If you visit Ramsgate beach on August 1 from low tide, you will see an unusually large windbreak rising above the others.
Look more closely and you will see it displays the life-sized predictions of sea-level rise for the area over the next 100 years. Walking along its length you see the years pass by and the rising sea which eventually covers the beach completely, predicted for sometime after 2070.
In the worst-case scenario (not shown within the work) the sea is predicted to rise by a staggering 5 metres by 2150.
The art work is by the Ramsgate based collective, SPACER, which has been working with Thanet residents to find out what people love about the area and to look at the changes linked to climate change, now and in the future.
“Almost everyone we spoke to love the beach and coastline,” said Sarah Craske, one of the artists involved in the project. ‘There were concerns about sewage and coastal erosion, but no-one, even on the project, expected the beach to disappear.”
Some of the interviews that informed the work have been archived online for others to listen to and can be heard at: www.unheardvoicesfor.earth. One hundred voices from Thanet have been given unique QR codes engraved on 200 flints. The artists have returned them to the beach ready for others to find.
“Often, we hear from politicians, experts, or people with extreme views in the news. Instead, we are sharing the unheard voices,” said Aphra Shemza, one of the artists on the project. “People shared their hopes and fears with us. It is very moving.”
Artists involved in the project are:
Karina Craske
Sarah Craske
James Davies
Stephen Melton
Aphra Shemza
Main installations are:
Ramsgate Main Sands: 1st August from 6.30am until high tide
Margate Main sands: 4th August from 9am until high tide
Source NASA Sea Level Projection Tool at https://sealevel.nasa.gov/ipcc-ar6-sea-level-projection-tool?psmsl_id=255&data_layer=scenario
