CLIMATE 04 – Lonely Planet: Artist uses façade of dockside building in Venice to address climate change

An artist has painted a unique mural on the face of a Venetian building that aims to encourage discussion related to climate change and the risks posed to the city by rising sea levels.

Created by visual artist Andreco, Climate 04-Sea Level Rise is part of an ongoing art and science project that first launched in Paris in 2015 during the Cop 21 UN conference. Following that, the Climate project expanded to Bologna and Bari before continuing to Venice, where the latest set of installations and events are taking place. Located on the banks of the Grand Canal, the new additions include the mural, which presents artistic translation of the scientific studies of sea levels and extreme waves, as well as a sculptural installation inspired by the importance of local plants for the lagoon ecosystem. The final piece will see an academic conference taking place that will feature talks by international scientific researchers and artists to stimulate public discussion.

Both the 100-metre long mural and the seven-metre high sculpture are located beside the Santa Lucua Train Station on the Grand Canal and are available to be viewed by the public. Each location that has hosted a chapter of the Climate project was specifically chosen due its direct relationship with the topic being discussed. Accelerating desertification was addressed during the project in Bari, while Venice was chosen to host the discussion around rising sea levels due to the high risk to the city caused by climate change.

“Destroying our environment means destroying ourselves. Climate change is one of the biggest problem of our times, and we need to change systems of production and living in order to mitigate it. The urgency of this for me is a big influence on the production of my art,” Andreco told Lonely Planet Travel News.