We are not defending nature; we are nature defending itself.
– Anon.
Mother. Earth. It is believed she exists to conquer and to tame. But, we are earth embodied, we are here to be caretakers of each other and our mother, not to control or tame her. Social beliefs that foster a disconnected, centralised self have a legacy of harming our earth and her oceans, and, in turn, ourselves.
The rise of capitalism has created a culture of consumption; we are filling the lungs of our earth with plastic particles and expanding into her water, arresting her flow and slowly destroying the very ecosystems we depend on. But, we are not separate from this earth, we are one. In fighting to heal our earth, we are fighting to heal ourselves. We are earth and water. From the soil, oceans and back again- we are created from, and dependent on these precious resources. Water, in particular, creates, supports and feeds life. Our bodies are comprised of approximately 60% water; our oceans embrace nearly three-quarters of our earth and hold a majority of our earth’s water. Water and our oceans are everything- they are life.
We are tied to the ocean. And when we go back to the sea, whether it is to sail or to watch – we are going back from whence we came.
– John F. Kennedy
In caring for our earth and her oceans we are taking care of ourselves and the generations that will come long after our bodies have returned to the earth. But often, we are not aware of the full extent of our impact- conservation education is imperative to help our communities empower themselves to became caretakers of our environments.
Deep within our ocean waters lie the visible impact of human consumption, global warming, over-fishing and pollution- but for most, this is an issue we will never see. While these negative environmental impacts remain out of our collective sight, they remain out of our minds. Existing at the intersection of art and activism – ‘Sea Walls: Artists for Oceans’, is a powerful conservation initiative of the PangeaSeed Foundation. Sea Walls works to disrupt this ‘out of sight out of mind’ dilemma by bringing the truth from the depths of our oceans directly into our communities. Public art and localised murals are used by Sea Walls as a form of information visualization, delivered in a way that is accessible and inspiring- each mural becomes a call to action for those within each murals local community to protect our oceans.
Public art and street art has long been a device to encourage public discourse around social issues and to invigorate communities. The PangeaSeed Foundation has used this powerful art form to create these artworks; engaging 250 artists to paint 350 murals in 15 countries!
Sea Walls engages communities across the globe to inspire, educate, and empower them to become better stewards of our seas and catalyze positive change by fostering a sense of pride and ownership for the murals and their natural resources.
– Tre’ Packard – Founder & Executive Director PangeaSeed Foundation
Each Sea Wall activation moves beyond paint; engaging their artists and locals in youth workshops, panel discussions, film screenings and nature excursions, along with presenting simple, actionable things we can each do, every day, to create positive change for our environment and our oceans. When ‘productivity’ and ‘KPI’s’ are seen as the only valuable metric, art, like our earth and its oceans are consistently undervalued. But creativity and art improve well-being, communication and interconnectedness, just like our oceans, our coastlines and the wealth of sea life and biodiversity our oceans support.
Sea Walls beautifully entwines art and activism; adding to a powerful social and environmental movement. Art is as essential to our collective humanity as our earth and her oceans- we must fervently protect both.
All images ©Tre’ Packard, PangeaSeed Foundation 2019. Further details on each of the murals, their locations and artist can be found at Sea Walls.
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