Map to Paradise (Australia, 2018, Danielle Ryan, James Sherwood)

This event is part of the 2019 Cleveland Humanities Festival: Nature.

If a ‘Map to Paradise’ existed, what would this map look like?

Come on a journey to discover what underwater paradise might look like and see that dreams do come true. Through a collection of character-driven sea tales, the birth of the global movement to protect the sea will unfold as a long and arduous quest. Travel from the underwater lands of ice and corals to the headquarters of the United Nations to be inspired by diverse ways of saving the sea from perils that threaten life itself. Finding paradise rests upon the dreams of individuals and nations, such as the likes of a prince, a president, a pirate and an island chief, who will show the world the magic of what a bountiful underwater paradise means for humankind.

On this journey, you will visit the old wealthy fishing ports of Europe and some remote islands in Asia where an old chief sets sail to spread the knowledge of what a new world might look like, while a president shares a telling tale about a mermaid legend and you’ll meet a fisherman from a sleepy fishing village of Greece, who laments that he is the last generation of fishermen – as he says there are no fish left to fish. Meanwhile, in his neighbouring country of Italy, lives a scientist, who dreams big and beyond his time. He meets a prince, who helps him on his quest to save the ocean, while a marine biologist studying whales in Antarctica learns how to step outside of the world of science to do everything in his power to change the fate of our dying underwater world, to turn it back into a brilliant underwater paradise like it once was.

Saving our ancient oceans and rediscovering the paradise humans once enjoyed is possible, but we must move quickly to enshrine the world’s big blue map.

Official Site: https://www.themaptoparadise.com/