Rising Tides, the year-long arts and performance series dedicated to climate resiliency, returned to Alameda Point's Radium Runway over the weekend.
The first event of the year—the free, three-week-long photography festival In Plain Site—has turned the Alameda Point shoreline into an open-air exhibition of climate-focused imagery.
“We like to think of it as a visual journey into our future,” says Tara Pilbrow, executive director of the West End Arts District, one of the initiative’s organizers. “Living on an island as we do, we are both the coal mine and the canary if you will, so that provides us with a particular perspective as well as a collective sense of urgency.”
Net Zero Transition collection the photobioreactor at the Algalif facilities in Reykjanesbaer, Iceland(Simone Tramonte)
Indeed, the Oakland-adjacent island is, itself, a symbol of the increasing vulnerability of the Bay Area’s waterfront cities to the effects of a warming climate. The risk of flooding from rising seas over three feet jumps from a little less than 20 percent this decade to around 50 percent in the 2030s, 80 percent in the 2040s, and 100 percent by the 2060s—a staggering projection.
The work on display at In Plain Site captures a variety of both local and global perspectives of the human impact on the natural environment. Internationally recognized photographers have contributed some of the most poignant pieces: Daesung Lee’s haunting images of individuals and livestock on the vanishing Ghoramara Island in West Bengal, India; Simone Tramonte’s futuristic photos of Europe’s technological transformation into a net-zero economy; Gregg Segal’s fascinating framing of children from around the world with the increasingly industrialized foodstuffs they consume in a week.
But the most familiar images come from local photographers including Noah Berger’s hellscapes of California wildfires; the Ephemeral Earth collection curated by the Bay Area Photographers Collective; climate-themed contributions from the Harvey Milk Photo Center; and others. Periodically, the exhibition’s shipping container galleries will be joined by interactive crafts, artist talks, and photography workshops, as well as sustainable food trucks.
(Courtesy of Rising Tides)
In Plain Site isn’t just putting the climate’s challenges on display, they’re also inviting attendees to explore the different pathways to get involved in solutions to the crisis. On May 20th, a panel of six climate activists and leaders—including Jonathan DeLong, executive director of REAP Climate Center, and Megan Arnett, executive director of the Berkeley Center for Green Chemistry—will share their stories.
As In Plain Site finishes its run at the month’s end (with a closing party packed with digital art and performance at the neighboring Almanac Brewery on May 31st), Radium Runway will transition to Rising Seas, a series showcasing the cultural traditions of three island communities.
The free performances will include Puerto Rican Bomba rhythms from Batey Tambó on May 31st, Balinese music and dance from Gamelan Sekar Jaya on June 21st, and musical Hawaiian storytelling from Hālau KaUaTuahine on July 12th.
“Here in the East Bay we have so much terrific talent from island cultures,” says Jennifer Radakovich, executive director of Rhythmix Cultural Works, producer of Rising Seas. “This was a perfect opportunity to showcase some of that sterling local talent, each bringing their particular magic and understanding of the world we live in to the stage.”
// In Plain Site is free and open to the public through June 1st; 2151 Ferry Point (Alameda), risingtidesalameda.org
The sun setting from Ferry Point in Alameda(Liam Passmore)
