ILOILO City – Murals were unveiled here on July 15 to demand decisive and transformative actions from world leaders meeting this November during the 27th Conference of Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP27) in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt.
The murals marked the launch of Poets for Climate, a collaborative project among the branches of Climate Reality in the Philippines, Africa and Canada in support of the “When Is Now” campaign, a global poetry and arts movement organized by the Climate Vulnerable Forum, Institute for Climate and Sustainable Cities, and Agam Agenda.
“When Is Now” links together poems, visual art, murals, and more forms of creative expression that reflect people’s lived experiences of the climate crisis.
The Poets for Climate murals located at the Marymart Center-Maryville on Delgado Street was created by Artivism Iloilo, a collective of artists, social innovators, and unconventional movers working to bring engaging collaborative art to the heart of communities and unlikely locations.
The murals were a response to the poem “When will we tire of waiting?” by South African-based novelist Yewande Omotoso.
Explaining the concept behind the murals, Kristine Buenavista of Artivism Iloilo said, “The sprout represents our dream – of nourishment, enrichment, and sustenance through the growth and reach of this seed, this consciousness. We used ‘kintsugi’ or golden repair to highlight our yearning for ecological healing.”/PN
