Abstract from Laura Anderson Barbata: 

In this talk, I will discuss both projects Ocean Calling, 2017, and Ocean Blues, 2018 in greater detail. The Ocean Calling, was presented in 2017 at the UN's First Ocean Conference in New York. On that occasion, I was commissioned by Thyssen-Bornemisza Art Contemporary’s TBA21-Academy to create a cross-disciplinary performance to unfold at the United Nations Plaza at the conclusion of the first day of the summit. Titled Ocean Calling, the work integrated spoken word, dance, stilt dancing, ritual, procession, protest, costuming, and music, as I read out-loud the Declaration that was signed by the Pacific Island Countries and Territories in Suva, Fiji at the Pacific Regional Preparatory Meeting earlier that year. This document affirmed their commitment to Sustainable Development Goal 14, “Life Below Water.” Goal 14 is one of 17 Sustainable Development Goals SDG that were adopted by the United Nations in 2015 as part of 2030 Agenda, the successor to Agenda 21 implemented in Rio in 1992.

The following year, in collaboration with artists from the Caribbean diaspora and Mexico, I presented Ocean Blues, a work in response to the effects of global warming on all forms of life that make the ocean their home. The work combined procession, performance, dance, music, textile arts, costuming, ritual, and a call to action.