A cohort of revolutionary makers are pushing the boundaries, using their medium to speak out in protest against our looming fate. Informed by collapsing ecosystems, microplastic coagulations and temperatures that edge ever-closer to critical levels, some artists are refusing to ignore the contemporary climatic challenges that face us everyday.
Earlier this year, Art Partner invited these artists to share their work with the world in an open call competition, #CreateCOP28. First launched in 2019, #CreateCOP showcases environmentally-focused art in a bid to generate conversation around the urgent need for climate justice. Each year, the winners are announced in time for the annual United Nations Climate Change Conference, raising awareness of topics we can only hope are considered at the summit.
Taking place in Dubai, UAE, a little controversially, from the 30th of November to the 12th of December, we’re now a week into the United Nations Climate Change Conference 2023 (UNFCCC COP28). So, it’s time to announce the winners of Art Partner’s #CreateCOP28, as selected by this year’s panel of judges including: Willow Defebaugh, Editor-in-Chief of Atmos Magazine; Hans Ulrich Obrist, Artistic Director at Serpentine (the first institution to appoint a Curator of Ecologies); Giovanni Testino, Founder of Art Partner; photographer Mario Sorrenti; climate activist Jerome Foster II; Shaway Yeh, Founder of yehyehyeh; and Marina Testino, advocate for sustainable fashion.
The Passage of Storms. Gab Mejia. Courtesy of Art Partner.
In first place, awarded $10K for future projects, is Gab Mejia from the Philippines with his photographic series and documentary film, The Passage of Storms; a project which traces the scars left behind by the increasing frequency of super typhoons that hit the Philippines as result of climate change.
In The Passage of Storms, Gab documents super typhoon Rai, locally known as ‘Odette’, which struck the Philippines just a few days before Christmas in 2021. “The Philippines is hugely impacted by the climate crisis with an average of 20 typhoons crossing its islands annually,” Gab shares. “The onslaught of super typhoons in the Philippines have not only wreaked momentary physical destruction but cyclones of emotions within a sea of compounding trauma and fear within coastal communities,” he says. “The Passage of Storms is a visual elegy and documentary to the lives lost and the lives forgotten in a sea that remembers.”
In joint second place, winning $5K for future projects, comes Francesco Migliaccio from Italy with his film, Nightmare, and Kasha Sequoia Slavner from Canada with a trailer for her documentary film, 1.5 Degrees of Peace.
‘Mare’ in Italian translates to ‘the sea’, which is the focal point of Francesco’s film, Nightmare. In this dreamlike film, Francesco calls for cautious optimism as he looks at both the pros and cons of seaweed as a seemingly miracle macroalgae material with much surrounding hype. “Seaweed aquaculture is growing much enthusiasm for the macroalgae’s potential in mitigating climate change, feeding the world and replacing petroleum-based fuels and plastics but the potential risks to the environment and vulnerable communities are still poorly understood,” Francesco shares, continuing: “As seaweed decomposes it can release the gas hydrogen sulphide which be lethal to fish. It also causes eye irritation and respiratory problems in humans.”
Francesco delves into the intricacies of seaweed farming, looking at how local communities might be exploited for their trade in the global market. “In India, women sea divers have expressed distress over the fact that traders pay only Rs 50 per kg for the seaweed they collect, without considering the risks they take in their lives like inhaling dried seaweed.” He calls on us: “It’s time to respect our Earth and to respect its people.”
Kasha’s film, 1.5 Degrees of Peace, is a character-driven feature documentary following the unfolding stories of three youths in regions hard hit by militarisation, conflicts, systemic violence and the climate crisis. “The film contrasts the challenges of young leaders in their struggle for environmental justice and demilitarisation with joy, community and visionary solutions that exist within these movements,” says filmmaker Kasha, who focuses on instability caused by the global climate crisis, honing in on themes of resource scarcity, the influx of climate migrants, environmental racism and economic insecurity, all of which increase the risk of violence and conflict.
