A digital artwork that explores the hidden world beneath the waves of the Atlantic Ocean has been commissioned by international media arts organisation York Mediale and media arts festival Abandon Normal Devices. The piece will appear at the 34th edition of the prestigious International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA) from Wednesday 17 – Sunday 28 November. 

‘One-Fifth of the Earth’s Surface’ by Zimbabwean architect Maxwell Mutanda and Ghanaian digital artist Hakeem Adam is an online voyage of discovery that uncovers the Atlantic Ocean as an evolving and dynamic archive. Available to dive into online until May 2022, the web experience offers the chance for audiences to navigate the ports and rivers, data cable maps and routes under the sea to explore the history and importance of the Ocean that covers a fifth of the world.

The artwork is presented as an audio-visual landscape at www.onefifth.digital. It features a wealth of interactive collages and narratives to explore, weaving a series of digitised maps and sound recordings from the collections of the British Library, audio clips recorded in locations across the Atlantic, readings of poetry and literature, and accounts of the Atlantic Slave Trade. 

It also features maps of hidden layers and landscapes of the ocean, such as canals, dams and the routes of transcontinental data cables, which link countries and continents together today. 

The artwork will appear at IDFA as part of the festival’s Liminal Reality exhibition, a series of interactive artworks and VR installations, and is also one of ten projects selected for the IDFA DocLab Competition for Digital Storytelling, which celebrates the different ways we can create stories and what those stories can tell us about our current reality. Artist Hakeem Adam will also speak about the piece at the festival’s DocLab conference, which features artist talks and performances about the structures that control our lives, from climate to colonialism.  
 
 

Hakeem Adam, artist, says:  

“Maxwell and I wanted to create an online experience which is as fluid as the Atlantic itself. We deliberately haven’t told audiences exactly what they have to do when they visit the website; they need to go on their own journey and discover all of the hidden content for themselves. We wanted to show that digital art can be as creative as art on the walls of a gallery or in a physical exhibition.” 
 
 

Maxwell Mutanda, artist, says: 

“Delving into the history of the Atlantic Ocean has been fascinating, and at times challenging. We’re all shaped by the history of the Atlantic – you can still see the legacy of colonial powers at play in place names across the world’s maps, and even through the routes of our data cables on the ocean floor today.” 

 
Maxwell and Hakeem were selected for this commission through a competition open to participants who had taken part in the British Council’s ColabNowNow programme between 2017 and 2019. The competition aimed to offer an international opportunity for African artists, whilst building the first co-commission for York Mediale and Abandon Normal Devices. The two organisations set a theme of water for eligible practitioners to propose a new collaborative project which could speak to the Rivers Foss and Ouse in York, and Abandon Normal Devices’ base near the River Mersey and Manchester Ship Canal. 

Tom Higham, Creative Director of York Mediale, comments:  

“Commissioning new work and working closely with artists, like minded organisations and original events is what makes our work special. We’ve been building relationships with artists like Hakeem and Maxwell for years and it’s through a shared challenge, a desire to push boundaries and examine closely what we can develop together that we are able to create internationally significant and dynamic work.” 

An independent arts charity, York Mediale was originally founded in 2016 to celebrate the designation of York as the UK’s first and only UNESCO Creative City of Media Arts. Since then, the team have delivered a biennial festival in the city, giving a platform to some of the biggest names currently producing media art as well as working closely with new and emerging artists. Over the last 18 challenging months, the team have shifted towards a model they believe can thrive and flourish for the long term. 

‘One-Fifth of the Earth’s Surface’ is part of York Mediale’s ambitious 2021 programme which includes commissions from across the world, from ‘People We Love’ in York Minster and ‘Absent Sitter’ at Ars Electronica in Austria, to ‘Immersive Assembly’, a new online residency for digital artists spanning six countries across the globe. 

‘One-Fifth of the Earth’s Surface’ is supported using public funding from Arts Council England and The British Council.