Communicating through the arts

In the previous step, we explored some of the mental barriers that prevent people from engaging fully with the climate crisis.

These barriers can make it challenging to motivate action. This brings us to an important question: how can we reach people on a deeper, emotional level? One way is through art. 

The power of art in climate communication

Art has a unique ability to communicate beyond words, statistics or facts. While some people connect through logic, reason or numbers, almost everyone is moved by something that touches them emotionally. Art can bypass mental barriers, reaching people in ways that rational arguments often cannot. It speaks directly to our hearts, creating a sense of connection and urgency that resonates deeply and personally. Through images, poems, stories and performances, art brings the climate crisis to life, making it more immediate and more real. 

Let’s take a look at some examples of art related to the climate crisis. As you explore these pieces, consider how they make you feel. Do they help you see the crisis in a new light? Do they speak to something that logical arguments may not have reached? 

Visual art 

Nizzan Cohen, CC BY 4.0.

This piece of street art in Tel Aviv by Murielle Cohen depicts the Earth getting married to a toxic corporation. 

Luisa Brando for ArtistsForClimate.org, CC BY 4.0.

This image called ‘Voting For The Future’ by Luisa Brando was created for the project ‘Artists for Climate’, a unique collection of open-license visuals that inspire climate action. It depicts a voting booth where animals and plants also have a say in their future.  

Jordan Schiffer for ArtistsForClimate.org, CC BY 4.0.

This poster titled ‘Ignorance Is Not A Bliss’ by Jordan Schiffer shows us how the media can keep us from realising the true extent of the climate crisis. This poster was also made for the ‘Artists For Climate’ project.

Spoken word

View transcript.

This spoken word piece called ‘Earthrise’ by Amanda Gorman provides a powerful and emotional yet hopeful outlook on the climate crisis.

This statement and poem by Kathy Jetnil-Kijiner, a poet and climate activist from the Marshall Islands, was read during the opening ceremony of the Climate Summit in 2014.

Poetry 

Below you can read a poem called ‘Warned’ by Sylvia Stults that warns us about the need to protect nature.  

The sands of time have rendered fear

Blue skies on high no longer clear 

Stars were bright whence they came 

Now dimmed, obscured, pollution’s haze 

  

Crystal clear our waters gleamed 

Fish abundant, rivers streamed 

Ocean floors sandy white 

Now littered, brown, pollution’s plight 

  

Trees towered high above 

Trunks baring professed love 

Birds chirping from sites unseen 

Gone, paper joined pollution’s team 

  

One can’t blame pollution alone 

As they say, you reap what you’ve sown 

So let us plant a better seed 

Tear out old roots, cultivate, weed 

  

Protect what has been given for free 

Our waters, skies, wildlife and trees 

For once they’re gone, don’t you say 

Consider yourself warned of that fatal day 

Source: Poem About Environmental Preservation

Climate fiction 

Now it’s your turn 

As you can see, art offers countless powerful ways to communicate about the climate crisis, and everyone will be touched by different things. 

What resonates with you? Search for pieces of art about the climate crisis or, alternatively, you can create your own. This could be poems, short stories, images, videos, songs, spoken word pieces or even a short theatrical performance. Select or create something that reflects how you feel about climate change.

Once you have found or created a piece, share it with other learners.

• If you have found an existing piece, share a link to it in the Comments section.
• If you have created your own written piece, paste it into the Comments section.
• If you have created your own image, share it on the Padlet.

Make sure you add a brief reflection on why it resonates with you or, if you have created your own piece, what inspired you to create it.

Go to the Padlet board.

Please note, by selecting this link you will be taken to a page containing content provided by a third party website.