Interweaving Spaces

Interweaving Spaces large scale immersive installation was the culmination of a creative research project about marine life, the intersection of bio and cultural diversity and the power of art and dance to inform and motivate actions for climate justice. 

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“Amazing and interesting. Beautiful textiles. I have never seen anything like this before”  A. Denyer

“exacting way to get public engagement through combined arts and ecology. Very stimulating, imaginative and informative. Very innovative and engaging” Marie [Conservation at Worthing Museum]

“Fascinating Exhibition. The intersection of kelp conservation with art activism is terrific. The installation is wonderful and the talk from Gil and Geroge excellent” Rocco

“Fantastic exhibition, provocative and exciting.” Jenny

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To read more visitors' comments please see the Arts Council England visitor's report. ​​​​​

The project sprung out of a commissioned by  the Sussex Wildlife Trust's Kelp restoration project of the kelp forest off Sussex shores and then included a research into direct actions tactics of movements in the past two decades of such as Reclaim the Streets, GreenPeace and Extincion Rebellion and the role of dance and movement within the actions of these groups. 

Beneath the Waves

Presented at Worthing Museum & Art Gallery, this immersive installation transformed the gallery into a submerged landscape. One hundred textile banners descended from an eight-metre-high ceiling, each printed with one of 32 bespoke patterns inspired by kelp forests and underwater environments. Drawing on traditional textile motifs from coastal communities around the world, the installation celebrated cultural heritage while highlighting the vulnerability of many of these communities to climate change, rising sea levels, and environmental degradation.

The exhibition featured two film works. Code Red! Code Red!, a collaborative dance film created with performer Lya Abdou Issa, was projected onto a screen constructed from dozens of suspended white bandages. The film was built around samples from the powerful speech delivered by Mia Mottley at the COP26 climate summit, interwoven with music and sound works by Liam Kind (Kid7), Taylor-Patel (8SZN), Anton Vlaso, and Michael Kobrin, alongside recordings of ocean environments and sounds captured during climate justice demonstrations.

The second film, The Calling, is an underwater dance work inspired by the Greek myth of the Sirens, reimagining these legendary figures as ecological guardians and climate activists. Filmed at the shipwreck site of Epanomi, near Thessaloniki, the project was created in collaboration with performer Dimitris Galanakis.

The film can be viewed here: The Calling

The exhibition also included two photographic series. The first documented Galanakis's underwater performance, extending the themes explored in The Calling. The second, The Colour of Death, presented underwater photographs of bleaching and dying coral reefs in the Red Sea, drawing attention to the accelerating impacts of climate change on marine ecosystems.

Alongside the exhibition, Worthing Museum & Art Gallery hosted a public programme of artist talks, dance and visual arts workshops, and community events that invited audiences to engage with themes of ecology, climate justice, and collective action.

Between 2022 and 2024, elements of the project were also exhibited internationally at NOBA, Brewery Tap Gallery, Resource for London, Espacio8, and Stiftung Künstlerdorf.