2008 Disko Bay Expedition

Exploring the spectacular Disko Bay with a crew dominated by an international array of musicians including Laurie Anderson, Jarvis Cocker, Ryuichi Sakamoto and Feist.

group in Arctic clothing gather in front of a glacier

man in black stands in front of a glacier

25 September–6 October 2008
Exploring the spectacular Disko Bay, Greenland
With a crew dominated by an international array of musicians

Musicians Laurie Anderson, Vanessa Carlton, Jarvis Cocker, Feist, Robyn Hitchcock, Ryuichi Sakamoto, KT Tunstall, Martha Wainwright, Luke Bullen, Beatboxer Shlomo, Composer Jonathan Dove, Comedian Marcus Brigstocke, theatre makers Mojisola Adebayo, Suzan-Lori Parks, artists Kathy Barber, David Buckland, Sophie Calle, Sam Collins, Jude Kelly, Michèle Noach, Tracey Rowledge, Julian Stair, Chris Wainwright, architects Francesca Galeazzi, Sunand Prasad, poet Lemn Sissay, photographer Nathan Gallagher, BBC presenter Quentin Cooper, Joe Smith from the Open University, activist David Noble, media executive Lori Majewski and film director Peter Gilbert join oceanographers Simon Boxall, Emily Venables and geoscientist Carol Cotterill for a journey to the Arctic and the frontline of climate change.

The ambition of Cape Farewell’s seventh expedition is to inspire the creative team to respond to climate change both in the Arctic and on their return. In September 2008 these artists, scientists, architects, comedians, musicians, playwrights, composers, engineers, film-makers and journalists journey aboard the science research vessel – Grigory Mikheev, from Kangerlussuaq to Disko Bay. The boat will then voyage across the front of the Jakobshavn Glacier, one of Greenland’s largest glaciers moving at a faster rate than ever before, losing 20 million tons of ice every day.

Explore the blog

Journey with us as we navigate the extraordinary Disko Bay, in the blog broadcast direct from the deck of the boat

Meet the crew

40 artists, musicians, scientists, architects, comedians, playwrights, composers, engineers, film-makers and journalists

The 2008 expedition will build on the important scientific and artistic research begun in 2007. In 2008, scientists from the National Oceanography Centre and the British Geological Survey will concentrate on the West coast of Greenland to further explore the continuing northern ice melt. Dr Simon Boxall will measure the ocean tract across the Labrador Current (for direct comparison with the 160 mile ocean tract measured in 2007) Meanwhile, Dr Carol Cotterill will carry out extensive sequence stratigraphy analysis below the seabed to gain further insight into past climates, changes in sea level and the speed in which these changes can occur.

During the voyage we brushed aside snow and broke out our portable satellite gear to broadcast direct from the deck of the boat. Follow the expedition blog and journey with us as we navigate the extraordinary Disko Bay.

Visit the expedition blog

Supported by Arts Council England, RSA: Arts and Ecology, Crafts Council, Collecte Localisation Satellites (CLS), National Oceanography Centre Southampton, British Geological Survey and The Scottish Association for Marine Science (SAMS).