in Germany
A new artist residency program funded by the German Federal Foreign Office, has selected two Filipinos who are expected to “harness the power of the art to address the urgent challenges of climate change”.
One of the two Filipinos, performance artivist Razcel Jan Salvarita, will “foster curiosity through a Climate Memory Artbox, encouraging community engagement and action climate change in an immersive shared space”.
The other Filipino, singer and ethnomusicologist Dr. Grace Nono will underscore nature’s agency, and co-create a sound and music piece with friends and other living beings in her backyard, and in a climate organization’s premises.
Both homegrown artists will join two others from Fiji and Samoa, and will be based in Germany for at least three months.
The Climate Action Artist Residencies is a groundbreaking initiative that enables artists from different countries to “collaborate with climate research institutions, and translate the knowledge into an artistic project”.
Conversely, artists from Germany will take the same period in one of the participating countries to complete the projects.
The program covers travel and a monthly stipend, and also supports participants with up to 10,000 euros (around P619,000) for material and production costs incurred to create their artistic work.
Members of the jury were Dr. Bettina Korintenberg, head of ifa Galleries at the Institute for Foreign Cultural Relations; Bricx Dumas, climate advocate and storyteller; Adi Meretui Ratunabuabua-Divialagi, chairperson of Blue Shield Pasifika; Renan Laru-an, artistic director of SAVVY Contemporary; Maciusela Raitaukala, curator and cultural & arts manager at the Fiji Arts Council; and Nada Rosa Schoer, research associate at the Institute for Art & Material Culture at the Technical University of Dortmund.
“To curb the climate crisis, and keep the 1.5-degree target within reach, we need society as a whole, and everyone in our society must join forces and work together,” said Jennifer Morgan, Secretary of State and Special Envoy for International Climate Action. “The Climate Action Artist Residencies, with their focus on The Vulnerable 20, make an important contribution to an increased understanding of the dangers of the climate crisis. They create new networks at the intersection of art, science, and society, and amplify for us the voices from the regions most affected by climate change,” she added.
“This can be a new impetus for us: to see how strongly we are all connected, and how endangered we all are, through the lens of artistic expression,” Morgan said.
The program is implemented by the exchange organization Cultural Vistas gGmbH with a European office based in Berlin, Germany. (PR)
