New commissions curated by Invisible Dust: Simon Faithfull, Melanie Manchot, Dana Olarescu and Raqs Media Collective
Commissioned by The Royal Docks Team in collaboration with UCL (University College London)
Sea Change is a three-week event bringing together international artists with leading UCL academics, inspired by research into sustainable responses to the climate emergency. Four new commissions will be exhibited by Simon Faithfull, Melanie Manchot, Dana Olărescu and Raqs Media Collective. The season also draws from the fascinating historical context of the Royal Docks.
‘Sea Change’ is a term used for a substantial shift in situation or perspective and was first used in Shakespeare’s ‘The Tempest’, a play with a background, like the Royal Docks, of sea voyages, developing globalisation and colonialism. Sea Change points to the future, to the need for changing practices, but also alludes to a pivot point of the climate crisis in the dock’s history – the move from sail to steam power. This development led to an enormous expansion in London’s trade and exchange of goods and peoples, which enabled modern day industrialisation, globalisation and with it the problems of climate change.
Linking future-facing science and research into sustainable solutions to climate change, biodiversity loss, energy, and urban futures, to the specific histories of the Docks site, this season of artists’ commissions highlights the need for a ‘sea change’ in order to face the future sustainably.
Friday 19 May: ‘Forecast’ 2023 symposium, City Hall
