Undercurrents: Art and Ocean in Africa and the Pacific showcasing at Eureka as part of the London Design Biennale

The Glasgow School of Art’s exhibition, Undercurrents:
Art and Ocean in Africa and the Pacific, is showcasing at Eureka,
a new addition to the London Design Biennale.

download images HERE (image credits in editors notes)

The show is part of this year’s theme, The Global Game:
Remapping Collaborations, which focuses on international co-operation and
design innovation. Undercurrents is the result of an interdisciplinary
and international research project exploring the cultural and emotional
connections between local communities and the ocean. The exhibition highlights
the ways that art can express indigenous values relating to ocean governance in
Africa and the South Pacific.

Undercurrents, led by Professor Stuart Jeffrey
(GSA Professor of Digital Heritage and Co-investigator, One Ocean Hub) and
curated by Dr Lisa McDonald (GSA Post-Doctoral Research Associate, One Ocean
Hub) examines various stressors on the ocean’s health such as climate change,
over-fishing, pollution, and mining. Although the harm being caused is gaining
recognition in international agendas, high-level debates and responses tend to
prioritise economic, political, and legal considerations, often marginalising
or excluding local communities most dependent on the sea. To
mitigate this problem, the One Ocean Hub’s DEEP Fund supported eight
community-based art projects in countries located at the frontline of the
ocean-climate nexus.

The exhibition features a selection of art from two
projects, Our Sacred Ocean by Keiskamma Art Project (South
Africa), and Netai en Namou Toc / Stories of Mother Ocean by Erromango
Cultural Association (Vanuatu).

The Keiskamma Art Project’s monumental tapestry
depicts the ocean as a sacred place of ancestral wisdom and rituals for the
communities of Hamburg and Bodium in South Africa’s Eastern Cape. The Xhosa
people have relied upon the sea for their spiritual and physical wellbeing for
over four centuries. The tapestry incorporates materials such as cotton, felt,
beads, and wool and features a border of text containing quotes from a recent
High Court case that successfully set aside destructive oil and gas exploration
rights granted to Shell.

* The project team for Our Sacred Ocean is: Veronica
Betani, Nozolile Gedze, Micheala Howse, Fikiswa Madlingozi, Nomfundo Makhubalo,
Nozeti Makhubalo, Ndileka Mapuma, Thandazwa Mqali, Cebo Mvubu, Nokhanyiso
Nompunga, Nompumelelo Nompunga, Nombulelo Paliso, Zukiswa Sikani, Vivian
Solwandle and Nandipha Yona.

The Erromango Cultural Association‘s Netai en
Namou Toc / Stories of Mother Ocean is an illustrated children’s book
that documents local knowledge and practices of the peoples of Erromango, a
southern island of Vanuatu. Customary stories and oral histories carry
invaluable information about trade routes, fishing methods, poisoning remedies,
spirits of the sun and sky, wind names, weather patterns, and maritime navigation
that are vital for preserving ocean cultural heritage.

* The Project Team for Netai en Namou Toc / Stories of Mother
Ocean is: Chief Daniel Dam Atnelo, James Atnelo, Georges Cumbo, Dr James Flexner,
Nelakan Fred, Frances Hickey, Dr Kate Holmes, Ava Nautong Howlett, Nick Howlett,
Kelma Uruknte Nompurisovu Naupa Ishmael, Nikiatu Kuautonga, Tepeye Louvo, Amelia
Lovo, Prof John Lynch, Chloe Molou, Elsie Molou, Captain Andrew Naling, Helen Malavi
Nampil, Wendy Nanpen, Michael Naritantop, Sempet Naritantop, Pauline Narwa, John
Naryovi, Martha Naumu, Anna Uruknte Naupa, Helen Uruknte Nompunnesau Naupa, Joe
Nemenuk, Narai Nepenu, Margret Nial, Natmonuk Giben Nilwo, Silas Nilwo, Uyou Nenvi
Nompuat, Emma Lui Nouye, Sousou Nowai, Lui Nouye, Ruth Yevip Peter, Salote Nilwo
Philip, Richard Shing, Prof Matthew Spriggs, Jerry Taki Uminduru, Thompson, Andrew
Tovovur, Joseph Nompuat Tainur, Jeremaiah Tovovur, Simeon Narai Levitantop Tovovur,
Nehei Tuwo, Jonah Umah, Esther Naru Warri, Michael Yahwo, Dr Meredith Wilson, Tom
Wolu, Pierre Yahwo, Ruth Yahwo, Dick Yauliki, Jeffrey Yaviong and Ruth Yevip

 ENDS

NOTES FOR EDITORS

Media accreditation for London Design Biennale is now open
for application

London Design Biennale’s fourth edition, ‘The Global
Game: Remapping Collaborations’, will take place this year from 1 to 25
June at Somerset House.

Undercurrents features work commissioned through
the Hub’s Deep Emotional Engagement Programme (DEEP) Fund, which supports
the practice of independent artists and grassroot organisations to prioritise
marginalised voices in global debates about marine policies and governance. The
DEEP Fund directly benefits individuals, groups and organisations with the aim
of boosting livelihoods and encouraging artistic autonomy.

One Ocean Hub works to promote fair and inclusive
decision-making for a healthy ocean, whereby people and the planet flourish. The
programme of research integrates diverse knowledge systems by facilitating
equitable transdisciplinary collaborations between academics, coastal
communities, civil society, international organisations and decision- makers. The
Hub is funded by UKRI’s Global Challenges Research Fund.

The Keiskamma Art Project is a branch of the
Keiskamma Trust, created to restore hope and dignity by treating the holistic
needs of the local community. Based in Hamburg, South Africa, the Project
produces major textile artworks that preserve and archive the rural Eastern
Cape’s oral history and collective memory.

https://keiskammaartproject.org/ 

https://keiskamma.org/

The Erromango Cultural Association is a
community-based not-for-profit association dedicated to documenting, preserving
and promoting the unique languages, customs and culture of Erromango, a
southern island of Vanuatu.

https://www.erromango.org/

Prof Stuart Jeffrey (Professor of Digital Heritage,
School of Simulation and Visualisation, The Glasgow School of Art) is one of
five Co-Directors of One Ocean Hub and co-leads the DEEP Fund. Jeffrey’s work
at the School of Simulation and Visualisation covers all aspects of heritage
visualisation and the use of new technologies to create records, analyse,
interpret, and present every form of heritage from built to intangible. His
research interests focus on how these technologies transform the relationships
between individuals, academia and broader contemporary communities of interest
and the heritage in question and how they can be deployed for the benefit of
communities and the places in which they live. Jeffrey holds a combined honours
degree in Computer Science and Archaeology at the University of Glasgow and
completed his PhD in three-dimensional modelling of early medieval sculpted
stones, also at the University of Glasgow, in 2003