National Maritime Museum Greenwich Celebrates Third Annual World Oceans Day with Online Festival
With regular activities curtailed, more and more cultural organisations moving events online, one event to look forward to in June is organised by the National Maritime Museum Greenwich.
The National Maritime Museum will hold a day-long festival of activities to mark World Oceans Day for the third consecutive year on 8 June 2020. Although the museum is closed due to lockdown, Royal Museums Greenwich will mark the day with a completely digital festival.
NMM is partnering with individuals and organisations from across the world to provide a day-long schedule of programming, accessible to virtual visitors through RMG’s World Oceans Day 2020 web portal. This hub for the digital festival will allow virtual visitors to engage in innovative activities and explore RMG’s extensive online resources from home.
Highlights of World Oceans Day 2020 online festival include a welcome by Royal Museums Greenwich Director Paddy Rodgers, a specially curated music mix by BBC Radio DJ and presenter Nick Luscombe, home learning craft and kitchen science videos, interviews with scientists and oceanography experts, an online scavenger hunt, a panel discussion with live Q&A, and a live online quiz.
The variety of events on offer as part of NMM’s World Oceans Day 2020 online festival aims to encourage visitors to act as caretakers of the ocean allowing participants of all ages to discover the diverse and beautiful ocean creatures and habitats, how our daily actions affect them, and how we are all interconnected.
Highlights
WORLD OCEANS DAY 2020 ONLINE FESTIVAL SCHEDULE
(Subject to change)
10:00am World Oceans Day 2020 Welcome Message from Royal Museums Greenwich Director Paddy Rodgers
10:10am Ocean Conservation Q&A with Dr Lucy Woodall
10:30am Ocean at Home Learning Activities
11:30am Kitchen Science with the Royal Observatory Greenwich – Episode 1, Salinity and Density
12:00pm Antarctica Craft Series – ‘Flow’ with Alice McCabe
12:30pm Longitudinal Dialogues – The Displaced by Serge Attukwei Clottey, followed by virtual Q&A
1:00pm World Oceans Day Music Mix by Nick Luscombe
2:00pm Antarctica Craft Series – ‘Ice, Wind, Water’ with Anna Kompaniets
2:30pm Kitchen Science with the Royal Observatory Greenwich – Episode 2, Salinity and the Sea
3:00pm Antarctica Craft Series – ‘Sea Creatures’ with Jo McCormick
3:30pm Kitchen Science with the Royal Observatory Greenwich – Episode 3, Salinity, Temperature and the Sea
4:00pm Antarctica Craft Series – ‘Engine Room’ with Geoff Copeland
4:30pm Episode 1 – ‘Antarctica’ Online Scavenger Hunt by Knaive Theatre
5:00pm World Oceans Day Panel Discussion
6:45pm World Oceans Day Live Online Quiz (for 6:50pm start)
EVENTS
World Oceans Day Quiz
Take part in a live World Oceans Day Quiz, and test your general knowledge about oceanography, marine life, the environment, and songs related to the ocean. This fun and friendly event is free and open to all who want to join for some ocean knowledge fun.
Sign up via Eventbrite: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/world-oceans-day-quiz-tickets-105386616206
World Oceans Day Music Mix by Nick Luscombe
Take time out and tune in to an exclusive music mix from DJ and radio presenter Nick Luscombe. “As someone who grew up in Plymouth (now known as Britain’s Ocean City) I’ve long been inspired by the sea as a pathway to new places, people, ideas and opportunities,” he says. “My mix of music draws on those feelings – some tracks are quite literal and others, I hope, share a sense of adventure through sound.”
Longitudinal Dialogues – The Displaced by Serge Attukwei Clottey, followed by Online Studio Visit
The Line, London’s first dedicated public art walk, presents a screening of The Displaced by Ghanaian artist Serge Attukwei Clottey. The film powerfully captures a performance on the beach in Accra which Clottey developed with members of his GoLokal performance collective. Through the film, Clottey explore his family’s ancestral migration aboard a canoe on the ocean. Following the screening, watch a film of the artist in his studio in Accra as he introduces his approach and discusses issues raised in his work. This event is the first iteration of The Line’s Longitudinal Dialogues programme, which develops cultural conversations along the Greenwich Meridian.
HOME LEARNING
Kitchen Science with the Royal Observatory Greenwich
In this series of how-to videos, scientists from the Royal Observatory Greenwich will use simple experiments with household objects to illustrate how the currents in the world’s oceans are driven by salinity and temperature, and how the changing global climate is affecting our oceans.
Ocean Science in your Kitchen – Episode 1, Salinity and Density
Ocean Science in your Kitchen – Episode 2, Salinity and the Sea
Ocean Science in your Kitchen – Episode 3, Salinity, Temperature and the Sea
Antarctica Craft Series
Join artists and friends of the National Maritime Museum for a series of art workshops inspired by World Oceans Day.
