Undercurrents: Art and Ocean in Africa and the Pacific

This interdisciplinary and international research has supported eight community-based art projects that surface cultural and emotional connections with the ocean in Ghana, South Africa, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu and Papua New Guinea. 'Undercurrents' examines the ways that art can express indigenous values relating to ocean governance in Africa and the South Pacific. Climate change, over-fishing, pollution and mining are among numerous stressors that threaten the health of the ocean. While there is growing global awareness of the harm being caused, high-level debates and responses frequently prioritise economic, political and legal considerations. The views of local communities most dependant on the sea are often marginalised or excluded. Researchers from The Glasgow School of Art, under the auspice of the One Ocean Hub DEEP Fund, have supported eight community-based art projects in South Africa, Ghana, Vanuatu, Solomon Islands and Papua New Guinea. In a departure from conventional modes of investigating community relations where priorities are defined by academics and/or practitioners, projects were collaboratively designed to reveal human relationships and emotional connections with the ocean. Artists, cultural practitioners and researchers involved in these projects demonstrate the efficacy of traditional knowledge in relation to the ocean-climate nexus. Indigenous practices and values are communicated through diverse media including visual art, craft, fashion, music, literature, oral history and digital content. The featured works of art communicate time-honored relationships with the sea and reinforce the need for global strategies of ocean conservation. The pavilion presents a selection of work from two projects, Our Sacred Ocean by the Keiskamma Art Project (South Africa) and Netai en Namou Toc / Stories of Mother Ocean by the Erromango Cultural Association (Vanuatu), as well as a walkthrough of the digital version of the Undercurrents exhibition that was held at The Glasgow School of Art in April 2023