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One Artist's Journey

A Table with a Global Message

Lucinda Cowing

‘A Table from the Sea’s Edge’ speaks not only of its own constituents’ journeys, but that of its London-based creator, Silas Birtwistle, and the coastal communities and organisations he encountered while gathering all of the driftwood.

“I did not go out intending to spread any particular message related to biodiversity and the environment as such,” Birtwistle explains. “It took shape as the work progressed.”

Birtwistle has worked with driftwood for over twenty years. One day in May 2009, he set out on a year-long expedition to the ‘four corners’ of the globe: British Columbia, Belize, Tanzania, and Malaysia, to be precise.

“It is a provincial piece, but also a global one. I came to realise that all the people I met had much the same concerns, especially in regard to how the environment around them is changing. Over-fishing, deforestation, rising sea levels...all these pose great challenges for coastal communities.”

A Table from the Sea's Edge from Neon Otter on Vimeo.

To read entire article, download as PDF file (197KB)

atablefromtheseasedge.com/
TIDE Belize: tidebelize.org
WWF Coastal East Africa: worldwildlife.org/what/wherewework/ coastaleastafrica/
WWF Malaysia and the Coral Triangle: worldwildlife.org/what/ wherewework/coraltriangle/

Lucinda Cowing is in her third year studying Japanese and Mandarin at SOAS (The School of Oriental & African Studies, London). She arrived in Kyoto in September 2010 and has been involved with KJ since then. After a stint at music college in London she plays a variety of weird instruments. She is also passionate about tea, and camels.

blog: The Adventures of the Ping

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