The Ice Garden

Clarendon Quad, Bodleian Library, Oxford

15-18 December 2005

Heather Ackroyd & Dan Harvey, Kathy Barber, David Buckland, Peter Clegg, Max Eastley, Ian McEwan

The Ice Garden was the first Cape Farewell exhibition showing works inspired by voyages with artists, scientists and educators into the High Arctic. Artists Heather Ackroyd & Dan Harvey, Kathy Barber, David Buckland, Peter Clegg, Max Eastley, and Ian McEwan developed sound, light, text and sculptural installations for the Clarendon Quad in front of the Bodleian Library.

Six great works of art, three of them ice-based, attracted an audience of 15,000 in four days, giving power to the idea that culture is key to engaging the public in the Climate Change debate. This first major showing of works from the artists involved in the Cape Farewell project, was featured on BBC and ITN Central television news, Radio 4's Start the Week and Front Row, and in the local and national press.

Climate focused discussions were held at the Sheldonian Theatre and Asian Cultural Centre with speakers, David Buckland, Peter Clegg, Tom Downing, Saleemul Huq, Charlie Kronick, Kate Hampton, Diana Liverman, and Mark Lynas.

The Ice Garden featured ten two-metre-high columns of ice, signalling the volume of carbon dioxide generated by each person in the UK each year. On a sheet of water, messages and images from the frozen Arctic fleetingly appear. Projected onto the walls of the Bodleian Library, a chilling call to action. Elsewhere in the quad a fragment of glacier, complete with pieces of earth, emited the sound of disintegrating ice.

The exhibition ran from 4pm-8pm, with free admission. During the exhibition 20,000 brochures were distributed, each carrying information about Cape Farewell and the action individuals can take to address climate change. Download a PDF version of the brochure using the link below (click for help with PDF documents).
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The Art of Climate Change

The Ice Garden was the first public showing of works by artists who have travelled with the Cape Farewell project, and launches a series of exhibitions taking place during 2006. Following The Ice Garden, during June - September 2006, Cape Farewell presents a major exhibition at the Natural History Museum, The Ship - the Art of Climate Change. The Ship is a unique national touring programme designed to deepen public understanding of climate change issues.

The Ice Garden is part of a long-term initiative developed by Cape Farewell in partnership with Natural History Museum, funded by the Arts Council England and supported by the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation.

The Ice Garden is part of the Evolving City programme coordinated by Oxford Inspires and funded with Lottery money from the Millennium Commission and Arts Council England through the Urban Cultural Programme, with additional contributions from Arts Council England South East, Oxford City Council, Oxfordshire County Council and SEEDA. With thanks to the Bodleian Library, The Sheldonian Theatre, The University of Oxford and Oxford Inspires.

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