Watch this poetic expedition undertaken by two islanders, one from the Marshall Islands and the other from Kalaallit Nunaat (Greenland), connecting their realities of melting glaciers and rising sea levels. Kathy Jetñil-Kijiner and Aka Niviâna use their poetry to showcase the linkages between their homelands in the face of climate change. Through this video we are given a glimpse of how large, yet so small and interdependent, our world really is.
The science behind climate change and its causes has been clear for decades. And yet it has not been enough to drive the change we need to see in order to rescue our planet. We hope this poem can spark the emotion and drive needed for more people to rise and take action.
Photo: Courtesy of 350.org
Photo: Courtesy of 350.org
Photo: Courtesy of 350.org
Photo: Courtesy of 350.org
Bios
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Aka Niviâna
GL
Aka Niviâna is an Inuk writer and this is her on-screen debut. Niviâna started doing poetry with a wish to create nuanced conversations not only about climate change, but also colonialism and indigenous peoples’ rights. She believes in the importance of representation and the People of Color and indigenous peoples.
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Aka Niviâna
GL
Aka Niviâna is an Inuk writer and this is her on-screen debut. Niviâna started doing poetry with a wish to create nuanced conversations not only about climate change, but also colonialism and indigenous peoples’ rights. She believes in the importance of representation and the People of Color and indigenous peoples.
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Kathy Jetñil-Kijiner
MH
Kathy Jetñil-Kijiner is a poet of Marshallese ancestry. Her writing and performances have been featured by CNN, Democracy Now, Huffington Post and more. Her work has recently evolved and begun to inhabit gallery and performance-art spaces. She also co-founded the non-profit Jo-Jikum, dedicated to empowering Marshallese youth to seek solutions to climate change and other environmental threats to their home island. She was selected as one of 13 Climate Warriors by Vogue in 2015 and the Impact Hero of the Year by Earth Company in 2016.
Credits
Courtesy of 350.org
Team: Dan Lin, Nick Stone, Rob Lau, Oz Go
Presented in the context of the European Digital Deal project. European Digital Deal is co-funded by the Creative Europe Programme of the European Union and by the Austrian Federal Ministry for Arts, Culture, the Civil Service and Sport.
