ART TO THE RESCUE OF THE PLANET
(Note: The art installation Be the Drop that Shapes the Wave was presented for the first time during a UN 2023 Water Conference special event hosted by Femsa Foundation – Scroll to the end of the post to watch the making Be the Drop that Shapes the Wave.The play LOVE authored and directed by Alexander Zeldin was performed at the Park Armory in New York in from in February and March 2023.)
Somewhere among the routine schedule of meetings, the policy papers, and tightly scripted speeches of besuited officials gathering at the 2023 UN Conference on Water, one presentation stands apart.
A vast dynamic piece of art proposes raising awareness about the urgent water situation in Latin America. Composed of 8,000 ceramic beads, each representing a drop of water, it is the imagined work of New York-based artist Inma Barrero and more than 100 entrepreneurs, leaders of corporations and governmental agencies, artists, activists, and children.
Its name is inspiring: Be the Drop that Shapes the Wave. Its reason for being, however, is frightening.
Over 2 billion people worldwide cannot access safe drinking water or sanitation. During the pandemic, many could not even wash their hands. Until and unless decision-makers act on the critical need to make safe water available for all, the situation will only worsen as the global population grows exponentially. This United Nations meeting in New York City was long overdue.
In Latin America alone, the water shortage affects seven out of ten people, according to the local not-for-profit Lazos de Agua program. That represents 160 million people—that is the populations of Argentina, Colombia, Venezuela, and Peru combined!
To face this challenge, an artwork co-created by a well-known artist and dozens of people spread out in 15 countries, including children from public schools in Manhattan and the Lycée Français de New York, might seem, at best, decorative.
Or is it?
Here is Margaux. She is 11 years old. Margaux was born in France but moved to New York when she was one.
After spending an afternoon discussing water and art in Inma Barrero’s workshop, molding dozens of beads, each to be assembled in Be the Drop that Shapes the Wave, Margaux did not just become an artist. She became a conscious artist.
As she was about to leave the artist’s workshop, Margaux stood with Inma Barrero among the unfinished drops of water hanging from the ceiling; she looked at a camera and proclaimed, “Water is Life.” Many of her fellow students chose the same word. Others associated water with privilege, calmness, survival, luxury, softness, animals, plants, necessity, and happiness. Along with Margaux, there were Inès, Bakoro, Céline, Eowin, Nina, Elise, Mia, Elodie, Nicolas, Zahra, Marion, Zoé, Maximilien, Orfeo and many more, all representing diverse nationalities. They learned about the challenges of water and watched videos of young women walking miles to collect unsafe water in Africa. They commented on this new information and listened to experts led by One Drop Foundation, an organization founded in Canada by Guy Laliberté (Le Cirque du Soleil), which aims “to ensure sustainable access to safe water, sanitation and hygiene for communities everywhere.”
If “artists play a crucial role in surfacing ideas through the emotions that art can sometimes ignite,” as Inma Barrero explains, can they engage others not only to think differently but also to act?
“It is inspiring to witness how people from very diverse backgrounds have shared this artistic experience focused on water and its impact,” explained the executive director of FEMSA Foundation Lorena Guillé-Laris. “I am convinced that when we use disruptive and innovative methods such as art, we can solve the water challenges that people face in Latin America.”
FEMSA is a Mexican holding whose subsidiaries include the world’s largest bottler company of Coca-Cola and the largest convenience store chain in Latin and South America, Oxxo. Its not-for-profit arm, FEMSA Foundation, is one of five organizations that work through the Lazos de Agua program to prove the power of art as a catalyst for social change. The other partners are the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), Wavin, the Stockholm International Water Institute, and One Drop Foundation. All believe art can “empower communities to take ownership of projects over time, thereby ensuring their sustainability.”
“It is interesting how art and water conservation can come together in projects such as this to reflect on the reality of water,” said Carlos Hurtado, Head of Sustainable Development Programs at FEMSA.
Art, so often admired, traded, and even feared, can also, it turns out, shift consciousness toward actions.
A 2019 World Economic Forum article states that Art for Social Change “is not a product; it is a process (…) a new approach of assessing social problems.” Artists and their art “can be more accurately viewed as catalysts, building and maintaining a relationship with their audience.”
Was it the case for the audience at the Women’s Forum for the Economy & Society in 2008? Diane Von Furstenberg, Melanne Verveer, and Alyse Nelson invited corporate and political leaders to hold their business and self-reflective conversations as they watched the play SEVEN unfold on stage. It told the story of seven women who refused to fall victim to their circumstances and instead became trailblazers. When the play ended—and to everyone’s surprise—Diane Von Furstenberg invited the sources for the play—seven women with real stories—to join her and stand next to each actress playing their respective roles. The audience realized this was not just a diversion. This was an opportune moment for them to genuinely review their perceptions of women’s issues. One person, then two, and, within seconds, everyone was standing up, visibly moved, transformed, and perhaps determined to act differently.
Was it the case when, last December, Iranian artist Shirin Neshat and photographer JR took over Roosevelt Island in New York to raise awareness about the plight and combat of Iranian women for freedom? Their issue was overtly political. Artists and activists wanted Iran ousted from the UN Commission on the Status of Women. They also wanted the rest of us to keep our eyes wide open to the Iranian women’s struggle. Their rights are “the rights that we claim for ourselves and that every human being is entitled to,” said Hillary Clinton. Two weeks later, the UN voted to remove Iran from CSW.
Was it the case when L’Oréal Foundation launched a competition called Urban Shakers in France last year to search for artists who would become ambassadors against sexists and sexual violence? The French conference Les Napoleons invited one of the laureates, rap artist Fanny Polly, to perform in front of a bewildered and business-oriented audience. They were shaken for sure. Even moderators at Les Napoleons then posed the question: “What can Art do?”
I am convinced that when we use disruptive and innovative methods such as art, we can solve the water challenges that people face in Latin America.
Lorena Guillé-Laris, Executive director of FEMSA Foundation
