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Louise is passionate about art and culture, visiting Manchester’s wealth of museums and galleries to gain inspiration for her own art and to write her bi-monthly Venture Arts blog.
My latest exhibition visit was to Climate Justice at Manchester Art Gallery. I chose this art exhibition because I’m interested in climate change and I think it’s important to understand the damage it is causing our planet and the possible dire consequences if we don’t do more to change our way of thinking and the way we use the planet’s natural resources.
Some of the exhibition pieces surprised and even shocked me, learning how much damage we are doing to our climate is very upsetting and truly remarkable. The exhibits that really moved me were the African Face Mask, 3 Miles From the Sea and Rigged Vase. I didn’t have an overall favourite but these were most memorable.
The first exhibition piece that got my attention straight away was African Face Mask. The detail in the mask made me think of an animal such as a tiger and the colours were striking, orange, black, red, white and yellow. This image represents the dark reality that some countries will use undermining tactics to take another country’s own resources and cause damage to their local economy and ecosystem. This made me upset and angry at the same time.
The second piece that got my attention was 3 Miles From the Sea, a photograph showing a man’s home virtually covered in sand due to the rise in sea levels and land erosion due to climate change. This I also found sad and shocking to see, and thought how could we let things happen like this?
The third exhibition piece I have selected is Rigged Vase. This art work is truly inspiring as it represents trying to use more sustainable resources and therefore cause less impact on the environment. This stunning piece of artwork was created by Clare Malet. The colours used in this are truly breathtaking and remind me of an open lava flow inside a volcano with the volcanic colours of a deep dark black and a bright yellowish orange flame colour as well.
This exhibition inspired me to write a piece of creative writing, rather than design and make a piece of physical artwork. The piece is called, The Power of Nature, and it’s about how I feel about the damage being caused to our environment and the damage it is causing our climate. You can read it below.
The accessibility to Manchester Art Gallery is very good. There is a ramp entrance at the main entrance to the venue and there are also lifts inside the venue. Public transport to the venue is also good and very frequent.
My overall experience of this exhibition was both upsetting and interesting. I would definitely recommend this to students who are studying the effects of climate change, but I think that it could be a real education to everyone.
The Power of Nature
By Louise Hewitt
The power of nature is mother nature of our planet,
Venting her rage and fury,
Caused through the modern greed for money and power,
Without thinking of the consequences,
Wildlife and unique ecosystems could disappear from our world forever.
We are causing damage on our climate,
The weather is becoming far more extreme,
We need to adapt to dramatic changes in our environment,
All because we can’t stop our inscrutable appetite for fossil fuels.
If we don’t start thinking about the future of our planet now,
There may be no chance to reverse the damage,
Damage is done by not thinking or caring about consequences,
But we can live differently…
Recycle as much as possible, buy second hand clothes, walk, cycle, use public transport,
We can do it if we work together.
