A Hard Rains Gonna Fall -’It was a song of desperation. What could we do? Could we control the men who were on the verge of wiping us out. The words came  fast – very fast. It was a song of terror. Line after line, trying to capture the feeling of nothingness.’ Bob Dylan. (Image from the travelling Hard Rain Bob Dylan- Mark Edwards exhibition, London, 2009)

I had a great response to the raging grannies climate change song in my last post. One of my readers sent me in their favourite climate change song and I couldn’t resist sharing it with you.

Hold onto your hats, here’s Tiny Tim’s  ‘The Ice Caps a meltin – oh, ho, ho, ho-ho’

Some of you know my other half is the biggest Bob Dylan fan in the world. So I had little trouble persuading him to see a great outdoor exhibition that centres on Bob Dylan’s song ‘A Hard Rain’s Gonna Fall’ recently in London. This world travelling exhibition of photos shows the growing extent of the global environmental crisis. Its  hard to look at but stunning photographs of the many social and ecological consequences across the world are accompanied by the text of the lyrics of Bob Dylan’s song. It’s a unique coming together of some of Bob’s most hard-hitting lyrics and the work of many leading photographers, led by the inspiration of Mark Edwards. These photos were on public display during the lead up to the Copenhagen summit, in London’s Trafalgar Square, on the railings of St Martin’s in the Fields church. (I’m still not sure why Ireland had no exhibitions for this event, but maybe I missed something? However this exhibition has been to Ireland’s Electric Picnic and some other venues a few years ago). BoBob Dylan climate change songb Dylan wrote this song during the intense time of the Cuban Missile Crisis but has stated that this song has a much broader sweep, a wider meaning, one appropriate before, during and after the Cuban Missile Crisis. See more about the inspiring work behind the travelling Hard Rain project here.

I’ll just finish with a little collaboration I did with The Strokes version of the Marvin Gaye’s incredible song  ‘The Ecology’. I never thought I’d be among the thousands who make tribute You tube fan song video’s, but back in January, trying to get over the Copenhagen Blues, I dashed outside and made this little piece in an hour when I should have been working. Hope you like it – maybe turn down the speakers if you are at work ;-)

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Raging Grannies do Climate Change, in song!

February 28, 2010
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Please, pour yourself a cup of tea and join us . . .
We are out in the streets promoting peace, justice, social and economic equality through song and humour
Just a little something for International Women’s day later this week (8 March), a bit of music from the Canada-led 15 year plus phenomenon, the now International [...]

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Long Horizons: 2010 British Council Culture and Climate Change policy & essays

February 21, 2010
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Another Place’ (2007)- ‘there is a strong connection between the desire for survival and the art of a people and a time. We have a task in hand. Culture in the developed western world has always positioned itself in distinction to nature: now we have to discover our nature within nature.’

‘But it is also my [...]

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Add your Stories of a Changing World to Creative Climate – a 10 year online diary project

February 18, 2010
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24 Feb 10: Update, here’s my story on creative climate
I was fortunate to meet Dr. Joe Smith and one of his post graduate students at Copenhagen. They work for the Open University in the UK and Joe has created a 10 year project to collect all our stories about working to help the environment, to [...]

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Learn about new policy on culture & climate change introduced at Copenhagen, Dec 09

February 14, 2010
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Above: Key cultural organisations present at the inaugural Culture|Futures Conference at COP15: National Gallery of Denmark, Copenhagen, 2009

Update: new 2010  British Council Document on Art & Climate Change : includes Cultural Policy & Regulatory Guidelines, see end of post

Finally completed this article on my visit to the first international culture and climate change [...]

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Join in and share your creativity on Art & Ecology online networks

January 21, 2010
kelp land art by alan price

Giant Kelp Spiral -land art by Alan Price (2009)

‘I am neither an artist or an ecologist but I have imagination and am interested in how things are linked in natural systems. The attached photo might sum it up!! Giant kelp washed up on a beach in Northern   California – I just [...]

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Best green films, Avatar and more

January 19, 2010
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Try to imagine a major Hollywood blockbuster in which a U.S. Army pilot hijacks a Marine Corps Blackhawk helicopter to shoot down fellow U.S. choppers in order to protect indigenous people fighting to save their rain forest from U.S. oil interests. Don’t think that could happen? Think again. It just did, says Harold Linde, Environmentalist and [...]

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Converting a spruce plantation into a forest, year 2 (2009)

January 16, 2010
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Things have been busy in our woodland over the last year and the year ended in a dramatic fashion with a storm from the east that saw 10 of trees come down (four more have to come down as they are leaning precariously – if you are coming to visit don’t dawdle on the driveway!).
Over [...]

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'i hear of press conferences of petitions, of signatures of campaigns & lobbying but no words will come'

December 21, 2009
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Above: Cecil Rangendra reading at Culture | Futures 2009

The lines in the heading are a quote from an amazingly heartfelt poem Requiem for a Rainforest by celebrated Malaysian poet/lawyer, Cecil Rajendra. Cecil read it during the keynote presentations at the first Culture |Futures Symposium at the UN Climate summit, Cop15.
I went up to him [...]

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Vigil for Climate Justice on Mt Leinster joins others across the world

December 15, 2009
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Above: Martin lighting one of the lanterns

I’ve been back a few days from Copenhagen and the Cultures | Futures symposium. It was a great experience to be in one place with so many different perspectives on how the cultural communities / practitioners / arts councils and international arts bodies from around the world are joining [...]

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