The Art of Climate Resilience with Kathy Jetn̄il-Kijiner

3803 Locust Walk,Philadelphia PA 19104

21 April, 2022

Description

Acclaimed Marshallese activist and artist Kathy Jetn̄il-Kijiner will feature in the final event of our 2022 Global Shifts Colloquium. Jetn̄il-Kijiner is renowned for writing and performing poetry that raises awareness of her people, their way of life, and now, their plight. At approximately seven feet above sea level at its highest point, her country - the Republic of the Marshall Islands – is one of the world's most vulnerable to climate change. A Climate Envoy for the Marshall Islands Ministry of Environment, Jetn̄il-Kijiner's art speaks to the resilience, needs, and demands of the Marshallese. In a piece written for her infant daughter, "Dear Matafele Peinem," she asserts, “We deserve to do more than just survive. We deserve to thrive.” Join us for a conversation that gets to the heart of Jetn̄il-Kijiner's poetry – a culture born from and tied to an ocean that may very soon drown it; and a people who do not want to leave their home. How will the Marshallese face down an existential threat of sea level rise? What role can art and poetry play in this fight? Can culture be the force that keeps a people together, even if their lands are lost? Details of how to take part virtually can be found in your order confirmation email. SPEAKERKathy Jetn̄il-Kijiner is a Marshallese poet, performance artist, and educator. Since 2019, she has served as a Climate Envoy for the Marshall Islands Ministry of Environment. She received international acclaim through her poetry performance at the opening of the United Nations Climate Summit in New York in 2014. Her writing and performances have been featured by CNN, Democracy Now, The Huffington Post, NBC News, National Geographic, and more. In February 2017, the University of Arizona Press published her first collection of poetry, Iep Jāltok: Poems from a Marshallese Daughter. Jetn̄il-Kijiner also co-founded the youth environmentalist non-profit Jo-Jikum, dedicated to empowering Marshallese youth to seek solutions to climate change and other environmental impacts threatening their home island. She was selected as one of 13 Climate Warriors by Vogue in 2015 and the Impact Hero of the Year by Earth Company in 2016. She received her Master’s in Pacific Island Studies from the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa.