present a diverse range of artworks and resources that aim to inform and inspire. The two galleries share the ambition to discover the local impact of climate change and highlight ways in which we can all take action to protect our environments. Focal Point Gallery and Newlyn Art Gallery & The Exchange are each located in coastal towns with important marine environments, and with dual economies of tourism and fishing. They each serve communities living through the cost-of-living crisis, alongside the pending threat of rising sea levels and unpredictable weather patterns.

Part of this initiative is to highlight work already taking place by partnering with environmental organisations such as Essex and Cornwall Wildlife Trusts, Greenpeace UK, The Environment Agency, and Southend City Council, with projects piloting pioneering nature-based solutions in order to reach carbon-neutral objectives in each locality.

Showing across both Newlyn Art Gallery, and The Exchange in Penzance. 

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