- Title
- Our Ocean Is Sacred, You Can't Mine Heaven
- Creator
- McGarry, Dylan K, McConnachie, Boudina E
- Subject
- To be catalogued
- Date
- 2025
- Type
- text
- Type
- book chapter
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/10962/480205
- Identifier
- vital:78406
- Identifier
- ISBN 9781003381846
- Identifier
- https://doi.org/10.4324/978100338184
- Description
- ‘Our Ocean Is Sacred, You Can’t Mine Heaven’ was a ground-breaking South African public storytelling initiative that not only emphasised the intrinsic and cultural value of the ocean but also served as a living-customary lore/law classroom. This exhibition challenged conventional archiving, promoting diversity, sovereignty and evolving ‘meaning-making,’ fostering inclusivity and justice-oriented documentation in ocean knowledge. The authors worked alongside Indigenous coastal communities and Small-Scale Fishers (SSF), who were aligned with movements defending the ocean against unchecked Blue Economy expansion in South Africa. The chapter delves into how artist-led practices, strategically embedded with legal research, played a pivotal role in a recent court ruling favouring Indigenous and SSF applicants. This victory renewed attention on ocean heritages in legal processes, highlighting the potential for expanding evidence ‘an-archives.’ The collaboration with coastal communities and SSF against unbridled ocean development used art to secure a court win, reshaping South African law and challenging norms in ocean development. This chapter explores art’s role in legal innovation, contributing to the ongoing struggle for justice and the decolonisation of blue economy narratives and processes in South Africa.
- Format
- 16 pages, pdf
- Publisher
- Taylor and Francis
- Language
- English
- Relation
- McGarry, D. and McConnachie, B., 2025. Our Ocean Is Sacred, You Can't Mine Heaven. In Arts-based Research in Global Development (pp. 119-134). Routledge
- Rights
- Authors
- Rights
- Use of this resource is governed by the terms and conditions of the Taylor and Francis Online Terms and Conditions Statement (https://www.tandfonline.com/terms-and-conditions)
- Hits: 16
- Visitors: 16
- Downloads: 2
Collections
RU Books and Book Chapters
SDG 12. Responsible Consumption and Production
SDG 17. Partnerships for the Goals
McConnachie, Boudina Elizabeth (Associate Prof)
McGarry, Dylan Kenneth (Dr)
RU Department of Music & Musicology
SDG 14. Life Below Water
| Thumbnail | File | Description | Size | Format | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| View Details | SOURCE1 | Our Ocean Is Sacred, You Can't Mine Heaven.pdf | 690 KB | Adobe Acrobat PDF | View Details |