‘Flow’ with Alice McCabe – Use foraged foliage to make an arrangement inspired by hot and cold ocean currents and the circumpolar current that keeps Antarctica cool
‘Ice, Wind, Water’ with Anna Kompaniets – Learn to make something from nothing in this crochet workshop that uses recycled materials to mimic the Antarctic environment
‘Sea Creatures’ with Jo McCormick – Create a fantastical print of the deep sea creatures that call Antarctica home, using household objects.
‘Engine Room’ with Geoff Copeland – Explore the idea of Antarctica as engine room for global climate in this print-making workshop.
Ocean at Home Learning Activities
Ocean in a bag (Early Years activity) – Early years can explore the colours of our oceans in this sensory activity. Use recycled materials and artwork from the Royal Museums Greenwich collection to inspire a marine artwork.
Ocean in a bottle (Key Stage 2 Activity) – Older learners will be inspired by the magnificence of the oceans and to create their own ocean in a bottle using recycled materials.
‘Antarctica’ Online Scavenger Hunt by Knaive Theatre
Nothing is as it seems in ‘Antarctica’, a daring online scavenger hunt from Knaive Theatre, commissioned by UK Antarctic Heritage Trust as part of its cultural programme Antarctica In Sight. Explore the science of the White Continent from the safety your computer in this unique and empowering online encounter. Discover Episode One on the World Oceans Day online portal and continue your adventure from there.
EXPERT TALKS AND PANEL DISCUSSIONS
World Oceans Day Panel Discussion
Physicist, Oceanographer, TV presenter and Royal Museums Greenwich Trustee Helen Czerski will host a discussion between four panellists, exploring our relationship with the ocean. Panellists include artist Dr Michael Pinsky, Laura Boon, Lloyd’s Register Foundation Public Curator: Contemporary Maritime at Royal Museums Greenwich, along with Professor Alex Rogers, Deep Sea ecologist and current Science Director of REV Ocean and Lisa Koperqualuk, Vice President of International Affairs for the Inuit Circumpolar Council Canada.
Ocean Conservation Q&A
In this video series, we aim quick fire questions at experts in ocean conservation. In this episode, we ask Dr Lucy Woodall, Senior Research Fellow, University of Oxford, what it is like to travel to the depths of the ocean in a submarine, all about the creatures that make the deep their home and the effects plastics are having on the ocean.
For more information, go to the Royal Museums Greenwich website
More ‘Docklands at War’ Photographs from the Museum of London Docklands
To commemorate VE Day on Friday 8 May, the Museum of London Docklands has released a number of images from its ‘Docklands at War’ gallery with additional exclusive content from the collection rarely on display.
Many of the photographs illustrate that the London docks and the riverside factories in the East End of London bore the brunt of enemy attack and were targeted by enemy aircraft, with over 25,000 German bombs falling on the Docklands over the course of the war.
Tin of dried eggs. Fresh eggs were rationed in World War II. Although many people kept chickens, eggs were in short supply for most Londoners. In May 1941 the first imported dried egg powder arrived from America. The initial allowance for a family was one packet, equivalent to twelve eggs, every eight weeks. This allowance later increased to a packet every four weeks. The Ministry of Food issued recipe leaflets instructing © Museum of London
The photographs also illustrates some of the stranger aspects of the war like powdered eggs and tinned whalemeat.
Part of a German bomb, dropped on London by German bombers during World War II. © Museum of London
Air Raid Precautions rattle. During World War II, Air Raid Precautions wardens were employed to help members of the public during bombing raids. During training, wardens were instructed on how to respond to a gas attack. If poisonous gas were released over London, wardens were told to sound a hand rattle to alert people to stay indoors or put on their gas masks. Fortunately London never did experience any enemy gas attacks during the war. © Museum of London
Superintendent’s Office, Royal Albert Dock, October 1938. Port of London Authority (PLA) buildings were reinforced with sandbags so they could be used as air-raid shelters. Photography: John H. Avery & Co © PLA Collection / Museum of London
The Prime Minister and Mrs Churchill, with the Flag Officer, London, and J Douglas Ritchie (on left), touring London’s dock in Sept 1940, seen with a group of auxiliary firemen © PLA Collection / Museum of London
Tin of whalemeat steak for use in casseroles. Produced by ‘Taistbest’ the tin contains 16 ounces of whalemeat. A blue and white paper label surrounding the tin describes the contents and gives details of the manufacture. Whale meat was one of many unfamiliar food products imported to the UK during World War II. The government encouraged housewives to use whale meat as a substitute for meat and fish, both of which were in short supply. This tin provides a ready-made casserole meal of whale meat, but the Ministry of Food also issued information on how to fry, stew and mince this unrationed food © Museum of London
Royal Docks air raid precautions. Completed concrete shelter covered with earth. Entrance shown on the right. An emergency exit was allowed for the left hand end. Date: 11/07/1939 © PLA Collection / Museum of London
Night Raid over London Docklands. This is a dramatic view of a night time raid on the city, during the Second World War, by Wimbledon-born ‘fireman artist’ Wilfred Stanley Haines. From Rotherhithe on the south bank, the scene looks towards Wapping and depicts parachute flares, deployed by German bombers, illuminating the sky. They fall towards the Wapping entrance of the London Docks, seen in the background on the far left, as searchlights criss-cross the night sky.
