We Hear You —A Climate Archive Launches, Publishing 77 Leading Youth Voices on Climate
COMMISSIONED STORIES FEATURED IN ONGOING SERIES OF INTERNATIONAL PERFORMANCES
Contact: justine.bowe@georgetown.edu
We Hear You—A Climate Archive is a global storytelling and performance project exploring youth perspectives on the climate emergency.
Washington, DC, September 26, 2023—We Hear You—A Climate Archive announces the launch of a digital archive of stories by leading youth voices on climate.
Between March 2022 and June 2023, 77 young people from around the world came together virtually to share stories about what it’s like to be alive at this pivotal moment in the earth’s long history. The 77 commissioned storytellers shared their stories with one another through a series of intimate, online story sessions led by the project’s creative team. Following online publication, the stories will be amplified through a global series of performance events, including a world-premiere production at Dramaten (The Royal Dramatic Theatre of Sweden) in April 2024.
“The stories offer a powerful window into how young people today feel about the climate crisis. The texts narrate activism, but also moments of doubt,” says Jacob Hirdwall, who will direct the world-premiere at Dramaten. “The project has convened storytellers who might not otherwise have crossed paths, enabling them to forge new connections. These relationships are one of the most exciting outcomes of this project.”
The project’s 77 storytellers are students, activists, water protectors, wisdom-keepers, climate refugees, journalists, biologists, researchers, performance artists, and peacemakers. They hail from over 40 countries and a diverse set of ecosystems, or biomes. The majority identify as MAPA (most affected people and areas). Among them are founding members of Youth for Climate, This is Zero Hour, Care About Climate, and Fridays for Future Pakistan, Ukraine, USA, and Zambia; National Coordinators for Extinction Rebellion Indonesia and the UK; the Environment Youth Ambassador to Tanzania; the youngest candidate to run for office in Kenya’s Parliament on a green platform; and a nine-year-old Sámi yoik artist named Ida. In celebration of the launch, Ida will share a climate yoik that she and her father Ola Stinnerbom recorded to honor the digital publication of the archive.
Project director Caitlin Nasema Cassidy says, “The publication of these stories represents the work of many people over many years. I hope that you will read and reread these tales, which are powerful totems of our warming world. I also hope that many artists around the world will be inspired to draw on these stories as primary source texts for performance. Write to us at aclimatearchive@gmail.com if this sounds like you!”
Explore the stories now at aclimatearchive.com.
ABOUT THE PROJECT
Inspired by Greta Thunberg’s urgent question “Can you hear me?,” We Hear You—A Climate Archive seeks to amplify—and to record for future generations—the ways that today’s young people are experiencing changes in the fundamental forces of the earth. We Hear You—A Climate Archive will include a two-year series of curated international performances and the launch of a digital collection of climate stories. In addition to these public programs, the project will also include curricular engagement with students at Georgetown University and beyond.
We Hear You—A Climate Archive is a collaboration between Dramaten (The Royal Dramatic Theatre of Sweden), The Earth Commons—Georgetown University’s Institute for Environment and Sustainability, The Embassy of Sweden in Washington, DC, and The Laboratory for Global Performance and Politics. We Hear You—A Climate Archive is co-conceived by Caitlin Nasema Cassidy and Jacob Hirdwall. Additional support for this project is provided by the Swedish Arts Council and Barbro Osher Pro Suecia Foundation.
The creative team for We Hear You—A Climate Archive includes Wijdan Al-Khateeb (Producer), Caitlin Nasema Cassidy (Project Director), Robert Duffley (Dramaturg), Jacob Hirdwall (Director and Playwright), Swedian Lie & Zero One Group (Web Designers), and Afsoon Pajoufar (Stage Designer).
We Hear You—A Climate Archive grows from the performance We Hear You—Greta Thunbergs tal, originally presented at Sweden’s Royal Dramatic Theatre in Stockholm on January 31, 2020. Staged by Jacob Hirdwall and Ada Berger, this performance drew on the texts of Greta’s speeches collected in No One Is Too Small To Make a Difference (Penguin, 2019).