Hilden, 26 June 2011. This was the long-awaited day of the Opening of the SeeArt youth exhibition in Hilden Germany organised by the Helmholtz-Gymnasium Hilden (HGH) and Mundus maris in collaboration with the municipal office for culture and local sponsors.
The mayor of Hilden, Mr. Thiele, made it a point of honour to open the exhibition himself and explain the context and objectives, namely the desire to draw attention of the public to the threats posed to the seas by overfishing, pollution, climate change and other human interventions.
A short fact sheet (in German) summarised the major threats. The mayor and other speakers, such as the director of the school, Mr. Rädisch, Ansgar Beer, the main organiser, and Cornelia E. Nauen, President of Mundus maris, gave further explanations and also made the point that these many threats should not be taken with resignation.
Ample opportunities existed to act oneself and that the combination of research results and artistic and cultural engagement could help more effectively.
Concerned citizens can take action, e.g. by using seafood advisories to avoid eating baby fish or products from overfished ecosystems and support concrete ecosystem restoration measures e.g. for depolluting rivers to relieve the sea.
Fighting subsidies for fuel-intensive trawling has the twin benefit of reducing CO2 emissions and stopping the physical destruction of habitat on the ocean floor. Such subsidies enabling destructive practices must stop as they are against economic, social and ecological sense.
It was in this spirit that the exhibition combined works mostly from young people from some 10 countries, thus also underlining the desire for international cooperation and solidarity to address the challenges and opportunities more effectively. The opening was also framed by contemporary and classical music offered by groups from HGH, much to the delight of the public.
In the preparation, youth groups in several countries had prepared new works or further elaborated reflections on existing ones. Ansgar Beer regretted that the Nigerian artists and scientists invited to attend had not been able to join for receiving their visas late and for other problems.
This did not stop the young co-organisers of the HGH working group on sciences and arts for sustainability to auction off some of the best works from the exhibition in favour of the development of the Oloibiri Resources Centre in the Niger Delta in Nigeria.
The result of the auction was 1,170€ that go towards building up the centre for young people in and around Port Harcourt to find alternatives to the current violence and environmental destruction from oil spills, gas flaring etc.
The public was also invited to express its preferences among the different works and a Jury was assigned the very difficult task to distinguish the most expressive works in different categories: local individual contributions to the exhibition, Nigerian and other international contributions. See more impressions of works and the animated atmosphere at the vernissage in the photo gallery below.
All participants receive a certificate to recognise their participation. Prizes consist of Mundus maris T-shirts designed by HGH youths, stickers, interesting books offered graciously by the Argentinean Embassy in Brussels, mouse pads and other tokens.
The SeeArt youth exhibition was amply covered in advance in the local and regional press media and also promoted through the municipal and other websites. Click here for selected media coverage.
The exhibition remains open until 17 July 2011. At the finissage the auctioned works can be collected by the happy buyers and the exhibition will be taken down.
Photos in this section by Ansgar Beer and Cornelia E. Nauen.
                            
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