Cagarros Assembly is a series of listening sessions, performances, workshops and screenings inspired by the conservation efforts and volunteer labor of marine biologists and island residents to rescue, rehabilitate and release thousands of young cagarros (calonectris borealis; Cory’s Shearwater) every year throughout the archipelago.

Inspired by her first visit to the Azores, Ga – like many newcomers to the island, was both enchanted and bewildered by the nighttime cries of these birds. In the autumn of 2021, Ga documented volunteers in Faial and São Miguel as they rescued young cagarros who – during their first fragile flight from nest to sea, become disoriented by street lights, get turned around and crash.

Cagarros Assembly will take place in various settings across the island providing a platform for collective knowledge exchange across disciplines. This multifaceted project will connect the life course of the cagarro with questions surrounding cross-species empathy, human interventions and the politics of public lighting.