On Tuesday 24^th September, we had the pleasure of welcoming renowned artist, film-maker, writer and curator David Buckland to FHS for the launch of our Creative Perspectives on Climate Change project – the first of our Perspectives projects – in collaboration with Cape Farewell.

Cape Farewell was founded in 2001 with a series of ground-breaking artist and scientist manned expeditions to the Arctic, and since them has become an international not-for-profit programme. With the slogan, “Climate is Culture – where creativity shapes our ecological future”, the organisation aims to change the way people think about climate change, and to widely communicate, educate and inspire action on the need for urgent, and achievable, change.

In three assemblies in St Mary’s Church, Bourne Street, David Buckland told the fascinating (and rather chilly at -35°C!) story of his original expedition sailing through Scandinavia to Cape Farewell in Greenland. Taking artists on the expedition, as well as climate change scientists, allowed them to witness the physical ramification of how climate change was affecting this beautiful place and to depict it in broad range of powerful and thought-provoking artworks. Since then, Cape Farewell has supported over 350 artists and over 60 climate scientists in the research and creation of artworks over the last 23 years. Over time, this brought about a paradigm shift in how climate change is viewed; reframing the conversation so it can be seen in terms of culture and the arts rather than purely science.

For the whole of this academic year, FHS will be hosting the exhibition of these artists’ work. The pieces have been woven throughout the tapestry of school life; going up the stairs, outside in the playground, in our Sixth Form Centre, the Old School House, and more. Pieces by renowned contributors including the sculptor, Sir Antony Gormley; the choreographer, Dame Siobhan Davies, who we were also honoured to welcome for the Launch; the artist, Dame Rachel Whiteread; the writer, Ian McEwan and many more, will inspire our students and staff, every day. A trail from one piece to the next, with captions to explain the provenance of and thinking behind each artwork, will weave through the school, enabling the messaging to permeate powerfully through school life.

Our Head, Alexandra Haydon, thanked David Buckland for his hugely inspirational discussion. She described how, through Creative Perspectives, our Heads of Art, Geography, Science, English and other departments will work with Cape Farewell experts to deliver climate focused labs and workshops based on the different artworks, underlining that the climate crisis is a cultural challenge that affects all sections of society. She challenged our pupils to really explore and engage with the artworks which are now up around school and, either through the workshops or their own ideas, to produce their own unique creative perspectives that have the power touch others and inspire them to think differently.

She said, “Real world problem solving requires deep understanding of the problem at hand. The challenge to understand climate change, to educate ourselves about climate change, to reduce climate challenge is not just a political problem, or a scientific problem – it cuts across every subject that we study at FHS – literature, arts, maths, geography, history. The purpose of the project is to get all the girls involved and thinking – really thinking deeply – and producing their own work in response. This builds upon the foundations of a long held emphasis on creative thinking, problem-solving and innovation at Francis Holland.”

At the end of the Spring Term, the project will culminate in a combined exhibition, curated by the girls, of the beautiful interdisciplinary work that our pupils and visiting students from other schools have produced in response to the project, alongside the professional work from the core exhibition. This is about creative thinking, story-telling, oracy and social influence- all key skills identified by the World Economic Forum as skills on the rise and essential for the 2030s workforce; and all skills that will empower our pupils to become the leaders, thinkers, innovators, designers, entrepreneurs, and game-changers of tomorrow.

The exact format the girls’ work takes will evolve organically over the year, and that’s part of the excitement! A key theme of this initiative is building awareness of climate amongst our community, aligning with our support this year for the charity Rewilding Britain. This partnership highlights our commitment to environmental consciousness, and we will be encouraging our girls to explore creative ways to incorporate eco-friendly practices into the curation process—from sustainable materials to the overall design.

Thank you so much to Cape Farewell for offering our students and staff this incredible opportunity. We look forward to our partnership evolving over the year to come, enabling pupils to harness the creativity, collaboration and communication skills they have developed during their time at FHS to begin to make their mark on the rapidly changing world of the future.

Visit our Creative Perspectives page to find out more.