Every day, thousands of tonnes of oil are transported by huge vessels off the coasts of Ouessant in Brittany, where the turbulent currents of the Atlantic meet those of the Channel – a place well known by sailors as the busiest maritime route in the world, in spite of its extreme conditions. Each winter, the ocean’s fury is played out in the Atlantic. The wind blows wildly, the sea rages and the rocks are like teeth ready to bite. In these stormy conditions, each ship transporting oil represents a threat to the rich ecosystems and to local fauna. In 1979, the little village of Portsall experienced one of the biggest oil spills in history, when the oil tanker Amoco Cadiz sank, pouring 230,000 tonnes of crude oil onto the coast, leaving all the beaches, shores and creeks for 300 km around covered in toxic, sticky, black oil. It took 40,000 professionals and volunteers six months to clean up the coastline and it was over seven years before the local marine species of flora and fauna had completely re-established themselves. Following this ecological tragedy, the French Navy brought into service the Abeille Flandre, an 80-metre long ship for emergency towing at sea, designed to prevent human and environmental disasters. With a crew of twelve sailors, commonly known as «Storm Hunters», this French rescue tugboat can cope with the most violent of waves to save ships in difficulty. Thanks to these brave men prepared to face the wrath of the sea, there have been no further maritime tragedies in the region ever since then.

Taking its title therefore from the brave sailors navigating the stormy waters of the ocean to prevent human and ecological disasters, Storm Hunters is a collective exhibition tackling the environmental problems of the coastal regions, such as plastic and oil pollution. The exhibition reflects various aspects of climate change caused by human activity and of the wider impacts of humans on the natural habitats of the sea and the coast. Bringing together new and existing works by Paulo Arraiano, Rebecca Brueder, Josèfa Ntjam and Pedro Valdez Cardoso, the exhibition references various contemporary concerns such as globalisation, pollution and the repositioning of matter as a by-product of the colonial era. By using the prism of the ocean as a living being, Storm Hunters offers an exploration of different ways of engaging with the oceans and with aquatic intelligence by embodying oceanic feeling and thinking.