About the Exhibition
Intersecting Worlds of Climate Change: the Mangroves and Art brings together visual art and environmental science to confront one of the most urgent questions of our time: how do we live with climate change and still protect the ecosystems that protect us? The exhibition focuses on the mangroves of the Niger Delta—nature’s silent sentinels, whose dense roots and branches shield coastlines from storm surges, store immense amounts of carbon, and sustain a rich web of life. Yet these same mangroves sit on the frontline of rising seas, pollution, and human pressure. Their story is both resilience and risk, echoing our own uncertain future.
At the heart of the project is a body of paintings by Dr John Edwin DeBebs, inspired by the beauty and fragility of the mangrove forests. His canvases translate the science, tension, and urgency of the Niger Delta into colour, form, and gesture—inviting viewers to see nature not as background, but as a central actor in the drama of climate change.
My Role in the Project
As Chief Curator at Crimson Fusion Curators and a photographer with over four decades behind the camera, I was invited to bring the mangroves into this dialogue through my own lens. For this exhibition, 36 of my photographs of the Niger Delta mangrove forests were shown alongside DeBebs’s paintings. Each image was paired with a short line of text—part poem, part echo—responding to the painter’s voice.
Together, the paintings and photographs form a double narrative: one rooted in brushstrokes and colour, the other in light, water, and the quiet geometry of roots. Curating this intersection of art, science, and activism is part of my ongoing work: using visual storytelling to turn distant data into something personal, visible, and hard to ignore.
Why Mangroves? Why Now?
Mangroves are natural infrastructure, climate guardians, and archives of time. They store carbon, slow waves, and hold coastlines in place, even as the climate crisis threatens to unmake them. This project treats climate change not just as a scientific or policy issue, but as a human story. The artworks ask viewers to sit with difficult questions about protection, vulnerability, and our collective responsibility.
Collaboration & Partners
This exhibition was made possible through a collaboration between the National Gallery of Art, Crimson Fusion Curators, and the National Council for Climate Change, with the support of the Oando (O&O) family and our scientific partners. Their trust created a space where art, environment, and climate science could speak to each other—and to the public—in a new way.
