Pollution Pods on Brownsea Island

About Us

Pollution Pods will be on Brownsea Island from Friday 25 to Tuesday 29 October in a collaboration between Activate, producers of Inside Out Dorset, the county’s biennial outdoor arts festival, and Cape Farewell, the artist-led organisation that uses culture to change how people think about climate change, and is hosted by the National Trust. 

“This art installation raises very important and pertinent questions about our climate and to be able to present it in such an iconic natural location as Brownsea Island offers a place where we can think about our impact locally and globally,” says Kate Wood, Executive & Artistic Director of Activate. “We are very pleased the National Trust is welcoming us and that the Arts University Bournemouth and local schools are engaging students in the project.” 

Each dome contains a carefully mixed recipe that safely emulates the excessive quantities of ozone, particulate matter, nitrogen dioxide, sulphur dioxide and carbon monoxide that pollute these cities. As visitors pass through the five cells, moving from dry and cold locations to hot and humid, for a few minutes at a time they experience, at no risk to their health, the sensation of breathing toxic air that is a daily reality for millions of people.  

Pollution Pods on Brownsea Island has been part-funded by Dorset Council and supported by the Cultural Hub, and an Education Day on 25 October supported and run by scientists from the Medical Research Council Centre for Environment and Health at Kings College London when 60 local school children will discuss environmental issues and actions to end climate change. Students from Arts University Bournemouth, which has also part-funded the installation, will undertake a number of projects inspired by Pollution Pods.   

10am – 4.30pm. Free (ferry fare and National Trust admission charges apply)

Climate in Crisis – Can Art Inspire Action?

As part of the project ‘Climate In Crisis’, a specially convened panel discussion at Lighthouse, Poole’s centre for the arts, will address the question: Can Art Inspire Action? Chaired by Alice Stevens, senior lecturer at Arts University Bournemouth and founder of AUB Human – a space where creative practitioners who share a desire to bring about positive change for global good can connect – the speakers include artist Michael Pinsky and Molly Scott Cato, Green MEP for South West of England and Gibraltar.

This will take place on Saturday 26 October at Lighthouse Poole and is free (spaces are limited so booking essential at www.activateperformingarts.org.uk).  Arrive from 6pm, panel discussion 6.30-8pm, followed by informal networking 8.15-9.15pm.