The oceans are at the heart of our warming planet, with long-term changes underway that are radically altering the marine environment, and threatening species that we treasure locally. Unlike plastic pollution and industrial fishing, many of these changes are not so clearly visible to most of us, yet they are even more serious. If these changes were more visible, would that strengthen collective ambition to tackle our ocean climate crisis?

Join us for an immersive workshop to create a sequence of stories and artworks, celebrating our local marine life whilst also raising awareness of climate impacts on these species. We will explore some of the latest ocean climate data collected both nationally in New Zealand, and locally in Otago, together with data demonstrating vulnerability of our treasured ocean ecosystem. We invite you to transform this data into something more powerful, with greater meaning, drawing on your own experiences and knowledge of life in our oceans, from plankton to penguins, snails to seabirds, krill to kina.

We will showcase a selection of the artworks in a published calendar for 2022 that tracks marine wildlife events over the year, whilst also bringing marine climate data to life.

Participants must be aged 16+, and artistic skills are not a requirement - just bring enthusiasm and we'll provide a range of creative media for you to experiment with, from painting and drawing, to printmaking and poetry. You are also welcome to bring any materials that you feel comfortable using.

All are welcome, but please register to help us prepare. Transport will be provided from Dunedin, and lunch will be catered by the wonderful Penguin Cafe in Portobello.

These workshops are part of a University of Otago research project, seeking to understand how immersion in creating artwork about climate data affects participants connection and engagement with that data.

For further information, please contact Cathy Cole ([email protected])