Coral Kids and the Coral Gardener

Coral Kids weaves the voices of Aitutaki’s children into the reef’s recovery: an ocean of stories told through film and photography, where community restores coral and claims its future with minimal support.

Coral Kids and the Coral Gardener aims to experiment with new forms of environmental storytelling by working alongside small, grassroots initiatives. The project develops tools and channels that allow communities to communicate their needs and achievements locally, while also exploring how these stories might resonate with global audiences.

With no initial support from external institutions, our intention is to build the project independently, seeking partnerships beyond traditional filmmaking and social media sponsorship. This independence allows us to focus on collaborative storytelling, one that is attentive to representation and ensures the community participates as authors rather than subjects.

I am working closely with the community to create a hybrid model that draws from photography, film, social media, journalism, and documentary practices. The work is rooted in postcolonial questions of agency, identity, and ownership: Which stories do we tell, which do we inherit, and who has the right to speak, or to listen?

Coral Kids and the Coral Gardener is a marine conservation multidisciplinary series created in Aitutaki, Cook Islands. The project follows children as they learn to restore coral reefs under the guidance of a self-taught, self-appointed coral guardian. Blending art and documentary, the series reveals how conservation, education, and culture converge in the search for solutions to urgent environmental challenges.