Howard E. Woodin Environmental Studies Colloquium Series: Climate Change: Our Response as Artists

This panel discussion features performing artists from Small Island Big Song to discuss the impacts of climate change and explore how the arts can influence our relationship with the environment. Small Island Big Song is a collaborative multi-platform project uniting indigenous musicians across the Pacific and Indian Oceans through song in the face of climate change and cultural loss.

Moderator: BaoBao Chen (Taiwan), Producer/Manager, Small Island Big Song
Having produced and managed Small Island Big Song’s two multimedia concert productions, two award-winning albums, documentary, as well as curating world tours across 18 countries in Europe, the USA, Asia and Oceania, BaoBao is one of Taiwan’s most prominent producers of cross-cultural arts projects and an ISPA (International Society for the Performing Arts) fellow 2023-25. A vivid storyteller and fluent in English and Mandarin, she has a social media following of 130K+, and has been invited to speak at TEDx, WOMEX, APAP NYC, Stanford Live, and numerous arts festivals.

Panel Participants and members of the Small Island Big Song team :

Mea Joy Ingram (Motu heritage, Papua New Guinea & Australia)
Mea comes from a long line of drummers and dancers. She was taught by her father, master percussionist Airileke Ingram in the tradition of Manus Garamut, Cook Island Pate, and Gabagaba Motu Mavaru. The Garamut drumming of PNG was traditionally an artform dominated by men, however Mea, having just turned 18, represents the new generation of female log drummers emerging from Oceania.

Aremistic (Tahitian heritage, Tahiti (French Polynesia))
Like the lively uplifting Tahitian rhythm he was named after, Aremistic’s music could have only come from one island, Tahiti. A natural fusion of the island’s cultural mix grounded in his Tahitian heritage, Aremistic’s songs and performances integrate traditional Polynesian instruments and rhythms with reggae, hip-hop, rock, folk and pop sensibilities, often sung in Tahitian, French & English in one song. His recent performances at Aotearoa/New Zealand’s ‘Pasifika festival’ and in Europe and the USA expanded his reputation as a voice for the Pacific Ocean.

Tim Cole (Australia), Director/Music producer/Filmmaker
Cole is an Australian music producer and filmmaker who’s passionate about cross-cultural arts projects. He has produced numerous albums, films and concerts for Australian aboriginal, Torres Strait islander and Pacifica artists including Archie Roach, Telek, and Shellie Morris. He has also toured internationally with Circus Oz for 8 years as theater and sound designer with seasons on Broadway NYC & West End London. He was a senior music producer at CAAMA - Central Australian Aboriginal Media Association before beginning Small Island Big Song. Cole has received a Churchill fellowship and invitations to speak at the United Nations HQ, APAP NYC, and WOMEX.