UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — The small island nations of the Pacific region are on the frontlines of climate change, more so than any other region in the world. A panel discussion, “Climate Change: Our Response as Artists,” will feature artists from Small Island Big Song to discuss the impacts of climate change and explore how art can influence our relationship with the environment.
The panel discussion, moderated by Richard Alley, Evan Pugh University Professor of Geosciences at Penn State, will be held from 3 to 5 p.m. on Wednesday, April 6, in HUB-Robeson Center’s Freeman Auditorium and online at this link. The panel discussion is free and open to the public.
Small Island Big Song unites islanders, who share an ancient seafaring ancestry and language, in a contemporary musical statement from a region on the frontline of cultural and environmental challenges. The Small Island Big Song spring 2022 North American tour features a multimedia concert and residency at Penn State with instrumentalists and vocalists from the nations of New Zealand, Taiwan, Australia, Madagascar, Solomon Islands, Mauritius, Marshall Islands, Papa New Guinea and Tahiti.
The panel discussion is part of IllumiNATION’S month of art and sustainability events focused on ocean conservation, indigenous voices, and water rights and will feature spoken word artist Selina Leem from the Marshall Islands, musical artists Emlyn from Mauritius and Richard Mogu from Papua New Guinea, and producer BaoBao Chen from Taiwan.
IllumiNATION is a student-focused art-based festival that aims to create a unified Penn State community full of responsible and inclusive citizens of the world by encouraging creativity, practicing sustainability and providing a welcoming and inclusive environment for all.
The panel discussion is co-sponsored by Penn State’s Student Engagement Programs, the Center for Performing Arts, Sustainability Institute, and College of Earth and Mineral Sciences.
Penn State’s Center for the Performing Arts will also host Small Island Big Song in a live concert aimed at raising awareness of the environmental plights and heritages of their ocean nations. The multimedia production will start at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, April 7, in Eisenhower Auditorium.