Uplifting stories for Norfolk and Suffolk
Can the Seas Survive Us? Exhibition – Sainsbury Centre, Norwich
March 15 - October 26
The Sainsbury Centre continues its series of investigative exhibitions in 2025 with a new programme which charts a course through the story of the world’s oceans and the precarious future they may be heading towards.
Featuring contemporary art, historical paintings, ancient atlases and maps from across the globe, the season explores humanity’s enduring and complex relationship with the sea.
Three concurrent exhibitions explore Can the Seas Survive Us?, examining the choices shaping our future due to climate change, while emphasising the vital importance of the oceans and the life beneath the waves for the viability of our shared future.
- A World of Water, 15 March – 3 August 2025
- Darwin in Paradise Camp: Yuki Kihara, 15 March 2025 – 3 August 2025
- Sea Inside, 7 June – 26 October 2025
A World of Water features many local connections. These include:
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Norwich School painters including George Vincent, John Crome and Robert Ladbrooke.
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Local scenes depicted by J.M.W. Turner.
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Many artists with local links to Norfolk and Suffolk, including Maggi Hambling.
As sea levels rise, oceans are also warming, becoming more acidic and containing less oxygen. The United Nations describe the oceans as “overwhelmed” as humans overfish, pollute, and destroy habitats, with the ocean’s health declining at an “alarming rate”.
Maggi Hambling, Erosion, 2022, oil on Canvas. Copyright Maggi Hambling
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