‘While not all are affected equally… in the climate emergency no-one is safe, whether they live on a small island nation like mine or a developed Western European state.’

Mohamed Nasheed, former president of the Maldives

The stunning IPCC climate reports have revealed that there is indeed nowhere in the world that will escape the consequences of climate change, whether it’s more and hotter heatwaves, more and longer droughts, more and increasingly powerful hurricanes or more and heavier precipitation. Every part of the world is reporting at least one of these trends, or otherwise a combination. And these trends will become even more intense as the years pass. That is one of the key conclusions of the United Nations climate panel. 

At a time when our world faces great changes and challenges, Het Scheepvaartmuseum seizes (maritime) developments from the past, present and future to stimulate dialogue on current issues. Originating from the museum's mission to create connections based on our passion for and historical relationship with 'the water', we see it as our task to draw our public's attention to the climate crisis. Thus was born our collaboration with award-winning photographer Kadir van Lohuizen. Van Lohuizen has captured conflicts and injustices around the world, ranging from migration, waste management, the diamond industry and food production, to one of the biggest issues facing the world today: rising sea levels. 

Rising Tide is a touring exhibition that showcases the consequences of rising sea levels for various populations. The show goes further than illustrating one of the most pressing challenges the world has ever witnessed, it is also testimony humanity’s resilience. Rising Tide offers a vivid visual illustration of the way the climate crisis is already influencing places like Greenland, Kiribati, Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Bangladesh, Panama, Jakarta, the Marshall Islands, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and the United States.  

Coupled with our own ambition to be operating eco-positively by 2030, in 2021 we began examining how to make a (touring) exhibition sustainable, taking Rising Tide as our subject. As a museum, we want to take responsibility for the planet and to examine in innovative ways what that means for the museum as an institution. It all comes together in this Atlas, which we are proud to present to the sector and which we above all hope will stimulate further sustainability in the museum world.  

On behalf of the National Maritime Museum,
Michael Huijser
Director