CHENNAI: At the ongoing 26th UN Climate Change Conference (CoP 26) in Glasgow — viewed as a make-or-break 13-day summit on climate change — world leaders, experts and NGOs from 196 countries have pledged to cut greenhouse gas emissions, eliminate deforestation, move away from coal and effectively tackle more pressing problems. While this seems promising, environmentalists are worried that nations are skirting key issues, yet again.
Chipping in silently to amplify this cause for urgent action through art is Fine Acts. The creative studio for social impact has collaborated with TEDxNapierBridge (@tedxnapier) in India, as part of the #ArtistsForClimate initiative, launched together with @TED and @TEDCountdown. The vision behind the project is to wield hopeful art as a weapon to shift the global narrative of the climate crisis towards a brighter future.
Painting a powerful message
The team of TEDxNapierBridge in Chennai is working with a group of six local visual artists — Abishek Kalainjan, Sudarshan Devadoss, Dheeraj Nanduri, Satwik Gade, Sadhna Prasad and Devyani Mahadevan — to develop illustrations on climate change focusing on solutions. The minds behind the curation for this event are Madhu Ramakrishnan, Jayalakshmi Krishnan, Harini Vijayakumar and Sneha Parakh.
Walking us through the process, Madhu explains, “Our priority was to showcase local talent. We had a tough job zeroing in on six artists out of 100 potential talents. Our team of curators had a mix of artists and non-artists to offer different perspectives. We studied some of the previous artworks of the participants, their key interests and contributions before filtering.” The final list of artists made it to Sprints, a creative bootcamp developed by Fine Acts, where visual artists are given a 48-hour window to produce artwork on a specific theme.
“Our artists participated in the camp last week in the city, brainstormed ideas and had creative interactions with each other. Their final artworks, published under an open license, can be used by activists and non-profits globally in their future campaign works. Our goal is to produce a series of awe-inspiring designs that convey a clear message around the urgency for actionable change,” shares Jayalakshmi.
The many visions
Each artist will be creating one artwork in the form of either digital illustrations, graphic design, lettering art and typography. About his work, animator and graphic artist Abishek says, “This is the first time I’m creating artwork for a social cause. With ample briefing on the climate problems, the team has given us the freedom to choose our topic and present it to the audience. I’ve chosen carbon emission. I did not know where to begin when I started my groundwork, as the information was surplus. I do not want my work to be gloomy or attract sympathy, rather, it must take the message to the next generation in a crisp format.” He hopes to work on topics like water conservation, garbage disposal and more civic problems in future to do his part in spreading awareness.
For cartoonist Satwik, activism-related-art isn’t new. He’s been vocal about corporate crimes and climate concerns in his artworks for quite some time. But this is his debut in the international art space. “I wanted to take a cautious and optimistic approach with my work. While speaking about a sensitive topic, it’s not necessary to point out the bad things but offer a hopeful picture with plenty of takeaways. These works can be instrumental in bringing about change in the way our government functions. Art has become a more crucial form of expression in recent times as it appeals to a global audience beyond boundaries. My work will be simple and direct with many elements so people can interpret it in multiple ways. Social problems have an emotional impact on artists and I connect them to comics and cartoons to express my views. I believe that an effective artwork is one that addresses various problems in one frame,” he explains.
Like her other works, this project too has been an overwhelming and enriching experience for graphic designer Devyani. “The topic has led to a self introspection of the choices I’ve so far made as an individual and the impact it has had on the environment. It has also pushed me to mull over greener alternatives and pave the way for a healthy lifestyle and ecosystem. My artwork is going to be all about choices that people make. It has been a great learning experience and an eye-opener for me. I don’t want to scare people by presenting messages in a hard-hitting manner. We need to offer solutions and that’s what I hope to do,” she notes.
The artworks created by the six artists will be unveiled and open for public viewing in Chennai. The audience can meet and interact with the creators to understand their vision. ‘La Ambience (an interior design studio) and First World Community (a non-profit business networking ecosystem) are the two presenting partners who have supported TEDxNapierBridge in this event.
The public exhibition of Artists for Climate will be held on November 20 and 21 at Art Houz, Nungambakkam.