Call for Artists: Remembrance Day for Lost Species ** 30 Nov 2016 ** ONCA
Three species are lost to eternity every hour. November 30th is a chance to learn and tell their stories, and to renew commitments to those remaining. At a time of heightened awareness of the dangers of fragmentation and isolation politically and ecologically, the focus of RDLS 2016 will be on two particular extinction stories that relate to the theme of islands and seas:
- The 80th anniversary of the extinction of the thylacine (aka the Tasmanian Tiger) on September 7th 1936. This was a top predator, wiped out by hunting and habitat destruction in the twentieth century. The thylacine’s story is largely forgotten, along with the stories of indigenous Tasmanian people. Tasmania is an island close to Australia. Island species are vulnerable because they often have small population sizes, are highly specialised and cannot escape from introduced threats.
- May 2016 saw the announcement of the extinction, due to sea level rise, of the Bramble Cay melomys – a small rat-like creature which lived on a low-lying coral cay on Australia’s Great Barrier Reef. It is the first mammal to officially disappear forever due to anthropogenic climate change and the harbinger of many more to follow. The situation for the Great Barrier Reef is increasingly grave as ocean temperatures rise and acidify.
Artist Ben Macfadyen makes thylacine marionette, 2011
ONCA is hosting extinction-themed blog posts in the run-up to Remembrance Day for Lost Species, November 30th. We seek contributions for the blog in any medium, and stories to share online. We welcome extinction-related visual art, creative writing, historical accounts and artefacts to share through our website, social media channels and partner projects’ channels. We are also calling for artists, companies, schools and communities to hold memorial events around November 30th 2016. These could take the form of processions, ‘funerals’, or other participatory events marking the extinction of the thylacine, the Bramble Cay melomys, or focusing on any lost or disappearing species or place you wish to. Please contact persephone@onca.org.uk ASAP with proposals for the blog, or at any time to let us know about events you are planning.
Source: Remembrance Day for Lost Species – call for artists and partners | ONCA
Sussex ArtBeat 
Great wonderful initiative!! …A pity i missed the date, am working currently on a project with similar aims… Many greets from Berlin/Luiza