Salmon School at COP26
2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26)
Salmon School: the power of collaborative art to inspire action at COP26
Conceptualized by artist Joseph Rossano, Salmon School is an international, multimedia traveling art performance and exhibition to motivate communities to tackle the issues facing salmon populations and therefore address climate change.
Leading salmon conservationists from around the world have joined forces to bring this work to the United Nations Climate Change Summit (COP26) in Glasgow, Scotland from October 31 - November 12 to advocate for change and inspire delegates to be bold in reaching their goals. The installation features a life-size school of mirrored salmon-like forms, sculpted from molten glass by concerned artists from around the globe, as well as first-hand video accounts from renowned scientists, artists, and indigenous peoples.
Its impacts will be transformative. Visit the Salmon School website here.
The Inspiration
Wild salmon have occupied earth’s rivers and oceans for millions of years. For countless generations they have sustained human communities and cultures around the world. However, climate change and unsustainable development now threaten the very existence of these resilient species and the massive benefits they provide to people and ecosystems.
Salmon School highlights the messages of danger and hope symbolized by these majestic species. Its reflective properties compel delegates to contemplate the damage humans have done—and are still doing—to the earth. At the same time, it inspires them to make decisions that will change human behaviour and restore the earth to a safe habitat for all species, including salmon.
Photo Credit (Right) Ben Etridge Photography
The Hope
A better future is possible. It’s unfolding today, just outside the walls of the United Nations Climate Summit (COP26) in Glasgow. For over 100 years industrial pollution drove salmon out of the River Clyde. But local community organizations, working with business and government, cleaned up the river. And wild salmon have returned.
It’s a story being played out by dozens of communities and organizations working to restore wild salmon across the world.
By using salmon as a vehicle for change, we can save all species. Including ourselves.
A Global Stage
The call to contribute to the Salmon School was answered by artists from around the world. Everyone of these artists can see the salmon crisis in their own backyard - The River Clyde in Glasgow where COP26 is being held, The Skagit (United States), the Ishikawa (Japan), the Carrick-a-Rede (Ireland) and countless other rivers around the world.
It’s the same everywhere - the loss of salmon and their habitat of cold, clean water. These artists are creating and collaborating to inspire all of us to work together and fix the salmon and their waters.
The artists have taken the global stage for a global problem.
Photo Credit (Right) Ben Etridge Photography
Community Science
This is not just an art installation, it’s a living, breathing idea, backed by citizen science. Organisations from around the world have come together to sponsor this project through education, advocacy and science.
Working with The Missing Salmon Alliance and a global collective of salmon conservation organisations, The Clyde River Foundation, Missing Salmon Alliance and Salmon School has developed and launched a youth-based citizen science project on the River Clyde in collaboration with the Smithsonian Institution, Washington DC. Pupils will be learning about the lifecycle of salmon and collecting eDNA samples. The project runs until the end of September to allow the results to be compiled ahead of COP26.
The Clyde, and the return of the salmon, stand testament to what can be done. How, given the political will, we can listen to the warnings from science, most clearly set out in the IPCC Report, and change direction.
Joseph Rossano
“I started this project because I had watched how things in nature had gone away during my lifetime and I wanted to do something about it using the talents I have as a visual artist and the network of friends and like-minded thinkers that I had developed throughout my life.
As wild salmon are threatened, so are we. It is a humbling experience to see SCHOOL featured in such a significant global setting, but the movement to save Atlantic and Pacific salmon is so much bigger than any single sculpture or event. SCHOOL is inspired by the plight of wild salmon and steelhead of the Upper Skagit River. It’s inspired by the cleanup and restoration of the River Clyde in Glasgow, where salmon have returned. And it’s inspired by similar people and communities everywhere who are facing climate change through the lens of salmon.”
Visit the Salmon School website to learn more.
