Communicating climate change through the arts and/or humanities and especially though multimodal platforms can lead to more visceral connections, action, support and solidarity. I here discuss the impact of anthropogenic climate change on the lives of subaltern communities in the Sundarbans in India
Paper long abstract
It has been noted that climate change issues couched in overly scientific language is not impactful on the public. Communicating climate change through the arts and/or humanities and especially though multimodal platforms can lead to more visceral connections, action, support and solidarity. In this project, I research the lives of subaltern communities in the Sundarbans - a littoral region bordering India and Bangladesh, often called the ‘ground zero of climate change’ - to write a script and collaborate in a theatre, photographic and filmic project on how sea level rise, tropical storms, flood and bank erosion have affected the families of coastal seafarers, fisherman, shrimp farmers, woodcutters and honey collectors. Much of the phenomena is due to anthropogenic global warming centred on industrial and middle-class urban lifestyles. The project’s aim is to create multi-modal immersion with such media to channel to relatively affluent audiences who are far removed from the stark realities of Sundarbans lives.