Representing women's climate narratives through art
A project as part of Social-Ecological Systems (RES510) and SEEDS Sustainability Program at UBC
INTRODUCTION
This project hopes to represent women and non-binary people’s narratives of climate change. It challenges common narratives of women as victims of climate change. Indeed, women are disproportionately affected by climate change. But that mere fact barely scratches the surface of the myriad of experiences and narratives of women and non-binary people in the climate crisis. Structural forces like patriarchy, neoliberalism and neo-imperialism shape the lives of people around the world, and climate change exacerbates these existing inequalities. Thus, although there is some commonality between women’s experiences of climate change, these are greatly coloured by factors like race, age, national origin, etc. We are interested in exploring these narratives in ways that celebrate the subjectivity of the narrators, recognize the different structural forces that affect people’s lived experiences and highlight the agency that women and non-binary people have.
This Story Map features the artworks created at a focus group workshop held on March 20, 2021 and an Art Studio held on April 3, 2021. Using methods including memory work and arts-based methods, we hoped to represent women and non-binary people's stories in ways that recognize their complexity, individuality and power.
FOCUS GROUP
While sharing our climate memories, focus group participants made these artworks. The participants were encouraged to use their choice of art and material.
I wrote my [climate] memory about a glacier that I went to, the Franz Joseph Glacier.
I have memories of my mom talking about [the glacier] when she went there in the 80s, it was like really low down. Then when I went to see it in 2017, we had to hike up quite a bit... it was retreated a lot. And then yeah, [it] had the river outflow coming down... I thought, 'oh my god.'"
The process of reflecting made me really realize how much my [climate] memories are tied to other people's experience.
"I just was doodling as we were talking, I'll see if I can show you is a terrible drawing of a caribou... I'm kind of relating it to, to a different kind of empathy... in a different way. And this is a story that I heard of from a colleague who was talking about the impact of caribou in her community. And we ran a government meeting, and she rightfully did not stop [talking about the caribou]."
I felt like there was a very, full, rich, and like honest conversation about what climate change meant to us.
"So, I felt like we like as we were having the conversation, we identified like positive and negative stories... [I] recognized that there's this like positive- negative binary that we face... [this converation helped me] overcome that binary in some ways. So that's what my little drawing it's meant to represent."
In this poem, I give you a snapshot of some of the climate issues back home, some of the tags that have been placed on women who come to speak up.
"... it was just interesting after writing this and trying to look at some of the other female activists and some of the names they've been called …. and just looking at Greta [Thunberg] for example, being called too young, being called entitled, being called an angry woman... all these different things that people will bring up to sort of like shut up female voices in this movement..."
When browsing news about climate change, I think these are the images that have really stuck out to me.
"While we were talking, we also talked about how like media portrays climate change, we're talking about how it's always like weather extremes and things like that.... And I can still remember, when it was published."
Elon Musk and Ted Cruz leaving behind a burning earth to go to Mars.
Often the most powerful people are able to escape the dangers of climate change, while vulnerable people are left behind.
Women as a symbol can be strong in fighting climate change and protecting our nature earth.
ART STUDIO
We gave space to women and non-binary folks to share their art. They explored what their mediums mean to them, their relationships to climate, and the use of art in their everyday lives.
Collage and embroidery: exploring relationships to water, drought, family and boat refugees.
“I feel like I'm trying to use art and writing as a way to bring more emotion into how I do my work.”
Watch the video to see the art, and hear part of its story.
In these two pieces, I explored my relationship with water and processed feelings of joy, grief, and fear. Approximately a million people in California do not have access to safe and affordable drinking water. Even worse, California is entering another drought year. People’s wells are going dry. I feel a strong sense of urgency to connect these frontline communities with resources. I want to help.
At the same time, I am afraid of water—to be precise, I am afraid of the ocean. A few years after the Vietnam War ended, my family members fled Vietnam by boat. They were lost at sea for weeks. Oftentimes, I think about how they could’ve died, drowned in the ocean, etc. They survived. Many didn’t.
Decades later, we have seen thousands of boat refugees flee their homelands. They cross treacherous oceans and rivers to find a new home but get turned away because they don’t have “papers.” The world can be so cruel.
These pieces are a warning, a SOS, and a reminder: Water/Nước is life.
-Tiên Trần, 4/21/2021
"Seeing Through Watcher's Eyes:" a mural and a digital storytelling tool
"This is a really rich story. It's a story of life, and it compares, and it offers a bridge for anyone if you would like to take the opportunity to walk across the bridge."
Click here and explore this digital tool yourself.
Watch the video to see the tool, and hear part of its story.
Beadwork to connect with Indigenous culture, self, family, and the land.
“How are we supposed to learn culture, especially in urban environments?”
Watch the video to see the art, and hear part of its story.
Poetry to work through emotions about the environment.
“What I wanted to share is the journey that I'm on but I do feel like anyone can relate. Growing up in an urban environment, not on a reserve this disconnect we feel from the land and I think anyone feels disconnected growing up in a city structure, that kind of destructiveness you feel stepping on flowers, stepping on things around you, not knowing where to throw your food, not knowing where to waste your food, this destructiveness that kind of circles, humans, and then at the end, just kind of this wishful thinking I wish to kind of remain and how we can kind of move forward in reconnecting with the land.”
Watch the video to hear the poems.
INTERACTIVE GAME
TOOLKIT
We want to share with you what we learned during this research process. We are hopeful that these pamphlet-style toolkits will help you in hosting climate conversations, art-sharing events, and meaningful focus groups of your own. Please feel welcome to use these resources however you'd like.
