A Visual Conversation From South Africa: Climate Resilience and Hope for a Green Recovery

Abstract

As the world copes with two parallel catastrophic events-climate change and COVID-19, this article examines how visual art students in South Africa used the pandemic period to imagine a better world, a green economic recovery, and a closer connection with nature and biodiversity. The visual conversation that this new generation of artists created provides a lens for engaging with a world in change. They generate inspirational and resourceful ideas, calling on us to be participatory and inclusive as a fundamental aspect of being human, evoking imagination to create alternative visions in collaboration with others. New understandings through visual research can provide a foundation for developing collective strategies toward economic and social security, and flourishing individually and as community.

Beyond the Pandemic: Art-making lessons for SOTL in an unequal South African context

“…SOTL in the South 6(2): August 2022 Berman The world is experiencing economic, social, and psychological damage from two catastrophic events -the coronavirus (COVID-19) and the growing impact of climate change. There are many lessons to be drawn from catastrophes and trauma.…”

“…Artists can offer poignant insights into the impacts of global warming, generating a visual conversation that focuses on decarbonisation and vastly increased food and water security as the way forward. These powerful images from the Green Recovery Portfolio have generated new conversations to visualise how this existential threat can be overcome(Berman & Sarra, 2021).The following section presents a selection of artwork produced by art students from APS between 2020 and 2021. Each artwork is paired with their statements written as part of their application to the TLC for a bursary in response to Oh to Believe in Another World, and includes an extract of their own statement about the work they produced for one of the Lockdown portfolios.In July 2020, the Green Recovery Portfolio was presented to the Canada Climate Law Initiative (CCLI) of the University of British Columbia (UBC), which held a conference examining the obligations of corporations, governments, and civil society to work collectively to create a sustainable future.Including the arts in policy discussions as an integral part of understanding climate change attests to how a visionary approach is needed to influence policymakers(Berman & Sarra, 2021).…”

“…These powerful images from the Green Recovery Portfolio have generated new conversations to visualise how this existential threat can be overcome(Berman & Sarra, 2021).The following section presents a selection of artwork produced by art students from APS between 2020 and 2021. Each artwork is paired with their statements written as part of their application to the TLC for a bursary in response to Oh to Believe in Another World, and includes an extract of their own statement about the work they produced for one of the Lockdown portfolios.In July 2020, the Green Recovery Portfolio was presented to the Canada Climate Law Initiative (CCLI) of the University of British Columbia (UBC), which held a conference examining the obligations of corporations, governments, and civil society to work collectively to create a sustainable future.Including the arts in policy discussions as an integral part of understanding climate change attests to how a visionary approach is needed to influence policymakers(Berman & Sarra, 2021). ISSN 2523-1154 SOTL in the South 6(2): August 2022 Berman Jason Langa, a second-year student at Artist Proof Studios created a work for the Green Recovery portfolio which was subsequently used by the Climate Law conference in Canada as an invitation to support the art students and promote the initiative.…”