A Children’s Art Exhibitionthat Targets an Issue of Global Concern

The Children’s Art Exhibition of “Wake Up for Mother Nature”isorganized by the University of Colombo’s Field Ornithology Group of Sri Lanka (fogsl), the SPEARS Foundation and the Rotary Club of Colombo West. It will be held from 26^th February to 2^nd March 2019 at the JDA Perera Art Gallery 46 Horton Place, Colombo 7.

The Exhibition is the result of a recently concluded island-wide art competition, and it’s about Sri Lanka’s young people expressing concerns about the environmental ills they face today.These concerns are vividly expressed by kids of all ages, from primary, middle and senior school grades.

By expressing their concerns, these children have identified themselves with an international movement that began recently with the gutsy determination of Sweden’s sixteen-year old Greta Thunberg to change the world’s environmental status quo. A single girl’s commitment snowballed andspread like wildfire to Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, the Netherlands, Germany, Finland, Denmark, Japan, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States. It is now in Sri Lanka with our children’s fervent hope that theiractions will help mitigateour country’s environmental woes.

Besides identifying with international youth movements,this Art Exhibition is also related tothe interests of international organizations. In fact, it is conducted in preparation for the 18^th Conference of Parties (CoP) to the UN’s Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) to be held in Colombo in May-June 2019.Therefore, the themes of the paintings displayed at the exhibition are based on the global mandate of the UN and CITES to combat pollution and achieve their Sustainable Development Goals 14 (aquatic life) and 15 (terrestrial life).

In addition to displaying thought provoking paintings, the Exhibition offers several other interesting activities. There is an Art Corner where visitors could create nature art with the help of professionals. In the Kid’s Corner they could watch recently made videos of Sri Lankan children expressing their views about the environment they live in. In the Insect Corner they could learn to identify different species of Sri Lanka’s butterflies and dragonflies. The Bird Corner will help visitors to identify bird calls heard in their backyards.The Marine corner moves away from terrestrial and avian realm and deals with beach erosion and marine pollution resulting from the use of plastics.

Besides the learning experience offered by the Exhibition,visitors especially school teachers, could also browse and purchase books and posters on naturefor their homes or classrooms. They could also participate in a silent auction of the paintings submitted for the competition or purchase raffle tickets to win attractive prizes. These fundraising initiatives will help defray the cost of Wake Up for Mother Nature’s second initiative, which would be a children’s street parade.

The parade is tentatively scheduled to be held during the18^th Conference of Parties (CoP) in late May/June 2019. It is expected to wind through Colombo’s busy streets picking up children carrying placards made of the award-winning paintings in front of their schools. Many details have to be addressed before the parade comes to fruition and our children are again able to promote public awareness of environmental protection.  Stay tuned for further particulars. 

By Emeritus Professor SarathKotagama,University of Colombo and Scientist Emeritus Rudy Rudran, Smithsonian Institution

vedio copyright - CITES CoP18

CITES අන්තර් ජාතික සම්මුතිය වෙනුවෙන් පවත්වන සොබාදම් මව උදෙසා චිත්‍ර තරගයේ ජයග්‍රහකයෝ