Ignatius House set to tackle environmental issues with group art exhibition
All is now set for the second edition of the Ignatius House group art exhibition tagged: Laudato Si (Care for Our Common Home).
Below is the official statement from the coordinator of the forthcoming two-day event, Father Ugo Nweke, SJ.
“You are welcome to this second edition of Ignatius House Art Exhibition titled Laudato Si. Ignatius House Art Exhibition uses art to draw attention to pressing social issues. Laudato Si, a letter to the whole world by Pope Francis, invites all to a conversion of heart and change of attitude that results in greater care for our environment, the earth, and one another. The aim of “Laudato Si: Care for Our Common Home” exhibition is to draw attention to environmental issues through art and to challenge us to take actions that lead to better care for our Common Home: The Earth.
Astronauts are often struck by two experiences as they look at the earth from space. On the one hand, they are taken by the breathtaking beauty of this colourful and apparently circular planet, and on the other hand, they are mystified by this planet’s fragility as it floats along in the sea of charcoal blackness. Astronaut James B. Irwin, of the Apollo Program, has an apt description of this: “As we got further and further away, it [the Earth] diminished in size. Finally, it shrank to the size of a marble, the most beautiful you can imagine. That beautiful, warm, living object looked so fragile, so delicate, that if you touched it with a finger it would crumble and fall apart” (culled from spacequotations.com).
One does not need to travel to space to appreciate the beauty that the earth offers. For those who take time to contemplate the earth, its beauty is everywhere; the earth is a canvas on which this beauty is painted. It is painted into the magnificent oceans that define our coastlines, in the sunset over the lagoon. It is beautifully drawn on the various cloud formations, in the colourful beauty of flowers that blossom, in the imposing majestic steadiness of hills and mountains, in the gentleness of slopes, and the lushness of valleys and the rivers that run through them. This beauty is written in the innocent hopefulness and expectancy of a baby’s smile and gaze, and even the furrowed wisdom of an elderly visage. Therefore, the Psalmist (104:31) declares: “The Lord rejoices in all his work” (also see Gen. 1:31; Wisdom 13:5; Romans 1:20; Proverbs 3:19). Artists, over the centuries, have dedicated their lives and talents to celebrating this beauty through their works of art.
Today, however, the fragility of the earth is a growing concern. The amount of environmental degradation and pollution our earth suffers on a daily basis is pushing this planet to the brink. We do not need to travel out to space in order to experience this. The growing heat waves and the floods that threaten our cities and villages in Nigeria, and communities and cities around the globe are indications that all is not well with our planet. And in Lagos, the peculiarity of noise pollution, the menace of plastic wastes, and the growing boldness of trash are all imminent health hazards. This environmental crisis manifests itself in several other ways that affect us directly or indirectly. For instance, the insecurity we all experience in the herdsmen/farmers’ crisis and the Boko Haram uprising have been linked to problems of desertification and other environmental crisis. Similarly, a lot of ailments (like stroke, cancer, asthmas, Parkinson’s disease, etc.) have been linked to pollution of the environment. It is, therefore, our responsibility, everyone of us, to do something about these menaces and save our common home, the earth. In Laudato Si, we are challenged to a change of heart (ecological conversion), to reduce waste, and to realize our co-responsibility to care for the earth; this common home we share with so many other creatures.
The artists in Laudato Si: Care for Our Common Home art exhibition celebrate the beauty of our planet and also highlight the earth’s fragility. The art work on display include everyday materials that have been creatively recycled and reused to create beautiful works of art. In so doing, they reduce waste and challenge us to have a change of heart in our relationship with everyday materials that we use. Our hope is that, at the end of this mini-exhibition, we may ask ourselves “What else must we do as a community? What else must I do as an individual?”
Fr. Ugo Nweke, SJ
