Avant-garde singer Anohni Hegarty prepares for a profound journey to the Great Barrier Reef, comparing her upcoming trip to visiting Auschwitz. "I'm excited yet terrified," she admits, knowing she will witness both beauty and loss at this ecological treasure.

Destination: Lizard Island, a stunning paradise off the coast of Australia, where Anohni will document the dire state of the reef. This natural wonder, home to a multitude of marine species and vital to our atmosphere, has endured six devastating coral bleaching events in less than a decade, triggered by alarming marine heatwaves.

The Ocean's Lungs Are in Distress

With reefs supporting a third of all marine life and crucial for carbon absorption and oxygen production, the Great Barrier Reef stands as a pivotal part of our planet’s ecosystem. Its decline threatens a cascade of extinctions, akin to the death of crucial organs in an interconnected body.

Anohni ponders how humanity processes grief over gradual loss compared to sudden tragedies like natural disasters. She questions, "What ceremonies do we have to honor something as monumental as the dying reef? Witnessing its fall equates to 10,000 9/11s in emotional weight."

Mourning Through Music and Art

As part of the Vivid festival, Anohni will perform two shows at the Sydney Opera House titled "Mourning the Great Barrier Reef." These performances will combine her music with real-time footage from Lizard Island, showcasing the beauty and tragedy of the reef. Working alongside Grumpy Turtle, a production team specializing in underwater conservation, Anohni will guide the filming while snorkeling, a comedic yet poignant image she herself finds amusing.

“Like a dying star, corals can glow beautifully even in distress,” Anohni reflects, connecting coral bleaching to an expressive farewell. She shares an experience where a group of students found beauty in what was, in reality, a graveyard of coral.

A Voice for the Environment

Known for weaving climate activism into her music, Anohni’s lyrics resonate with urgent calls for change. In her song "Another World," she laments, "This one’s nearly gone," while envisioning a future marked by loss in "4 Degrees." Despite often feeling like an ignored prophet, her outsider perspective offers clarity in a world eager to avoid uncomfortable truths.

Her connection to Australia runs deep, having spent time with the Martu people, which profoundly altered her worldview. The Martu's belief in returning to the land after death challenged her previous notions of existence shaped by a Western mindset.

A Call to Action and Reflection

In her 2015 performances to aid the Martu in their fight against a uranium mine, Anohni showed her commitment to Indigenous rights. However, the environmental cost of her travel weighs heavily on her conscience; she prefers to direct the proceeds of her performances towards meaningful causes.

For her upcoming Vivid shows, she plans to converse with reputable scientists about the reef’s plight, ensuring their emotional connection to the crisis is front and center. "Australians express their feelings more openly compared to the restrained English scientific community," she notes.

A Profound Gesture of Hope

Ultimately, Anohni hopes her shows will offer an opportunity for collective acknowledgment of the reef's beauty and its precarious fate. "Grieving is not the end—it’s recognition of our current reality." For an hour and a half, she invites audiences to immerse themselves in the reef’s splendor and sorrow, emphasizing that understanding our environment is crucial for forging a hopeful future.