Join John Hansard Gallery and Quay Arts for a special film screening, panel discussion and creative workshop. This event will run at both John Hansard Gallery and Quay Arts, Isle of Wight.

Saturday 29 April, 2–5pm
Quay Arts and online
Free, book your place here

Saturday 13 May, 2–5pm
John Hansard Gallery and online
Free, book your place here

The deep ocean covers more than 60% of the planet with biodiversity that is equal to our tropical rainforests. Home to complex and diverse forms of life that are continually being discovered, the deep seabed is the legally shared responsibility of humankind. As a regulator of earth’s climate, a source of food and materials of cultural heritage and identity, how we choose to imagine, portray and talk about the deep sea is fundamental to how we govern it.

Today concentrations of minerals formed across the deep seabed are holding the attention of both researchers and the mining industry as a potential resource for smart and ‘green’ technologies. This year a question that has been debated for decades has reached a legal precipice: should we mine the seabed?

Whether you are interested in art, the environment, climate change, the imaginative space of the ocean, or would just like to learn more about this rarely explored topic, you are warmly invited to join us for this very special event. The afternoon includes a screening of Common Heritage (2019), a deep-sea mining film made by artist Emma Critchley, followed by a panel discussion with deep sea experts and activists. This will be followed by a creative workshop where you will be able to handle specimens from the deep seabed and reflect on what the deep sea means to you.

This event will have British Sign Language (BSL) interpreters.

The event is supported using by the National Lottery through Arts Council England, in partnership with John Hansard Gallery, Quay Arts, and TBA21–Academy.

University of Southampton ERGO ID: 79726