Dippy About Nature - Combining Dinosaurs With Climate Activism

A guest post by Izzy McLeod

I've been a lifelong fan of dinosaurs, as a toddler I'd request a whole dinosaur book be read to me every night before bed.  So I was pretty sad when The Natural History Museum in London said goodbye to Dippy the Diplodocus in exchange for a whale (whales are cool, but they're not quite dinosaurs). But soon the news that Dippy was on tour was out and he was coming to Cardiff just as I was also returning, I had to go and see him, and a few weeks ago I did!

So I was already at National Museum Cardiff, Dippy was there, life was good. But then I found the Dippy About Nature exhibition which mixed dinosaurs with climate activism. It was like two of my favourite worlds had collided in the best way. So I am here to introduce you to that exhibition and why it was so amazing!

With prehistoric displays made of recycled clothing, it was like someone had taken interests out of my brain and slapped them together into an excellent exhibition. Plus there was information on how to ditch fast fashion and cut carbon emissions.

I'm well aware this exhibition was not made for me, but it really felt like it was. I don't think I've seen anything more me in my life. Dinosaurs and activism? Yes please!

There were several displays of different aspects of the era of dinosaurs, all made from recycled clothing and depicting scenes like the K-T mass extinction, and watery scenes with facts about ocean pollution from the fashion industry and it just worked so well!

There was also more of a kids' section with drawing activities and an interactive learning section.

Asking questions like:

What percentage of global carbon emissions come from the fashion industry?

How can we change our fashion habits?

What changes can we make in our diet to reduce carbon emissions?

How much rubbish to we produce in the UK each year?

What else can we do?

With pictures of dinosaurs recycling! I am a fan.

Though this exhibition is small, it makes an impact, and I think it does a really good job of getting involved and interacting with fashion and climate activism whilst also keeping it involved and relevant to the rest of the museum (plus it was kid friendly).

I'm also happy to say that now this exhibition has ended, the activism continues in the museum, as National Museum Cardiff have now set aside a space in the museum specifically for activism, which I think is an amazing idea. It's a part of the Kick the Dust project and if you're a youth then you can get involved with the museum's Youth Forum and have a say about what they put on there (which I may well join!).

This was quite a quick rave review, but yes, this is activist exhibitions done right, in my opinion. Have you been to the exhibition? Let me know what you think! Any other activist exhibitions you recommend?

Find more of Izzy's writing at The Quirky Environmentalist.