UA News

David Buckland, who is known around the world for his work in the Arctic, will give a public lecture at the UA this month.

David Buckland, a designer, artist and filmmaker, has spent years connecting artists, scientists and educators and taking them on expeditions into the High Arctic to be involved in a project that is creating works of art.

The Institute of the Environment at The University of Arizona is hosting Buckland for a presentation and discussion on April 20 from 5 to 6:30 p.m. at the UA's Center for Creative Photography.

The acclaimed photographer heads up a project, called Cape Farewell, that blends art and science to raise awareness about climate change.

"Cape Farewell has inspired wonderful artworks including paintings, sculpture, novels, dance and video and has in turn encouraged scientists to think about the cultural context for climate change and new ways to communicate its risks," said Diana Liverman, co-director of the Institute of the Environment.

The project, which he created in 2000, provides invited writers, artists, musicians, educators and media with an opportunity to work closely with scientists as they conduct Arctic field research.

The results of the expeditions have led to a range of outcomes, including a major exhibition, the publication of the book "Burning Ice: Art & Climate Change" and a BBC broadcast of the film "Art from the Arctic."

The exhibition, "Art & Climate Change," was first shown at the Natural History Museum in London in 2006; then at Kampnagel in Hamburg, Germany in 2007; and at the Fundación Canal in Madrid, Spain and at the Mirakain in Tokyo, Japan last year.

Those involved in Cape Farewell strive to "make our work as public as possible, to create a new bank of imagery and ideas to communicate the challenge of climate change," Buckman's project Web site notes.