PHILIP BAREISS GALLERY SATELITE EXHIBITON
TAOS ENVIRONMENTAL FILM FESTIVAL AND SATELITE EXHIBITON AT THE PHILIP BAREISS GALLERY
Reception Saturday, April 13 from 4 to 6pm Closing Reception, April 21 from noon to 3pm
THIS EXHIBITION WILL BE IN CONJUNCTION WITH THE FILMMAKER’S BEAUTIFUL FILM, WALKING THUNDER, WHICH WILL BE SCREENED AT THE TAOS COMMUNITY AUDITORIUM ON SUNDAY, APRIL 21 AT 4PM.
THE PHOTOGRAPHER’S WORK WAS SEEN AT THE COP21 - PARIS 2015 EXHIBITION. ADDRESSING CLIMATE CHANGE: LEGACY–LUCIE FOUNDATION CURATES PHOTOGRAPHY EXHIBITION HIGHLIGHTING GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE.
Curatorial Statement: Photography in the hands of great artists can transmit a visual message that can make an impact, like no other medium. A single still image is capable of saying something so profound that its effect is undeniably felt by all people. The artistic expression may be an individual one, but an image can be universally understood, and resonate around the world. The Lucie Awards is honored to have been asked to curate and present exceptional images that do just that.
For the UN Climate Change Legacy Exhibition, we have called upon renowned photographers who have dedicated their lives to documenting melting icebergs, drought, air, water, waste pollution and the undeniable effects these things have had on our planet. It is a condensed, compassionate plea, through their lenses, of the effects of climate change.
Their images may be startlingly beautiful, which can complicate the horrific message they convey, but look beyond the amazing artistry and try to understand the subliminal ideas within these framed works. Bravo to these brilliant image-makers who challenge us with their documentary record of what is taking place. It has been a privilege to curate their works for the COP21. We have been humbled by their clarity and consistent endeavour to keep shouting to the world to do something. Hossein Farmani, Chair, The Lucie Awards, Susan Baraz, Co-Chair, The Lucie Awards.
THE MIGHTY GIRAFFE
by Lysander Christo, Writer/Photographer. Age 12
Silent steps of evolution, highest height of all the world.
Of all the world a graceful trot,
so fast, yet so slow through the savannah,
where the elephants trumpet and blow.
Your long purple tongue so strong, and so speechless
you eat the thorns of a tree of a foliage,
that resembles barbed wire fence.
If you could speak, you would tell us,
the ways of living in peace, with no menacing gaze.
If you could speak, my friend, you would tell us
how to revive ourselves, or what we have done.
We have blackened the earth and sullied our air,
we have killed your friends,
for nothing but the triumph of money
and the triumph of cash, no matter
who we are deep inside, we’re sorry for this.
Despite the commandments, despite the laws,
we have done what we wish and transformed
rainforests to deserts and savannahs to dust,
we have escaped the laws of nature,
the true laws that keep all animals from destroying the earth. From your unjudging heights
you look down upon us.
You see so much that you know the answers,
you are the messenger of knowledge itself. You are the mighty giraffe.
Published Nov. 29, 2017: BIODIVERSITY.ORG