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PrintOxfam's Canvas for Change exhibition at the UN Climate Change Conference illustrates the impact of climate change on people's lives. See these powerful works and hear the meaning and stories behind some of the canvases.
Canvas for Change
In September Oxfam invited Australians to create artworks that tell the climate change story for vulnerable communities in developing countries. The canvases represent the climate change impacts faced by these communities, tell the story of them adapting to climate change or look at opportunities and possibilities for the future. People all over the world took part in this international project.
In Australia we welcomed submissions from students, community groups, clubs, artists or would be artists. We welcomed individual or group works.
Thank you to all who contributed art work to Canvas for Change.
Community winners announced
The people have spoken. Over 12,000 votes were cast by the public for the Australian canvas they believe most effectively communicates a climate change story. A selection of the artworks voted most effective may be used on postcards and posters as part of our ongoing climate change campaign in Australia in 2009.
Want to understand more about the impact of climate change on poor communities in developing nations? Click here to watch the “See the Bigger picture” video
Post secondary winner announced
Congratulations to Rose Fyson, who has been announced the winner of the post-secondary student competition. Rose's artwork will be exhibited at the international gathering of countries on climate change in December. See the winning artwork
Artists show at UN climate conference
Check out the photos below of the Australian and Solomon Island national canvases or view the international canvases that will be on display during the United Nations climate change conference in Poland (Dec 2008).
Wiradjuru/Murray Darling climate change disaster - Artist: Naomi Grant
This painting reflects the cycles of change brought on by pollution and climate change that are impacting the Wiradjuri nation. Wiradjuri is one of the largest Aboriginal nations in Australia and my home country. It is located in the middle of the Murray darling food basin.
The Murray Darling basin in Eastern Australia is probably one of the most severely impacted and damaged regions due to climate change. It is also the biggest area of food production and farming for Australia. The painting focuses on a spiral design that unfolds and changes as different seasons and areas of land are eroded or changed due to the effects of pollution and climate change, on the environment. The pollution can be seen on the earths horizon implied by all the industrial smoke stacks. The smoke flows over the land heating up the earth and causing extreme rises in temperature.
This in turn scorches the earth and we have droughts and dying trees. The dying river beds flows into the bush land, where we have the land being engulfed by bushfires. The ash and smoke rise into the sky and drift into the mountains and then it slowly changes into the snowy mountains. Then the snow melts and flows into the flood plains and the land is flooded.
Solomons Canvas - building sea walls - Artist: Chris Dala
I came from a village which is situated on the coast. These days, the tide is different compared to 20 years ago - rising tides, mangrove trees, availability of fish and food crops have all been affected.
In the rural areas, people did not have money to pay for materials such as cement and iron rods to build walls. The elderly people’s knowledge of waves said they circulate and spiral. The stumps making the sea wall will protect the ground from erosion but will also disturb the circulation of the waves so sand will build up near the stumps. As the sand builds, you could use the sand to fill the areas that you would like to plant your coconut tree or your wind break.
I do hope that our leaders will pursue this issue at the regional and global level with the assistance and support of such organisations as Oxfam. Though the voices of the communities will not be directly heard at such level, the canvas will speak for us - Oxfam has done a wonderful thing on behalf of our people.
I am proud to participate in this canvas for change project as my contribution as an artist will make a difference to the lives of our people and (help) rich nations see how little we contribute to these gas emissions but how we will bear the consequences of their development."
Find out more
Check out the range of other materials on te website to help inspire you to create your 'Canvas for Change'.
