The Natural World Museum Brings an International Art Exhibit to Te Papa in New Zealand for Un World Environment Day 2008
Features world renowned artists including Antonio Briceno, Susan Norrie, Ken Rinaldo and Amy Youngs
15 MAY 2008 – San Francisco, USA; Wellington, New Zealand: The Natural World Museum (NWM), in partnership with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), revealed today plans for a 2008–2009 traveling exhibit entitled Moving Towards a Balanced Earth: Kick the Carbon Habit. The exhibit will debut at the Te Papa Tongarewa Museum in Wellington to commemorate the celebration of UN World Environment Day (WED) on 5 June 2008. For the past 30 years a different country has hosted the WED celebration; this is the first year Wellington, New Zealand has been the official host city. As the host of WED 2008, on the theme of “Kick the Carbon Habit,” New Zealand is one of the first countries to pledge a carbon-neutral future.
Moving Towards a Balanced Earth: Kick the Carbon Habit features the works of 27 artists representing 20 countries. The contemporary art pieces all focus on climate change, with an emphasis on lowering carbon emissions. The thought-provoking exhibition includes photographs, paintings, sculpture, video, multimedia and conceptual installations.
Each year, NWM and UNEP launch their annual flagship exhibit in honor of WEDd – a principal vehicle through which the United Nations stimulates awareness of the environment and enhances political action. Each exhibit focuses on a different environmental issue and utilizes the universal language of art as a catalyst to raise global awareness as it tours the world. After New Zealand, the exhibit is scheduled to tour through Latin America, North America, Asia, and Europe.
Exhibition Curator Randy Jayne Rosenberg states, “Artists are often described as prophetic, visionaries, and poetic shapers of the world – one step ahead of the rest of humanity.” In this exhibition, we ask the participating artists to find new ways to articulate this balance; to help us find a new vocabulary and through their artworks help us find new visions and new choices. The show visualizes answers to questions such as: How do we get the Earth in balance? What does balance look like? What does it feel like? How will we know when we’re there?
Pieces in the exhibition include: Notes from Havoc, an installation from Australian video installation artist Susan Norrie, exploring one of the worst environmental disasters in Java when an earthquake ruptured an oil and gas well; Farm Fountain, from collaborators Ken Rinaldo and Amy Youngs, (both Professors of Art at Ohio State University) whose installations encourage active, self-determined relationships with a work of art and the coupling between human, machine, nature and culture; Venezuelan photographer, Antonio Briceno, who brings to Wellington his Gods of America series, a long-term project that documents gods and shamans from South America and North America.
Participating artists include: AES & F Group, Ken Aptekar, Lise Bjorne, Lien Botha, Antonio Briceno, Enrique Martinez Celaya, Alison Clouston, Bill Culbert and Ralph Hotere, Geoff Dixon, Chris Drury, Mounir Fatmi, Peter Fend, Isa Genzken, Ilya and Emilia Kabakov, Walangari Karntawarra, Ik-Joong Kang, Gabriela Morawetz, Susan Norrie, Jun Nguyen-Hatsushiba, Susan Plum, Ken Rinaldo and Amy Youngs, Alexis Rockman, Harriet Russell, Soledad Salame, Lars Siltberg, Cyprien Tokoudagba, and Bill Viola.
“With a focus on lowering carbon emissions, we hope this exhibit will contribute to a shift in visitors’ attitudes toward the environment, and in the consumer choices they make,” said Mia Hanak, the Founding Executive Director of the Natural World Museum. “Let us use this time around UN World Environment Day to each do our part in helping turn the tide of public awareness and promote positive action around climate change.”
The 2007–2008 international exhibition, Melting Ice / A Hot Topic: Envisioning Change, focused on climate change, specifically melting ice caps, to coincide with last year’s WED theme. The exhibit will directly reach a projected one million viewers upon completion of the tour. It kicked off its tour in Oslo at the Nobel Peace Center during UN WED in June 2007, and then traveled to the BOZAR Centre for Fine Arts in Brussels, then moved to Monaco, and is now housed in the Field Museum in Chicago, USA, where it will remain through September 1, 2008.
