The Arts Catalyst, the British Library and the Open University present
POLAR:
A SEASON OF CLIMATE CHANGE TALKS AT THE BRITISH LIBRARY
The art and science of climate change
As part of the Polar programme, a series of four public lectures at the British Library will address the broader cultural and policy-related themes arising from the symposium.
Wednesday 17 October
EVERYDAY DISASTERS
Climate change is often characterised by images of ice-shelf collapse and disaster scenarios. This discussion will concentrate on everyday disasters, those small and shifting changes that effect life on every scale.
Discussant: Dr Nigel Clark, Geography, Open University. Speakers include: Professor Bob Spicer, Earth Sciences, Open University (climateprediction.net).
Monday 5 November
CLIMATE CHANGE & HUMAN RIGHTS
The interdependence of earth systems often means that environments are effected by pollution and climatic changes that happen in the distant past and far-away locations. Inuit activists have been protesting that the right to be cold is part of their basic human rights, which is being diminished by global warming caused by pollution emanating from other parts of the world. This session will ask the question: What are our responsibilities to other people whose lives are being impacted on by our actions?
Discussant: Dr Michael Bravo, Head of the Circumpolar History and Public Policy Research Group, Scott Polar Research Institute, University of Cambridge. Speaker: Aqqaluk Lynge, President of the Inuit Circumpolar Council (ICC) Greenland.
Monday 19th November
THE NEW ICONOGRAPHY OF CLIMATE CHANGE
Ice cores, glaciers, field stations can be thought of as an archives and spaces of knowledge that inform how we imagine and shape our collective futures. In this session we debate how these archives might well claim to hold the world's knowledge.
Discussant: Professor Denis Cosgrove, University of California, Los Angeles. Speakers: Dr Eric Wolff, Glacier Chemist, British Antarctic Survey, Stephan Harrison, Associate Professor of Quaternary Science, University of Exeter/Senior Research Associate, Oxford University Centre for the Environment, Director of Climate Change Risk Management, and Marko Peljhan, artist and initiator of I-TASC (Interpolar Transnational Art Science Constellation), Director, Projekt Atol
Monday 26 November
GEOPOLITICS OF COLD
The history of the poles has emerged through national rivalry and international co-operation, often articulated through science and exploration. In the context of the International Polar Year, how do shifting climatic zones correspond to the governance of national and international territories? And what is the role of science and exploration?
Discussant: Christine McGourty, BBC polar correspondent. Speakers: Professor Doreen Massey, FRSA, FBA, Geography, Open University, author of For Space (2005), and World City (2007), Winner of the Prix Vautrin Lud (the ‘Nobel de Géographie’) in 1998. Klaus Dodds, Professor of Geopolitics, Royal Holloway, University of London, author of Geopolitics in a changing world (1999) and Pink Ice (2002).
All lectures 18.30 - 20.00
The British Library Conference Centre
Price £6 (concessions £4)
Tickets can be purchased at the British Library box office http://boxoffice.bl.uk
T +44 (0) 1937 546546 or in person at the Information Desk in the British Library
Images:
Left & second left: Photo Kathryn Yusoff, 2nd from right: London Fieldworks, Polaria fieldwork NE Greenland (photo Anthony Oliver)
Far right: Anne Brodie, Wastegloo