If you would like to see more photographs from the period, Con Maloney has made a wonderful video which uses images from the Island History Trust’s photographic collection. Many thanks to Debbie Levett from the FOIHT for sending the link, to watch press here
The video was made on behalf of the Massey Shaw Education Trust and Friends of Island History Trust to mark the 75th Anniversary of VE Day but to also recognise what we are going through today.
If you are interested in Docklands at War, you will find plenty of information and photographs at the Museum of London Docklands and their online collections.
‘Docklands at War’ Photographs from the Museum of London Docklands
The Docklands ablaze during the Blitz on 7th September 1940. The rising palls of smoke mark out the London Docks beyond the Tower of London, the Surrey Docks to the right of the bridge and the West India Docks on the Isle of Dogs in the distance. This image can be found on page 36 of the book London’s Changing Riverscape. © PLA Collection / Museum of London
To commemorate VE Day on Friday 8 May, the Museum of London Docklands has released a number of images from its ‘Docklands at War’ gallery with additional exclusive content from the collection rarely on display.
Many of the photographs illustrate that the London docks and the riverside factories in the East End of London bore the brunt of enemy attack and were targeted by enemy aircraft, with over 25,000 German bombs falling on the Docklands over the course of the war.
Bomb damage to London Dock. Shed, formerly Guiness’s on west side of eastern dock, looking north from the southend. Date of air raid: 8/12/1940 Date: 19/12/1940 Photography: John H Avery & Co © PLA Collection / Museum of London
The Nazi’s believed by destroying the docks, they could severely hamper local and national economy and weaken British war production.
By the end of World War II, the damage to the East End left much of the area in ruins. Tens of thousands of homes were uninhabitable, businesses were destroyed, and a third of the Port of London’s docks were decimated with West India Docks and St Katherine Docks suffering most of the damage.
St. Katharine Dock air raid damage. F warehouse including S end of ‘E’. From Marble Quay looking south east. 7th Sept 1940. “St Katharine Dock after air raid, September 1940. The damage occurred on Saturday 7 September 1940, the first attack on Docklands. The photographs were taken later as a technical record.” Photography: John H. Avery & Co © PLA Collection / Museum of London
The Prime Minister visits some of the thousands of British workers at East India Dock, 1944, engaged upon the construction of sections of the prefabricated ports. Two prefabricated ports, each as big as Gibralter, were manufactured in Britain in sections, towed across the channel, and set down off the coast of Normandy. The use of the prefabricated port greatly simplified the problem of supplying the Allied Armies in France. The dock was pumped dry to allow for the building of concrete ‘harbours’ that would be towed to France for ‘D Day’. © PLA Collection / Museum of London
Tanks arriving in the London Docks prior to embarkation for the D Day beaches, 1944 © PLA Collection / Museum of London
The crucial role of the dockers to the war effort brought some improvement in their working conditions, including the introduction of mobile canteens. Here the staff of the Port of London’s Mobile Canteen No 32 dispense tea to queuing dockers in 1942. © PLA Collection / Museum of London
West India Dock WWII concrete air raid shelter showing precast units being placed in position by crane. South of East Wood Wharf office. Date: 21/07/1939 © PLA Collection / Museum of London
Bomb damage to London Dock. Milk Yard Boundary Wall. South side of Shadwell Old Basin, looking east. Date of air raid 8-9/12/1940 Date: 19/12/1940 Photography: John H Avery & Co © PLA Collection / Museum of London
Bomb damage to London Dock. West End of Denmark Shed showing bulged quaywall of South Side of Western Dock. Date: 19/12/1940 Photography: John H Avery & Co © PLA Collection / Museum of London
River Emergency Services’ volunteers carrying bandages, and blankets and taking a break from their civil defence duties to pose for this photograph. © PLA Collection / Museum of London
The photographs are a reminder that in a crisis, normality goes out of the window and people come together to fulfil jobs that they not normally do. Although the present crisis is not the same as the horrors of the Second World War, there are similarities and we probably can now understand better the human costs of any kind of crisis.
If you are interested in Docklands at War, you will find plenty of information and photographs at the Museum of London Docklands and their online collections.
Isle of Dogs Life 