AUT co-hosts official CHOGM exhibition
An exhibition showcasing powerful visual stories of climate change and resilience by people of the Pacific was launched by Vice-Chancellor, Professor Damon Salesa, and the British Council at an official event of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Samoa.
The exhibition, Trouble in Paradise - Climate Change in the Pacific, features many of the winning entries from the UK’s Pacific Climate Photography Competition which was held in the lead-up to COP26.
The striking images selected from over 300 submissions by people of the Pacific depict the effects of the climate crisis on the region. Photographers from people then as young as eight capture a stark picture of the rising sea levels, cyclones and floods experienced by those living in the Pacific.
As an official side-event of CHOGM, the exhibition provides a unique opportunity for Commonwealth Heads of State, leaders and delegates to witness the urgency of the climate crisis and its impact on Pacific communities. The photographs will be hosted at AUT following the exhibition’s return to Aotearoa New Zealand next year.
To commemorate the exhibition, AUT and the British Council have co-produced a limited-edition book, which includes contributions from Professor Salesa and former New Zealand Poet Laureates SelinaTusitala Marsh and David Eggleton. A digital copy is available here.
Reflecting on the impact of publishing the book, Professor Salesa says: “Here art is action. These images make clear that these impacts of climate change are all very different when they are happening to you, to your family, and to your home. The publication of this exhibition book will enable delegates and leaders to take home a permanent reminder of resilience and inspiration to lead, respond and take action, compelled by Pacific people who are themselves leading, responding, and acting.”
In his contribution to the book, Professor Salesa wrote that the publication provided a powerful way for Pacific youth to stake their claim on the issue of climate leadership.
“Through the power of visual media, a group of new, often young, Pacific creatives have turned their lenses towards capturing the ways that this climate and sustainability trouble has come to them, in their parts of the world. These photographs – and their creators – come as authentic voices speaking to our shared global challenge, offering powerful and unique insight, vision and critique, coming in parts sombre, poignant, celebratory, and defiant.
“These are voices, and a vision, we need.”
From 21- 26 October 2024, the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) is being held for the first time in the Pacific (excluding Australia and New Zealand). HM King Charles III, Patron of the British Council and the Head of the Commonwealth, will attend, along with leaders of the 56 Commonwealth countries and over 3,000 delegates.
The Trouble in Paradise - Climate Change in the Pacific exhibition is presented by the British Council New Zealand and the Pacific in partnership with AUT, the British High Commissions in Wellington and Apia, the New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, and the Samoan Ministry of Education and Culture.