Art for Climate Advocacy

The Rainbow Farm

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The drawing is a reflection of colours on the farm which are brought through sustainable practices and constant irrigation facilities in the villages of India. The story of life on the farm and the biodiversity has also been displayed through the drawing. The drawing depicts the importance of dam, the canals which have reached the interior villages and the rivers which bring minerals and life to the crops and the produce. The waters from the rivers truly bring the rainbows in the farms and people’s lives.

 

Ayaan Jariwala | Riverside School, Ahmedabad | Age: 11
from The Riversideschool via KHOJ - Science + Art + Innovation Museum

Water For Generations

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Water, which is important for survival, is at high risk. Global warming, pollution from industries, overuse or wastage of water, etc are some of the main causes for which waterbodies are drying or becoming too polluted for usage. Half of the world's wetlands have disappeared. In my piece of art it is pointed out that due to drying up of water the path the people used to enjoy for shipment and trading is now just a barren land in which there is a little hope that if we stop man made causes of pollution maybe this barren land will be filled with water again. By using the children to portray that just like they are sailing the paper boat in the puddle of water, there is a hope that ships will be sailing one day. So WAKE UP YOUNG GENERATION! to protect our planet and make it a better place.

 

Sarmistha Dutta | Marian Co Educational School, Kolkata | Age: 16

 

Dry Lives

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With new technologies, experiments and consumables, surely we are moving towards development, but what about our lives and their quality... They are getting dry both, in terms of water and moral contents. How? We are losing our natural reserve of water and morals to respect and protect our gifts of nature, thus becoming dry. This picture depicts the unavailability of water resources due to which people ended up being wanderers in search of water, one of the most precious forms of natural gifts. To avoid such  a situation recurring almost every year, life comes up with different ways of conserving this inevitable lifeline.

 

Amrita Sahoo | Sunbeam English School, Varanasi | Age: 16

Disaster in the Sundarbans

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The Sundarbans are a vast forest on the coast of the Bay of Bengal. It is full of natural beauty but on the 20 May 2020 the Cyclone Amphan hit the Sundarbans affecting the lives of people living there. Houses were torn apart, the fields were filled with brackish water making them unsuitable for farming. With their homes being destroyed along with their livelihoods, people in the Sundarbans faced a threat to their survival. With the Bay of Bengal near their place, saline water had flooded their water sources, filling the ponds and tube wells and diluting the freshwater reserves. This caused an acute shortage of water used for daily life purposes and for drinking, even for the wild life. Wild animals like deer, wild hogs, wild buffalos, leopards and the Bengal tiger had to suffer because of the destruction in their habitat and saline water encroachment. Their homes had been destroyed by the cyclone too.

 

Shaoni Mitra | Bidya Bharati Girls High School, Kolkata | Age: 15

Finding Hope

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This particular painting shows the fishermen and women in Sundarbans struggling to get hold of the freshwater fish, which is a major source of their food. They need both fresh water and sea water fish for nutrition. Due to the continuous inflow of sea water into freshwater sources, the people of Sundarbans are being affected.  This painting depicts the struggle of the fishermen and women folk.

 

Ayushi Mondal | Delhi Public School, Howrah | Age: 15

The Fight For Water

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Water is one of the main sources of fights in our basti (urban settlement). On the one hand, being surrounded by factories means scarcity of access, and contamination of ground water due to effluent and waste. On the other, as is the case in most working class settlements, even the municipal supply line releases water that is untreated, full of insects and waste, and it is not only undrinkable, but even bathing in it is difficult. Most people don’t have personal water connections in their homes and we all have to fill water from common taps. This often leads to many fights and arguments. Filling water is usually the work of girls and women. For clean drinking water, many women have to walk 2-3 km carrying large vessels of water. In all of this however, what I have had to battle most with respect to water, is caste discrimination.

Recently, this resulted in a fight that risked my being put in juvenile jail. This drawing is a depiction of that incident – and also a vision of the fight for water being a fight against caste.

 

Tripti Pathak | Shaheed School, Raipur | Age: 13

Regressed

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This painting shows the interaction between our environment and Nature (a woman). It moves in in an anti-clockwise direction showing the impact of human actions on the water bodies over time. On the  left, nature is adorned by a shellfish and a healthy freshwater Koi fish. At the bottom, is how initially humans started using water for agriculture suggesting water once played a vital role in civilisation; however, it has lost its value in due course. On the bottom-right is the current situation of my city. We immerse gypsum idols of Gods into water bodies during rituals, resulting in water-pollution. On the centre-right is our near future with rampant droughts, deforestation and water scarcity. The freshwater stream is joined by tears from the Lady showing her self-sacrificing nature despite being exploited by us.

