Alice Henderson: Sculpture at COP 22

"L'art peut-il interroger le réel?"
​-Nordin Znati

Sign posted with Znati's sculptures

"Can art examine reality?"

This is the question posed by Moroccan artist, Nordin Znati, who created sculpture pieces for display at COP 22. While his is not the only art on display at the COP - meeting room hallways display photography, drawings and children's artwork - it is the most central display, located along the main walkway in the "COP Village," and it is the only sculpture display. 

These pieces are composed of everyday materials, discarded metal scrap, wire, bike chains, light bulbs, water dials and canisters. They are influenced by Znati's concern for environmental action along with faith and readings from the Quran. As an advocate for science and science communication, it is important to engage multiple academic disciplines including the social sciences, humanities, art, music, and film in pursuit of engaging both policy makers and the public.

---

I will highlight a few of the sculptures here along with some brief explanations based on discussion with the artist during my time at COP 22.

 





This sculpture depicts a brother and sister happily walking while the sister carries bread on a platter to be baked. Also represented are new energy sources, wind and sun, shown by the pinwheel, plastic panel and bright yellow skirt.








​

​




​This piece describes climate refugees. Birds are shown dragging their home with heads bent. The front character has a door strapped to their back indicating "Dr. Typhoon Iceberg has changed his address," but the new address is a place that doesn't exist, since icebergs are retreating to a place we don't know if they will ever return from.

---

"Total Agony"

                                                                                    The dire image presented in "Total Agony" describes Znati's fears for a world dependent on oil and fossil fuels. The sculpture shows a bird in great pain, half of it's body replaced by oil dipsticks.


"Mr. Waste" depicts a man with a shopping cart consumed by consumption. The bike chain coming from his chest is intended to look like the intestine, his own body revolting from the preoccupation with this lifestyle of more, larger, and newer stuff.  His head is a water counter dial, indicating his focus on counting his possessions, but as Znati explains, "Il ne se rend pas compte," he doesn't realize that his physical possessions and focus on consumption are useless, they are not what matters in life.
​

Pictured next is Znati himself beside the first sculpture he called my attention to, "No DAPL." It depicts an eagle standing defiantly, one foot on a short section of black, plastic pipe. With this piece, Znati calls attention to the struggle of Native Americans at Standing Rock, using the eagle, a native symbol, and section of pipe. Znati is Moroccan, but found out about the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL), from a Native American friend currently living at Standing Rock. 

---

"Mr. Waste"

"NoDAPL" and Nordin Znati

This final sculpture displays the importance of climate change education. Here the smaller figure had a light bulb for a head, indicating new ideas and ways of thinking that spring from education. Education is the future of the climate movement, without education things cannot change in a positive way.

Znati hopes that his art at COP 22 will influence policy makers and other attendees. He describes how words can go in one ear and out the other, while an image or art piece stays with you for a long time. I for one was impacted by this artwork and I hope our negotiators have been as well. With the minute details of word choice and syntax discussed in many of the negotiation meetings, it is easy to lose track of the bigger picture, the larger problems facing our global community. I sincerely hope Znati's art makes an impact during COP 22, asking the question:

"Can art examine reality?"

---