NWM has partnered with UNEP since 2005 through the global “Art for the Environment” initiative, a curatorial program that utilizes the universal language of art to unite people in action and thought on a broad spectrum of environmental topics. NWM has produced the traveling exhibit Moving Towards a Balanced Earth: Kick the Carbon Habit as part of the “Art For the Environment” program.
Achim Steiner, UN Under Secretary General and Executive Director, UN Environment Programme (UNEP), said: “If, as they say, a picture is worth a thousand words the Kick the Carbon Habit exhibition will surely be worth thousands of tonnes in avoided greenhouse gas emissions as a result of visitors inspired to personal action by the powerful art works in the Natural World Museum’s exhibit hosted at the Te Papa Museum and eventually at galleries across the world.”
Te Papa is pleased to unveil this year’s new traveling exhibition in New Zealand, marking its involvement in the joint efforts focused on the role of art in changing behavior in order to help safeguard the environment.
“There is no issue more topical than the concern about the well-being of this planet and the responsibility we have collectively to ensure its future for our children. Te Papa is very pleased to host this coming together of art and environmental issues, in an exhibition that explores our relationship with the Earth,” said Dr Seddon Bennington, Te Papa’s Chief Executive.
There will be a media preview for the exhibition on 4 June between 11am and 1pm. Media can contact the Te Papa public relations office at 0064 4 381 7083 for more information and to RSVP.
About the Natural World Museum (NWM): Transcending the traditional museum venue, the Natural World Museum is a mobile and global cultural institution that presents art through innovative programs to inspire and engage the public in environmental awareness and action. In order to reach broad and diverse audiences, NWM provides an innovative platform through its international curatorial program, empowering exhibit visitors worldwide with enlightening experiences to help advance local and global conservation efforts. NWM has already produced exhibits in partnership with UNEP in cities such as Algiers, Brussels, Chicago, Monaco, Nairobi, New York, Oslo, and San Francisco. www.naturalworldmuseum.org
About the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP): UNEP is the world’s leading environmental agency and environmental arm of the United Nations, providing leadership and encouraging partnerships for conservation efforts by inspiring, informing, and enabling nations to improve quality of life without compromising that of future generations. http://www.unep.org
The Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa (Te Papa): one of the largest national museums in the world, has attracted over 14.2 million visitors since it opened in 1998. Te Papa is recognised as a world leader in the new wave of innovative and interactive museum experiences and has quickly achieved an international reputation for excellence. Te Papa provides a unique and authentic experience of New Zealand’s nature, art, history, and heritage - from the shaping of its land to the spirit of its diverse peoples, from its unique wildlife to its distinctive art and visual culture. http://www.tepapa.govt.nz
The Ministry for the Environment: New Zealand’s Ministry for the Environment is the lead government agency coordinating World Environment Day alongside the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). The Ministry is the Government's principal adviser on environmental sustainability and international matters that affect the environment. The Ministry works in partnership with central and local government, business and the community to improve New Zealand’s environment and to encourage sustainable practices. The Ministry provides national direction and guidance, as well as working with local government on implementation of environmental policies. www.mfe.govt.nz
Wellington City Council: Wellington City Council delivers a diverse range of services to Wellington’s 180,000 residents. Wellington is a vibrant city with a thriving cultural life, talented people and cutting-edge businesses. Wellington City Council aims to capitalise on these advantages to achieve economic growth, greater prosperity and improved quality of life. The Council agreed to a climate neutral vision in June 2007 with the aim that the city will be carbon neutral by 2020. There are two aspects to the Council vision – corporate emissions and community emissions. http://www.Wellington.govt.nz
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www.naturalworldmuseum.org/press/co2
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