Greenpeace has released images from the Rena Ghost Birds Exhibit - Oil on Canvas as well as sending out an email about the event including a graphic video of the devastation that the oil leak caused.
The oil prints featured in this exhibition were made with birds killed by the Rena oil spill. They are just two of an estimated 20,000 birds killed after the shipwrecked Rena spilled 350 tonnes of oil into the Bay of Plenty.
Here are the photos of Lucy attending. Click here to view images
Last night (12 December 2011) we opened an art exhibition called Oil On Canvas.
The collection consists of over 200 original oil prints made with two dead birds dipped in the oil that killed them in the Rena oil spill.
Each image alone is both beautiful and tragic but seen as a collection the effect is really quite profound.
Like a countless assembly of small ghostly shadows silently urging us to do better.
I hope these art works can serve both as a stark reminder of the devastation an oil spill can cause, and as a memorial to the 20,000 birds and animals killed by the Rena oil. And also as a warning against risking a much greater disaster in the future. A Deep sea oil drilling accident could be a thousand times worse than the Rena.
When the Rena oil spill hit the Bay of Plenty, I went there as part of the Greenpeace clean-up crew. It was heartbreaking to see the impact the spill had on our beautiful beaches, the bird life and the communities that live in the Bay of Plenty environment. It's something I'll never forget.
The exhibition is open all week at number 2 Queen St so if you?re in Auckland you can see the original prints and the amazing video that goes with them. If you're not in Auckland you can see it online. The video is graphic but also very beautiful and moving. We are very grateful to Radiohead who supported this campaign by letting us use one of their songs in the video.
Please watch the video, leave a comment on the page and share it with your circle of contacts.
We must make sure that an oil spill like the Deepwater Horizon can never happen in New Zealand.
Ka kite,
Steve and the crew at Greenpeace
Where can you see the exhibit if you are in Auckland?
Where: 2 Queen St (corner of Quay St & Queen St) opposite Ferry Buildings
When: 12th - 16th December
More info: 0800 22-33-44