25 January 2008- The
Natural World Museum (NWM) and the United
Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) have
revealed plans to bring their innovative
and highly celebrated
art exhibit, "Melting Ice / A Hot Topic:
Envisioning Change", to the Principality
of Monaco in honor of the official programming
for the Tenth Special Session of UNEP's
Governing Council/Global Ministerial Environment
Forum on Globalization and Environment:
Financing the Climate Challenge. This forum
is the largest gathering of environmental
leaders from across the globe.
"UNEP and NWM have
joined forces to generate environmental
awareness through the Art for the Environment
initiative" said Achim Steiner, Under
Secretary-General of the United Nations
and Executive Director of UNEP. "Science
informs the mind, music and the heart but
art connects with the human spirit. We urgently
need to empower all three of these essential
human elements if we are to rise to the
challenge and seize the opportunities for
economic, environmental and social renewal
glimpsed through the lens of climate change."
The international exhibit
on climate change will be hosted by the
Office of Cultural Affairs in Monaco (DAC)
from 20 February - 16 March 2008.
UNEP and NWM have been
partners since 2005 through the global "Art
for the Environment" initiative, a
curatorial programme that utilizes the universal
language of art to unite people into action
and thought on a broad spectrum of environmental
topics.
"We have gained
significant international recognition and
continue to make strides in environmental
awareness," said Mia Hanak, Founding
Executive Director of the Natural World
Museum. "Monaco is our third stop on
the global tour and our goal is to inspire
environmental awareness and action around
the topic of climate change by presenting
this exhibit to UNEP's Governing Council
- a gathering of 100 environmental leaders
from around the world."
Artists participating
in Melting Ice / A Hot Topic include: Subhankar
Banerjee, Robert Bateman, Alfio Bonanno,
David Buckland, Christo and Jeanne- Claude,
Margaret Cogswell, Sebastian Copeland, Xavier
Cortada, Siobhan Davies, Era & Don Farnsworth,
Helen Mayer Harrison & Newton Harrison,
Mona Hatoum, David & Hi-Jin Hodge, Laura
Horelli, Gary Hume, Icelandic Love Corporation,
Ichi Ikeda, Svein Flygari Johansen, Chris
Jordan, Yoshiaki Kaihatsu, Fred Ivar Utsi
Klemetsen, Angela Lergo, Jonas Liverod,
Ives Maes, Dalibor Martinis, Strijdom Van
Der Merwe, Jacob McKean, Gilles Mingasson,
David Nash, Lucy & Jorge Orta, Sven
Pahlsson, Cecilia Paredes, Philippe Pastor,
Shana & Robert Parkeharrison, Andrea
Polli, Ana Prvacki, Kahn Selesnick, Anne
Senstad, David Trubridge, Theo Wujcik, and
Justin Young.
