Art Defends Nature –A Review
ROBERT RALPH
There’s been something stirring in the Old Town the past few weeks, a kind of celebration of nature but with an ecologically aware edge to it. Local artists and wordsmiths have been using their talents to express their love of nature, their concern for the natural world, and their defiance in the face of the colossal and unceasing damage and destruction that man continues to wreak on it.
The Bat Cave Gallery in Rock-A Nore Road is an intimate venue to display such powerful pieces: all the more so when you consider the area is likely to be regularly flooded by 2050 due to human-induced climate change. We visited on a sunny Saturday morning and even the usually artistically immune teenage daughters who accompanied me were impressed by the setting and the sense of space and light within the gallery. They were also intrigued by the works on display.
I was lucky enough to catch a couple of the artists on my visit. I was anxious to know their motivations for submitting their pieces, and how their works signified their love, concern, and even anger. Works were submitted in a variety of media: paintings, displays, videos, and the spoken word.
Martina submitted and displayed a piece called Born 2023. “I’m a stained glass artist based in Hastings,” she told me. “It’s all hand-made from mouth-blown glass, stained glass, sand-blasted glass, and recycled glass. It’s been fired in a solar-powered kiln. The story is that a baby is born in 2023 into a world of climate chaos… and she’s dreaming of a better future full of nature, a thriving green planet… the other side is things that are endangered or things we all love and take for granted. It’s my way of speaking and what little I can do – I don’t have much power in any other sphere, but art is my thing and I’m hoping it will make people think. People are sleep-walking into a disaster… and art has a really powerful impact to get through to them.”
Other artists focussed on natural textures, and the local water pollution crisis. One piece I found particularly striking and a little humbling highlighted the number of deaths of environmental activists around the world. Presented by Julie Ford and called 1700 Fallen Leaves, it refers to the 1700 environmental activists murdered around the world in the past decade, as reported by Patrick Greenfield in The Guardian, 28/9/2022. “When I read and think about people in poorer communities all over the world, killed trying to stop negative, devastating impact on the land, water and air where they live, I can’t un-know this number. Unable to move beyond the loss – I wonder who will tell the stories of the lost earth defenders?’
Locals and visitors alike were impressed and moved by the exhibition and the gallery. It was organised by members of the local Extinction Rebellion group and stewarded entirely by volunteers. I found the space, the art, the artists and those present inspiring, thoughtful and with no little joy in nature. Even my 15-year-old daughter thanked me for taking her – praise indeed!
Robert Ralph has lived in the Hastings area nearly all his life. A Health and Social Care practitioner and father of two children, Rob has a keen interest in local, national and international issues around climate change and the destruction of the natural world. He is a spokesperson and campaigner on behalf of Extinction Rebellion, a politically non-partisan international movement that uses non-violent direct action to persuade governments to act justly on climate and ecological emergencies.
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