This thinning stream is collected by a malnourished child who represents the underprivileged communities where they have limited sources of freshwater. Finally, the sewage water outlet on top pollutes the remaining water. Nature, who was once bejewelled with beautiful ornaments is now forced to wear skeletons of the Koi fish, crushed bottles and garbage, fumes and harmful pollutants. Our actions have led to global warming. We are progressing technologically, yet regressing conscientiously.

 

Nisha Amol Rode | Mahatma School of Academics and Sports, Navi Mumbai | Age: 16

Water is the Driving Force of All Nature

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Water is significant for the endurance of life on the planet. It makes life conceivable on Earth, and existence without water is impossible. Water is the fundamental asset without which no life can endure. Water additionally supports a tremendous diversity of aquatic life. We should make individuals increasingly mindful of water’s value and what damage we are doing by wasting it. By enjoying persistent wastage of water, we set up a coffin for humankind and every existing creature. Consistently the world draws nearer to a dry end while individuals like us express ignorance. It’s time that we should quit assessing and begin acting if we would prefer not to be accused of making the planet dry and dead. Lack of water is a big issue in many countries. It is a symbiotic factor and important element on which all  life depends. The level of drinking water under the ground is becoming less because of the disturbance in the natural filtering system. Deforestation and lack of plants causes rainwater to run away (surface runoff) instead of being absorbed in the ground. We should follow all the key activities regarding saving water from loss, unnecessary use and waste as well as degrading water quality.

 

Khushi Singh | Sunbeam English School, Varanasi | Age: 16

It takes a lot of blue to stay green

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Earth is the only known planet in this universe that contains water and lifeforms. Water covers over 70 percent of the earth’s surface and makes up approximately 60 percent of the human body. So, why are so many people concerned about conserving it? Simply because despite the fact there’s so much of it around, only a tiny fraction of that water is accessible and safe for human consumption.

With all of that H2O constantly flowing, it can be easy to forget just how rare freshwater really is. And, although it is possible to treat unsafe water in order to purify it for consumption, the process itself requires massive amounts of energy. So, when it comes down to it, every drop that can be conserved will only help us all out in the long run. A few steps towards the conservation of water can be taken up as in, we need water in our day-to-day life activities, so we should reduce wastage and try to reuse water as much as possible. Conservation of water will also ensure a proper balance of life on the planet Earth. Saving water also means not cutting trees as the roots hold the underground water table. If we conserve water, we will be able to have enough water for our farms, and the crops will be much better.

 

Navya Singh | Sunbeam English School, Varanasi | Age: 16

The mighty wants to live

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In my artwork, I have portrayed the Mighty Creatures that traverse the Great Mangrove forests of the Sundarbans as someone vulnerable. Tigers, which were widespread in our world, today their natural existence has been drastically reduced to only a few pockets of their historical range. In my work, I have depicted their appeal to the human race for their survival. The colour scheme for my artwork has been inspired by ‘Bharat Mata’, a painting by the eminent Bengali painter Abanindranath Tagore.

 

Tanvee Goenka | Modern High School, Kolkata | Age: 17

The third eye

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It is elucidated that freshwater is vital for life, rather the existence of all ecosystems. Without the water cycle, i.e., without the existence of an entire realm, the actuality of life would itself cease to exist. This pen and ink work was made with the purpose of bringing across the idea of unanimity and the sole truth that one cannot exist without the other. The race for power and the drive to be at the top of the food chain has made man blur the lines between form and ideal. Not only that, selfishness has taken over and just the desire to use as many resources as man wants has been turned into a need. Think about it though, why is there a need to leave the water tap running? Or why is there a need to kill animals just for fun? On raising such questions, a definite answer will never be received.

 

Through this piece of work, I wish to show that cruelty begins from the words of a man and it stays. But the truth is that even when it stays, we cannot manipulate the reality. We are dependent on other species and vice versa. The three realms of the biosphere, which are atmosphere, lithosphere and hydrosphere, all work together in relation to the other. Just like that, without all components of biodiversity maintaining a balance, we will never be able to achieve our actual strength, our "Third Eye".

 

Vedika Agrawal | Modern High School, Kolkata | Age:16

Head above water

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Water striders use their hydrophobic hair to stay afloat on water, similarly, we can use our positivity to repel all the negativity around us. This drawing reflects the thought that water is for everyone. The negative impacts which have been created by us, have left the water for no one, it is only we who can bring the change by conscious actions.

 

Krish Shodhan | Riverside School, Ahmedabad | Age: 16