(Climate) Change Comes From The Heart

For the month of love, we collaborated with Count Us In and some amazing artists around the world for a new take on the ever present climate emergency, focused on the people and places we want to protect for the future. 

Recent tests have shown that social media users are desensitised to the issues of climate change. With so many people telling you what to do and when to do it, we toyed around with a question more and more people are wondering... How do you tap into human interests and emotions around increasingly important topics? 

Stepping out of the hypothetical box, we reached out to artists far and wide and asked them “What do you want to protect the most from the effects of climate change?”

Here are some of the artists who replied to support Count Us In and help us shift the climate conversation:

2030 by Clare Celeste Börsch (left)

Instagram: @clarecelesteart
Website: www.clareceleste.com

"This is about how much I want to explore coral reefs with my son when he is a teenager, which means we must not hit 1.5 degrees before he is grown. He is 5 now." 

Heart home by Vane MG (right)

Instagram: @vanemg.art
Website: www.vanemg.com

"For our indigenous groups in South America, their home is their land. They live in direct contact with nature and their knowledge and beliefs are based around it. We need to understand more about their situation and take care of them, as they are taking care of nature, our home.”

With over 40 entries, the art community around the world gathered around the people and places they'd like to protect from the effects of climate change. Getting involved wasn't simply about showcasing the things that they love, the artists demonstrated that it's possible to take steps in a way that works for you and communicate about climate change in a new way.

Nature Cycles by Iancu Barbărasă
Instagram: @Ianculdraws
Website: www.iancul.com

For Iancu, his piece was created to inspire people to cycle or walk more.

In addition, we wanted to share the collection of pieces submitted by Studio Muti, inspired by the elements.

Instagram: @studiomuti
Website: studiomuti.co.za

Air - Hawk Moth - ‘ When one tugs at a single thing in nature, he finds it attached to the rest of the world.’ - John Muir

Earth - Elands in the Drakensberg ‘It is not the mountain we conquer but ourselves’ - Sir Edmund Hillary

The eland plays a vital role in the South African ecosystem. I wanted to place the eland, the world's largest antelope, in the Drakensberg, an ancient and pristine World Heritage Site that has many locations sacred to the khoisan people. Today's changing climate tears at the fabric of many ecosystems and its effects will eventually be felt worldwide. The tumbling rocks represent the crumbling of things that had once taken a great deal of time to establish.

Water - Freediver and fish - ‘ If you don’t become the ocean, you’ll be seasick everyday’ - Leonard Cohen

Count Us In's social media takeover demonstrated a refreshing approach to inspiring action and it's clear now more than ever that it's up to us to protect what we love. If you'd like to check out the takeover and all of the other featured pieces, head over to Count Us In's socials here.