Princess Eugenie has helped launch a new initiative to raise money for coral reef conservation.
The 35-year-old royal is backing Thirty Six For Coral, the world's first major global art exhibition dedicated to the cause, which will bring together 36 artists - including RETNA, Helen Beard and Petroc Sesti - for an initiative which will see their works eventually auctioned off to raise funds.
Eugenie - who is a global ambassador for ocean charity Project Zero/The Coral Collective - said: “Despite occupying less than 1% of the seabed, coral reefs support 25% of all life in the ocean, and one billion people around the world depend on coral reefs for food and jobs.
"I'm pleased to be supporting Thirty Six for Coral, an important art exhibition that will help connect more people to the irreplaceable value of coral reefs, and raise essential funding to help protect and restore them for future generations.”
The exhibition is also backed by the likes of Sienna Miller, Will Poulter, Rita Ora, and Slash and will debut at the iconic Grand-Hôtel du Cap-Ferrat on the French Riviera in June to coincide with the 2025 UN Ocean Conference, which runs in Nice from 9 to 13 June.
Michele Clarke, CEO, Co-Founder, Project Zero/The Coral Collective, said: “We are thrilled to be launching this exceptional exhibition of works from some of the world’s most celebrated artists for coral. Today coral reefs are under threat of functional extinction.
"We have the unique opportunity to be the generation that saves this irreplaceable ecosystem that supports life for over a million animals and plants and over a billion people around the world.”
More artists who will be involved in the exhibition will be announced in due course.
British-Italian artist Petroc Sesti has contributed a carbon sink sculpture medium that fuses eco-friendly concrete with carbon capture crystals.
Petroc said: “Artists are free thinkers and placemakers; they create artworks that inspire paradigm shifts toward new cultural narratives, offering alternative frameworks through which to interpret our environments. Through interdisciplinary collaboration and critical engagement with the natural world, artists are uniquely positioned to catalyse public discourse.
"Cultural dialogue with the biosphere is not only urgent it is also generative, and will define the future of art itself. I believe we are entering a new cultural golden age—a renaissance shaped not by introspection alone, but by the discoveries that lie beyond ourselves.”
Artworks will be available via coralcollective.basta.app with select pieces auctioned at a closing gala on 20 June. Proceeds will directly support coral reef protection and restoration around the world.
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