www.artistsvisitgalapagos.com

Twelve international artists visited Galápagos. Their surprising perspectives on the environmental and cultural reality of these distant islands question our relationship with a changing natural world.

A website with themes, stories, images and information from the exhibition of the artists’ work and accompanying publication, plus additional material by the artists, has been launched at: www.artistsvisitgalapagos.com

Between 2007 and 2011, twelve leading artists visited the Galápagos Islands as part of the Gulbenkian Galápagos Residency Programme. Each artist was given free rein to connect with the Islands in the way most appropriate to their individual curiosity and distinct practice.

Artists Jyll Bradley, Paulo Catrica, Filipa César, Marcus Coates, Dorothy Cross (with actor Fiona Shaw), Alexis Deacon, Jeremy Deller, Tania Kovats, Kaffe Matthews, Semiconductor and Alison Turnbull spent time on Galápagos – diving with sharks or studying butterflies, working with botanists to develop gardens with local people, or canvassing, from a bird’s point of view, people’s opinion on ‘human colonisation’ for Galápagos TV. The material they found inspired new work – providing insights into the complex social and environmental challenges that impinge on the archipelago’s fragile ecosystem.

Galápagos, the exhibition, can be seen at The Bluecoat Liverpool, and subsequently at The Fruitmarket Gallery Edinburgh and Centro de Arte Moderna Lisbon.

The Gulbenkian Galápagos Artists’ Residency Programme and Galápagos exhibition were organised by the Galapagos Conservation Trust in partnership with the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation. Additional support has come from the Charles Darwin Foundation and the Natural History Museum.

Photo: Marcus Coates, Human Report, 2008, digital video still.