 Amelia Lovo is a young emerging female artist from Erromango Island in Vanuatu, a small island nation in the South Pacific. She uses traditional patterns including tapa making and painting on tapa using colored soil and acrylic. The traditional patterns she uses come from her ancestors. Amelia comes from a family of artists. She started creating art when she was a child and saw her mother painting every day. Amelia recognizes that she is following in the footsteps of her “great mama artist”. Her mother, Juliette Pita, is a well-known and talented painter. Amelia herself has participated in different exhibitions with the Alliance Française and the Fondation Suzanne Bastien.fondationsuzannebastien.com |
Growing up in Port Vila, I was used to seeing very mighty large clam shells decorating people’s houses or lying around some of the old Lapita settlement areas. I wondered where they all came from. Our way of life, our lifestyle, has changed. In my home, we are facing the consequences of the climate crisis. Most of the crops that were part of our diet have been lost due to disasters. Most of the trees we used to make rope for building houses are gone. The trees we used to build stable and long-lasting houses are scarce. For me, the climate crisis is a term used to show a greater sense of emergency and urgency about climate change. Nowadays, the climate crisis is a major issue in my home country, Vanuatu, an island nation in the South Pacific. The people of Vanuatu have contributed little to the pollution and destruction of the Earth. We are victims of the climate crisis.
Not all of us have been educated about the climate crisis that affects us. For example, the younger generations know little about their own culture and tradition. Much of the knowledge of our ancestors has been lost. Younger generations do not know who their tribes are. They are more involved with their cell phones and social media.
From my perspective, humankind has become weak and careless about our duty as caretakers of the Earth, as God has appointed us. People tend to forget the value of the land. People are selling their land just for money. I see the climate crisis as God generously calling and reminding us of our duty. We need to be responsible for our actions. Climate change is a wake-up call from God, and we must work together to address it for our own good.
As time passes, I have come to understand that the quality of people’s lives is significantly affected by the conditions of their environment—both natural and human-made.
I worry about the human-made conditions created by the fossil fuel industry. It is building its lifeline at the expense of our ocean and our health. Continued offshore extraction of oil and gas will only worsen the climate crisis that is already devastating marine ecosystems and further endangering the health and well-being of our frontline coastal communities.
Burning of fossil fuels from oil and gas has had disproportionate adverse health impacts on communities of color and low-income communities. We can no longer allow Big Oil to hold us hostage by polluting our ocean and our homes.
Despite the different issues we face in Vanuatu, our people see Vanuatu as a paradise. People are generally happy. In March 2023, Vanuatu went to the world’s highest court, the International Court of Justice, to fight for climate justice. Today, Vanuatu Government is calling on the UN resolution to act and create a clear path for legal ruling to define the obligations of states that have caused significant damage to the climate system and the environment through acts or omissions.
It is time to act. It’s time to move towards a fossil fuel-free future—for our ocean, for our communities and for our future. We all have a role to play together. The butterfly is on each of our hands, we choose whether we let it fly or die. The climate crisis is now a major issue across the Earth. We are all victims of the climate crisis, and we will all face the consequences.
It is time to ask ourselves: What will be our future? What will happen in the next 10 years? Are we aware of the forces we are unleashing?
For the illustrations of the hors-série brennpunkt, I talk about the reality of what is happening in my little Vanuatu and on the Earth because of the climate crisis. For me, art is meant to recover our ancestor’s knowledge and the connection to the Earth. Art for me is life. Art speaks to convey messages to inspire others.
Point brûlant : Vanuatu lifestyle affected by rising sea levels
Our life before the industrialized world was unique in many ways. The native people of the islands saw the environment around them as a paradise. They lived in close relationship with nature in order to survive. Humans and nature in a close bond. Our lifestyles have changed since then. The terror of the climate crisis has been forcefully introduced to the South Pacific islands, including Vanuatu. Rising sea levels are affecting our islands. We are seeing coastal flooding and coastal erosion in the low islands. As we speak, the inland space is shrinking by the day.
Nouvelles du monde : careless human being
The painting shows my knowledge and understanding of the ongoing climate crisis that the world is experiencing now. We are experiencing rising sea levels, large greenhouse gas emissions polluting the atmosphere and our breath, cyclones, tsunamis, thunderstorms. We feel that the sun is getting hotter than usual. There are not many trees left. The whole painting shows a figure of a careless human being who is greedy, selfish and does not even care about other species that coexist with us on the planet.
Horizon des possibilités : unity of voices
The painting shows the unity of our voices in identifying, cooperating and finding paths to address the climate crisis and its effects. We have all become victims of climate change. With climate justice, we can take care of our planet together.
Et au Luxembourg ? : rich but toxic
The painting shows a woman with a custom stone money around her neck. The custom stone money was used by our ancestors a long time ago. It’s a sad reality to see that money is the root factor why the world is experiencing the climate crisis. Many people are running after money, forgetting the damage they are doing to our planet. In Vanuatu, we have become victims of a crisis we didn’t cause.
Par où commencer : a caring pregnant woman
The painting shows a caring pregnant woman. Her skirt represents the reefs where the marine life finds shelter under the sea. Her coconut hand represents the only goal: to make sure her child will live in a safer and more just world than the one she lives in now… Today the Earth is at the peak of the climate crisis. Therefore, our actions to address it are very important. There are two actions shown in the painting: the conservation of marine life and the conservation of forests for future generations. It would be a sad reality for them to know trees only in books and not in reality. Just like the caring pregnant mother, taking care of the Earth must be everyone’s concern.
