Artists Fight To Keep Sharks Out of the Soup

Until recently sharks have been the subject of almost universal fear and suspicion. But years of overfishing have turned the tables on the sea’s ultimate hunters and numbers are falling. Now artists are using their talents to highlight a barbaric practice hastening the shark’s demise.

International non-profit organisation PangeaSeed this year organised a tour of internationally famous artists and filmmakers to raise awareness of ‘finning’, which sees fins cut from live sharks to make the Chinese delicacy shark’s fin soup. The sharks are returned to the sea to drown.

‘Every piece shares a common theme, the beauty of sharks and the dire threats to their survival,’ says PangeaSeed’s managing director, Tre’ Packard.

Cinzah was inspired and moved in equal measure to be included in the exhibition. ‘I was so pleased to be included in an amazing lineup of artists, including many I have idolised since becoming involved in the art scene,’ says Cinzah. ‘More importantly, it’s to help support such a incredibly important cause.’

The tour of six west coast cities features the work of more than 100 artists and 25 filmmakers, including Dave Kinsey, Sylvia Ji, Greg Simkins, Flick Ford and Kelly Allen, and others premiering their work in the US. It began in mid-July in Seattle, then headed south, stopping in Portland, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Costa Mesa and San Diego, where it ends in mid-August. A percentage of the proceeds will go towards setting up a PangeaSeed chapter on the US west coast.