New exhibitions on One Ocean Learn focus on stories from Catalonia and Ghana
Two new art exhibitions have been added to the knowledge-translation platform One Ocean Learn. Both exhibitions explore stories of marine turtles that reveal ocean governance challenges related to the impacts of climate change and the protection of ecosystems and Indigenous knowledge. The exhibition entitled ‘WiseSands’ derives from an art project by public engagement professional and artist Mireia Bes Garcia, in which she engages with the sea turtles as recent arrivals to the shores of her native Catalonia region in Spain. The second exhibition encourages efforts to conserve turtle populations: Drama Queens, an art collective based in Ghana, produced the graphic novel ‘Aku and the Journey of the Turtle Spirit’, telling the story of a young Ghanian girl who is on a mission to save sea turtles.
‘WiseSands’ captures the impact of climate change on sea turles
The exhibition entitled ‘WiseSands’ derives from an art project by public engagement professional and artist Mireia Bes Garcia, in which she engages with the sea turtles as recent arrivals to the shores of her native Catalonia region in Spain. The exhibition depicts the ongoing story of the threat of climate change to the ocean and the resilience and wisdom of the sea turtles navigating in the midst of it all.
Last month the Catalonian coast hosted ocean experts from across the globe in Barcelona for the UN Ocean Decade conference, but the coast has recently been graced by more and more other visitors: sea turtles who come and hatch there. Exciting as this might have seemed at the beginning, the reason for their presence is climate change. the shores and waters where the sea turtles normally lay eggs have become warmer, which has led to the turtles to look for cooler waters.
Mireia Bes Garcia engages with the role of sea turtles and their journey across the world’s ocean through creating ceramic sea turtles made from reclaimed clay, and sending them on story-sharing journeys across the globe, by giving them to people who take them on their travels until deciding to leave the turtles to be found at some place of the travellers’ choice. Each ceramic turtle has a tag of the WiseSands Instagram account. imprinted in them, that lead hose who find the turtles to the online archive of photos and stories of where all the other turtles were taken by their human travel companions.
‘Aku and the Journey of The Turtle Spirit’ tells the story of a girl on a mission to save sea turtles
To encourage efforts to conserve turtle populations, Drama Queens, an art collective based in Ghana, produced the graphic novel ‘Aku and the Journey of the Turtle Spirit’, which tells the story of Aku, a young Ghanian girl who is on a mission to save sea turtles.
Sea turtles are profoundly important to ecosystems in Ghana. The country’s coastline provides essential habitat for three species of turtle: Olive Ridleys, Green Turtles and Leatherbacks. Loggerheads and Hawksbills also visit the country’s waters. Between September and January, turtles nest in the sand, where they lay up to 150 eggs each per season. Sea turtles are crucial to healthy ocean ecosystems. They support coral reefs, forage seagrass, and regulate predatory jellyfish. In traditional Ghanaian stories, turtles are represented as protectors and guides during bad weather and rough seas.
The sea turtles also feature prominently in Ghanaian spiritual beliefs. They are also regarded as saviours who helped ancestors escape from European slave ships. All species of turtle are protected under Ghanaian law. However, poaching and egg harvesting still occur. Plastic debris and fishing nets, pollution, coastal development and environmental erosion are also serious threats.
The story of Aku and the pages of the graphic novel were also a part of the Undercurrents exhibition produced by the Hub which took place in 2023 at the Glasgow School of Art.
Alongside an illustrated story, the publication includes a zine that presents short stories and poems written in varying languages and dialects by young people from the Ghanian towns of Anloga and Anyanui.