Marshall Islander Kathy Jetn̄il-Kijiner, American Michael Light and Brit David Buckland led Cape Farewell’s ninth expedition to the heart of the Anthropocene, offering first-hand experience of climate change displacement and massive nuclear destruction. Sailing aboard the M/V Pacific Master and M/V Surveyor, a powerful team of 30 international, Oceanian, and Marshallese artists, writers, scientists, and filmmakers will witness this crucial example of our human-altered world and create narratives in art, film, words and music that offer insight to our present human crises and resilient pathways forward. Twenty international team members will sail aboard the Pacific Master, and 10 Marshallese youth artists aged 18-25 years will explore in parallel aboard the Surveyor.
The Marshalls, with an average height of 6 feet above sea level, are located in the centre of the Pacific Ocean amidst water that is rising at an accelerating rate. Our team will visit Kwajalein, Wotho, Bikini, and Rongelap Atolls, around which the team focused its pilgrimage and interrogation.
Both the demons of nuclear testing and the climate crisis came from afar, and Marshallese resilience and creativity in response to them is an inspiration to the global community that created — and struggles to contain – these same demons. Marshallese atolls and their remarkable people tell an existential story that is deeply relevant to all of humanity.
The 30-strong creative and scientific team of the Kõmij Mour Ijin/ Our Life Is Here expedition were tasked with narrating this unique story of challenge and resilience. Working closely with the Artists aboard the expedition and On The Grid Creative, I’ve been engaged in various roles as director, editor, cinematographer, and sound engineer.
