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NZ Art Exhibit About Environment and SocietyCan Art Inspire Social Change and Contribute to a Sustainable Earth?
An art exhibit premiering in New Zealand raises important questions about the role of the artist in fighting climate change.
Moving Towards a Balanced Earth: Kick the (Carbon) Habit has opened at Te Papa in Wellington, New Zealand, in mid-2008, prior to a planned tour of America, Europe and Asia. A kaleidoscope of multimedia, vibrant colour interspersed with stark black and white, and featuring 28 artists from 20 countries, the exhibition aims to raise awareness of environmental issues. It does more than that. Curated by Randy Jayne Rosenberg, the exhibition was developed by the Natural World Museum (NWM) in partnership with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). The exhibition brief challenges participating artists to explore new choices for a sustainable world. Increasing Awareness and Proposing SolutionsOn its website, the Natural World Museum asks the question: “what is the connection between the Earth’s imbalance and our imbalance as a species?” Imbalance is described as the source of environmental problems (such as excess atmospheric carbon, pollution and toxic waste), and is said to be expressed “on both planetary and personal levels”. The vision of NWM is that “the fusion of art and environment is a powerful synergistic tool for positive social change”. Specific WorksThe artworks in the exhibition can be broadly divided into those focused on raising consciousness regarding sustainability issues; and those that suggest directions for moving forward. In the first category would be Moroccan Mounir Fatmi’s Skyline (2007). An impressive installation built from black video cassettes and unravelled videotape, the “skyline”, no longer a symbol of economic triumph, appears to “spill its guts” onto the sidewalk. New Zealander Geoff Dixon’s Large Takahe Dipytch with Sparrow/Found (2008) is a vivid but disturbing metaphor for human survival, focused on the status of previously isolated native birds that can no longer hide from climate change. The Bill Culbert and Ralph Hotere lithographs Pathway to the Sea (Aramoana) (1991) are based on a poem by New Zealander Ian Wedde and include poetry by Tangirau Hotere and John Caselberg (long time associate of painter Colin McCahon). The text-incorporating works question where our economic and social choices are taking us. In one lithograph, well-known New Zealand location and winery Cloudy Bay appears as a dark cloud above wine glasses, which also incorporate the harbour-pathway theme. In the category of works proposing solutions is Palace of Projects, a digital print by Russians Ilya and Emilia Kabakov. This is a sample of quasi-architectural and technical drawings and models taken from “a utopian archive of ideas and stories told by fictional Soviet citizens”. For example, one idea is to find a way to distribute vitality and productive human energy equally around the world, so that the economies of all countries will grow equally. This would be achieved through the installation of “86 specially equipped panels, 28 or 30 kilometres above the earth”. Indigenous Traditions, Social Harmony and the EnvironmentSeveral of the artworks explore the relationship of indigenous peoples to the environment, evoking the argument that nurturing people and nurturing the earth are the same, or parallel processes. Examples are Mexican Susan Plum’s Corazon de la Terra (Heart of the Earth) (2007), which draws upon Mesoamerican cosmology; and Waiangari Karntawarra’s fluid and Australia-colored (gold, orange, green) paintings in the aboriginal tradition, Water Dreaming (2005) and Snake Dreaming (2000). The first weeks of the exhibition at Te Papa coincided with the mid-year celebration of the Maori New Year, Matariki, which includes earth-honouring as well as other traditional activities. Among offerings of poetry and music was a performance by seven women of Maori, Pasifika, African and European descent (taking the name of the “Seven Sisters” in the Matariki star cluster), bearing messages of inter-racial and inter-generational respect and the importance of family. The theme was reinforced by reggae-inspired musicians such as The Survivors (formerly Homefires Burning), whose work advocates living in social harmony and protecting the environment. The coming together of themes from the visual arts, poetry and music worlds suggests that artists are increasingly seeing themselves as having a role not only in raising awareness of social and environmental issues, but actively promoting solutions.
The copyright of the article NZ Art Exhibit About Environment and Society in Traveling Art Exhibits is owned by Brenda Ann Burke. Permission to republish NZ Art Exhibit About Environment and Society in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
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