Artist and multi-disciplinary producer Emma Blake Morsi was commissioned by the Cabot Institute for the Environment and Rising Arts Agency to create a series of billboards and posters, which were exhibited across Bristol in July 2021.
This creative commission highlighted how innovative, pioneering research holds the key to unlocking some of the biggest challenges – and possible solutions – facing humanity and the environment, in the lead up to COP26.
190 global leaders will gather in the UK city of Glasgow for the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference, better known as COP26, to accelerate action towards ambitious targets aimed at cutting carbon emissions and safeguarding the world’s future.
Leading experts from the University of Bristol’s Cabot Institute for the Environment will be contributing to the discussions and the billboards campaign was launched in the city in July 2021 to bring the important issues at stake to a wider audience.
Emma’s designs vibrantly illustrate the interdependent fragility of ecosystems, which are vital for plants, water, and food, while emphasising that access to water and sanitation is a human right. Another captures the ravages of climate change, depicting a scene of desolate drylands juxtaposed against lush greenery – a harsh reality which imperils 2 billion people.
The agreements on action reached at COP26 will have a bearing on all our lives both now and long into the future, so it’s important to raise awareness and improve understanding of pressing problems, such as access to water and sustainable food sources. I hope this fantastic artwork sparks lots of conversations about climate change and related issues, while also encouraging people to find out more about the amazing work scientists are undertaking to identify possible solutions.
Emma Blake Morsi
Emma Blake Morsi is an award-winning Multi-disciplinary Producer, Non-executive Director of Rising Arts Agency and Bristol City Council’s Culture Board member. A prolific visual storyteller, she predominantly works across photography, words, graphics, film and events, and has been training as a creative intersectional environmentalist following years in STEM.
Rising Arts Agency
Rising Arts Agency is a powerful, collaborative community of artists and creatives mobilising for social change. The Rising community is made up of activists, producers, facilitators, illustrators, installation artists, filmmakers, and more. They bring together everyone from young people at all stages of their careers to collaborating organisations to industry professionals excited to share knowledge and expertise.
Cabot Institute for the Environment
Cabot Institute for the Environment is a diverse community of 600 experts, united by a common cause: protecting our environment and identifying ways of living better with our changing planet.
I truly believe creative art can help champion environmental progress and that discussions about climate change, and possible solutions, must be inclusive, starting at a grass-roots level. There’s no better place than out on the street to do that.
I’m passionate about finding creative solutions to the world’s social and sustainable challenges. COP26 may not be on everyone’s radar, so this is an important and exciting way to make the hot topics under discussion more accessible and relatable.