Art, activism, overfishing and the Ocean, how we can make a difference.

Join us at Thenga Cafe on Saturday, February 3, 2024, at 19:00 GMT for an inspiring evening of talks by some of the artists behind Ocean Rebellion's artistic direct actions and expert guests.

Entry includes wonderful vegan snacks by the Thenga Café kitchen. Drinks will be available to purchase at a resonable price.

Throughout the event there will be live garment screen printing, props from previous actions to wear and posters, badges and patches to buy.

The evening will begin with an explanation of the tactics Ocean Rebellion uses to expose Ocean harm and why it’s important to take direct action. The talk will cover three pillars of Ocean harm; Shipping, Pollution and Overfishing and how these harms are linked. The last of these pillars, Fishing, will become the focus for the rest of the evening.

EXPERT TALKS

Industrial fishing is destroying marine life and habitats and forcing people into poverty.

Our three experts will deliver short talks on some of the ways this harm is happening and the destruction it's causing.

After each talk there will be a chance to ask questions.

#1 End Industrial Overfishing
Alex Hofford, Marine Wildlife Campaigner at Shark Guardian, reveals how industrial fishing is decimating fish populations across the globe, and how the corporate sector is helping to greenwash this War on Fish.

#2 Modern slavery and industrial fishing
Chris Armstrong, political theorist and author of A New Blue Deal, will explain how fishing is profiting from modern slavery and what, if anything, we can do about it.

#3 Drifting FADs - a silent killer in the Indian Ocean
Emilia Dyer, Researcher at Exeter University, talks about drifting FADs, a modern day killer in the Indian Ocean. Drifting FADs (Fish Aggregating Devices) have been described by Chris Packham as “something from a dystopian science fiction novel”. Part tech, part fish factory processing, dFADs use nature as a method of aggregating tuna (and any other marine life seeking shelter) to make it easy to net and K*ll everything. Horrific.

There will be plenty of time after the talks to mingle, ask more questions, print something and to enjoy Thenga's lovely snacks and hospitality.

We look forward to greeting you.

The Ocean Crew x

WHO

The event will be hosted by Ocean Rebellion, our crew for the evening is:

Michael Collins
Paris ‘68 is a passion for Michael. So much so that in 2018 he co-created Paris ‘68 redux, a printmaking studio dedicated to spreading the alternative word. Since 2018 Michael’s posters have been pasted to walls all over Europe, commenting on issues as diverse as Google’s influence in Berlin [Fuck Google] and Brexit. In 2019 Michael began making prints for Extinction Rebellion and developed a poster workshop which enables people to make their own posters.

Clive Russell
Clive is a designer based in London and one half of This Ain’t Rock’n’Roll. Their work inspires change, most famously in the creation of the look and feel of Extinction Rebellion and the Brixton Pound. Their work has been exhibited and collected by the V&A, MOMA, British Museum and Smithsonian among others.

Roc Sandford
Roc has worked on modelling perceptual bias at Bristol, Pennsylvania State, and University College London. He has attended the Rockefeller Foundation, Bellagio in Italy and the NATO Advanced Studies Institute at Bonas in France. Roc is a writer and artist and lives off-grid on the Hebridean Island of Gometra.

Suzanne Stallard
Suzanne Stallard (Floss) is an artist, activist and founder of Jelly, an arts charity based in Reading since 1993 (and now a National Portfolio Organisation for Arts Council England).

As a performer, artist and maker, Floss has been involved in many artistic direct actions including actions for Extinction Rebellion, Ocean Rebellion and Esme Boggart alongside working on her own practice, and a shared collaborative practice with Laura De Moxom – as part of Bold and Tender Collective – making site specific public artworks.

Bridget Turgoose
Bridget studied History of Design and Commercial Arts at MMU and worked in creative industries, specifically in music, film and publishing. When teaching Cambridge syllabus on Global Warming her mind was ignited by the need to be active.

Since 2019 Bridget has worked tirelessly to develop the Extinction Rebellion [XR] Arts Factory and XR Art blockers, developing ways to inspire mass participation in art and craft. Her work with Ocean Rebellion draws on this experience and her deep connection with the Ocean, Bridget is from a long line of Hull-based seafarers.

Our Experts:

Chris Armstrong
Chris Armstrong is an academic based at Southampton. He works on ocean politics, biodiversity, and global justice. He is the author of A Blue New Deal: Why We Need A New Politics for the Ocean (Yale University Press 2022), and recently wrote a piece on our failing ocean politics for the London Review of Books.

Emilia Dyer
Emilia is a Marine Biology graduate of the University of Exeter, now studying for a masters by research in fisheries. Emilia is driven by her vision and hope for a more balanced world. Emilia’s early career has spanned marine policy, communications and conservation which now creates a strong foundation for her research.

Alex Hofford
Alex is a highly experienced environmental campaigner with an impressive track record in organising and leading important and successful campaigns for change in some of the most challenging parts of the world. Based in Hong Kong for over 20 years, Alex led a high-profile movement to ban the city’s rampant shark fin trade, convinced major hotels and restaurants to stop serving the dish and scores of airlines and shipping lines to stop carrying this egregious product. Alex also spearheaded a successful campaign to ban the Hong Kong ivory trade. He is an accomplished and persuasive communicator and resourceful, strategic and innovative organiser with a global network of top-level contacts in the environmental sphere. In Asia Alex also worked as a professional photojournalist, his photos have been widely published by leading international newspapers and magazines. Alex returned to the UK in 2019 and has been working first as a consultant for WildAid, and subsequently as a marine wildlife campaigner for the Shark Guardian charity and a convenor of the Coalition for Transparent Tuna Fisheries.

Event Venue

Thenga Cafe, 120 Cromer Street, London, United Kingdom