“Around the world, BIPOC youth and youth in the Global South are at the forefront of building intersectional social and environmental movements; young people living at the nexus of these issues are feeling the impacts of the climate crisis, increased violence, and conflicts in their own communities,” Kasha writes, asking: “In a time of converging crises and multiple existential threats, how do we elevate the voices of those who are seeking to make the links between climate justice and peace? How do we bring peace into the global climate conversation?”
Junkspace. Chloe Karnezi. Courtesy of Art Partner.
In third place, awarded $2K for future projects, is María Legaristi Royo (Spain) with photography project Mhaijeratt Tales: Living Amidst Landfills; Chloe Karzeni (Greece) with her film Junkspace; Corinne Rivera (USA) with her fashion photography Styles of the Anthropocene; Julia Daser (USA) with her series Flooded House; and Liz Briel (South Africa) with her 20-minute classical music composition Ocean Soundscape, which transports its listeners to the depths of the ocean before ascending to the surface where floats a devastating mass of plastic pollution.
Lize’s piece of music, whilst very visual in its depiction, breaks expectations of what climate related art might look or, for better a word, sound like. “I believe that music, as any art form, has the potential to convey a powerful message,” Lize tells me, in reference to music’s ability to tap into its listener’s emotions. “With this project, I aimed to evoke not only beauty but also anxiety. Throughout the project, I focused on the emotional response that each section of the work elicits from the audience. This was achieved primarily through the manipulation of sound generation, employing trash in conjunction with string instruments to create a unique, and sometimes distorted, sound. This approach enabled me to craft a visual musical composition that conveys an urgent call to action regarding the climate crisis and an overarching sense of beauty associated with the majesty of our oceans.”
As something that prompts an emotional response, art is an incredibly powerful tool with great agency for both communication and leveraging change. “I think the notion of empathy is really important and it was fascinating to see so many entries in the project to imbue this,” Hans Ulrich Obrist, judging panellist and Artistic Director at Serpentine galleries, tells me, continuing: “I’m delighted to participate in a public project which creates empathy.”
Ecologies – and the environment – constitute a core pillar for research and curation at London’s Serpentine and the galleries are one of the first institutions to appoint a curator dedicated to the field of ecology, Lucia Pietroiusti, who has pioneered the development of General Ecologies projects at the galleries.
The first General Ecologies project at Serpentine, the Extinction Marathon, came to be as a result of a collaboration between Hans Ulrich Obrist and the late Gustav Metzger. “Artist Gustav Metzger, whom I’ve collaborated with for more than twenty years, put climate at the very centre of his activity,” says Hans Ulrich Obrist, continuing: “Metzger would always say: ‘We can talk about climate change, but we have to talk about the extinction crisis in order to address the full dimension of the crisis.’ From this we developed the Extinction Marathon at the Serpentine.”
#CreateCOP28’s winner, Gab Mejia also notes the power of emotion and empathy in artistic depictions of the crisis that prevails. “I deeply believe art and photography serves as a transpersonal language, which allows others to confront the harrowing truths and narratives of these recurring typhoons and myths amid the climate crisis, which we are collectively gripping with, beyond numbers and facts.”
He continues on its agency: “Art and photography allows us to affirm these truths and tragedies, to hold space for grief and understanding, and to alchemize these narratives as dreams, essentially transpiring into collective action and solutions within our communities. It is a vessel for this language as a voice beyond these marginalised borders – it is a means to survive.”
“The open call is a platform for people to express their personal experiences and has resulted in bodies of work that are both moving and inspiring,” says Amber Olson, Senior Agent at Art Partner and brains behind the programme, noting how critical it is for the team to amplify the voices of unheard communities in the global climate conversation.
The virtual exhibition showcasing winning works can be found here. A selection of the works from each of the four #CreateCOP competitions will be featured in a physical exhibition at the United Nations Head Offices in New York from the 8th-15th December.