Kathy Jetñil-Kijiner

Land is supposed to be the embodiment of permanence, but what happens when it's not? What is life like when the nation you live in has an expiration date?

Acclaimed poet and activist, Kathy Jetñil-Kijiner, explores the nuclear testing legacy of the Marshall Islands through the legends and stories of Runit Island.

The original proposal for the installation was entitled, “Islands Dropped from a Basket.” This was taken out of a line from my poem, “Tell Them” which we were going to use originally for the video installation. Instead, I decided to write something new to respond to my fears about Trump, the resentment I have about our numerous issues with accessing health care in the US, and link it all to a legend about a giant who dropped islands from his basket. --Kathy Jetnil-Kijiner

A poetic expedition between two Indigenous islanders, one from the Marshall Islands and one from Greenland, connecting their realities of melting glaciers and rising sea levels. Kathy Jetñil-Kijiner and Aka Niviâna use their poetry to showcase the linkages between their homelands in the face of climate change. Through this video we get a glimpse at how large, and yet so small and interdependent our world is.

Acclaimed poet and activist, Kathy Jetñil-Kijiner, explores the nuclear testing legacy of the Marshall Islands through the legends and stories of Runit Island.

The original proposal for the installation was entitled, “Islands Dropped from a Basket.” This was taken out of a line from my poem, “Tell Them” which we were going to use originally for the video installation. Instead, I decided to write something new to respond to my fears about Trump, the resentment I have about our numerous issues with accessing health care in the US, and link it all to a legend about a giant who dropped islands from his basket. --Kathy Jetnil-Kijiner