Canvas for Change
The second edition of eARTh drove conversations around climate art and showcased artworks of eARTh Climate Fellows.
The second edition of the eARTh event was conducted on 20 September 2024 at the Bangalore International Centre, Karnataka. The evening included display of artwork of the first bath of the eARTh Climate Fellows, launch of Arth, a coffee-table book on climate artists, and a glimpse of the lived experiences of climate change survivors among others.
The first batch of the eARTh Climate Fellows — Rishabh Shetty, Kavya Kottary, Yadhunandan N, and Jyothika Byju — displayed their artwork created over a nine-month-long fellowship. Experiences and memories of the eARTh Climate Fellowship were shared by the mentors and fellows in the session ‘eARTh reflections’, moderated by Mamta Sagar, poet, writer, translator, Founder-Director of Kaavya Sanje, and an eARTh Climate Fellowship mentor. Other mentors were Vasu Dixit, musician, composer, and lead vocalist of Swarathma; Shawn Sebastian, independent journalist, filmmaker, and Co-founder of Drokpa Films; and Surekha, visual artist and founder-curator of Namma Metro’s Rangoli Metro Art Center in Bengaluru.
Arth, CSTEP’s coffee-table book on art and artists, was launched during the event by Ricky Kej, multiple Grammy-Award-winning music composer and environmentalist. In his special video address, he emphasised the importance of individual actions in addressing our planet’s environmental problems and said that art and artists are the catalysts that can drive people to bring about change.
The event also saw performances by children from Slam Out Loud, a non-profit organisation that works to transform how arts education and socio-emotional learning are delivered to the marginalised children in India. Slam Out Loud also conducted an interactive nature poetry workshop, which drew the audience in to reflect on their on-the-spot thoughts regarding the climate crisis.
The audience got a glimpse of the lived experiences of people directly affected by the climate crisis when videos recorded by climate change survivors — capturing real stories of hardships, resilience, and hope — were screened. Facilitated by the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS), the session also included a Q&A round with Manjula Bharathy, Professor at the School of Habitat Studies at TISS, who is engaged in a project on co-creating community resilience in the coastal villages of Kerala’s Ernakulam district, using community mapping, community videos, and community theatre. Sheela Sajeev Kumar and Dhanyaja Santhosh, climate change survivors from these villages, were also present at the session and interacted with the audience. The evening concluded on a high note with a musical performance by the Vasu Dixit Collective.
