Climate change and art — practitioners’ retreat in Swat stimulates positive energy

Islamabad

The Ministry of Climate Change, Gallery 6, and East-West Centre Association, Islamabad Chapter, joined hands to offer a unique art retreat titled ‘Climate Change and Art – A Practitioners’ Retreat in Swat’ in the last week of August. It included 12 participants: 6 painters, 3 photographers, and a sculptor, film maker and writer each.

The purpose of the retreat was to enable development of products (such as paintings, photographs, documentary, short visual stories) which would attract media and individuals for creating awareness about factors leading to climate change and its resultant negative impacts.

Selected participants had origins from various areas of Pakistan, three from Lahore (Abid Khan, Ahsan Jawaid, Ali Ijaz), two from Chakwal (Raja Najmul Hasan and Zainul Abedin) and one each from Rawalpindi (Saram Maqbool), Gilgit-Baltistan (Ayub Wali), Hangu (Shaheer), Shahdadpur (Irfan Gul Dahri), Quetta (S.M. Khayyam), Malakand (Junaid Baber) and Karachi (Ayesha Akif). They were led by Dr. Arjumand Faisel, curator of Gallery 6, who provided technical guidance throughout the retreat. The participants were lodged at PTDC Miandam and they also travelled to Bahrain, Madyan and Kalam and practiced under ideal weather conditions with temperatures ranging from 28 C in day to 13 C during night.

The artists and photographers captured beautiful landscapes depicting biodiversity, natural environmental serenity, vulnerability to disasters (like riverside settlements being washed away by floods), degradation of land, birds that are moving away, deforestation, disasters caused by flash floods and many other subjects related to climate change.

A few short visual stories on factors affecting climate change and effect/damages to environment because of climate change were also produced by interviewing local people. Locals narrated stories of massive deforestation, changing pattern of snowfall, effects on growing of fruits (especially apples), increasing floods and their devastating effects on housing areas and agricultural lands, etc.

A documentary on the entire retreat was also produced. Syed Abu Akif, federal secretary of the Ministry of Climate Change also visited the participants for two days over the weekend to see the progress of the work, while two ministry staff members remained with the participants for managerial support.

These ‘products’ will be exhibited at Gallery 6 in early October 2016. Participants have committed to actively use social media to spread messages about climate change among their community, families and individuals. They plan to engage the media during the exhibition days. East-West Centre Association, Islamabad Chapter, will play its due role to inform international audience about this unique event to reflect Pakistan’s awareness and interest in issues of climate change.

Summarising the retreat at the time of departure, Irfan Gul Dahri, a senior participant said, “Thank you organisers for being such wonderful hosts. This trip was great in many ways: be it making new friends or getting insights of the ones that I already knew. I am taking back a lot of positive energy and intend to play my role as far as I can (in raising awareness of issues related to climate change). Thank you all, for this inspiration.”