John Hansard Gallery is excited to announce Soundings, a captivating new exhibition by renowned artist Emma Critchley.
This thought-provoking showcase combines filmmaking, choreography, and public engagement to address the urgent and complex issue of deep-sea mining.
Deep-sea mining is a critical but little-known issue that Emma Critchley has been engaged with for many years. The deep seabed, legally the shared responsibility of humankind, plays a vital role in regulating the earth’s climate and supporting life. Mining has not yet begun, but in 2023 a two-year road map was set out to finalise the mining code, which will define the regulations for all mining operations. Amid growing calls for a pause or moratorium, Soundings brings together a wide range of material and perspectives, offering a counter-position to the intensifying attempts of those wanting to press ahead with the first-ever commercial mining for minerals of the seabed.
At the heart of the exhibition is a striking multi-screen film installation that immerses viewers in the tensions and possibilities surrounding deep-sea mining. Through film, sound, and dance, Critchley invites audiences to connect with the seemingly inaccessible deep ocean from an intensely embodied perspective.
On certain days during the exhibition, a dancer will activate the installation by encountering and moving with deep-sea creatures on the screens. Created in collaboration with dancer Maya Carroll and choreographer Siobhan Davies, these performances use movement and music to create a profound emotional bridge to the deep ocean. The installation offers a space for dialogue, debate, and contemplation.
Critchley’s work takes you from intimate encounters with deep-sea creatures, to the resonance of ancestral stories, and through to the hand-drawn maps of the first ocean cartographer, Marie Tharp. The voices of Pacific activists, lawyers and scientists resonate throughout, reflecting the nuanced debates.
Included in the installation is a co-written open letter: Rights of the Deep, a contribution to the growing Rights of Nature movement. This letter brings together indigenous Pacific activists, legal scholars and marine scientists to co-write an open letter about our relationship with the deep-ocean and the need to protect it.
Public engagement is a key element within Soundings, with events running both prior and throughout the exhibition.
Soundings is supported by John Hansard Gallery, Tate St Ives and Attenborough Centre for the Creative Arts with public funding from the National Lottery through Arts Council England. It is presented in cooperation with John Hansard Gallery, Attenborough Centre for the Creative Arts, Tate St Ives and Quay Arts. Soundings was also kindly supported by South East Dance.
Rights of the Deep was originally commissioned by Science Gallery London.
Soundings will also be presented at Tate St Ives from 24 May to 21 September 2025, and at Quay Arts, Isle of Wight from 10 October to 19 December 2025.
Read the full Press Release here.
About the artist
Emma Critchley is an artist who uses water as a formal material property within a range of media including film, photography, sound, installation, and writing. Her work explores the underwater environment as a political, philosophical, and environmental space. Emma Critchley studied at the Royal College of Art, and her work has been shown extensively in galleries and institutions nationally and internationally.
