In conjunction with the Colour Collective Sydney, I’m excited to be working on a purposeful colour intervention project aimed at drawing attention to the impact of climate change. We are currently scouting for mural locations across Sydney.
This project features Prof. Ed Hawkins’ Warming Stripes in the form of murals in urban environments. Geoffrey Gifford created this rendering of ‘Warming Stripes’ as a mural on a wall in Darlinghurst, Sydney.
Created in 2018 by Professor Ed Hawkins, Warming Stripes feature warm and cool colours to represent changes in average temperature at a specific location over a period of time, illustrating the impact of climate change. Prof. Hawkins is a climate scientist at the National Centre for Atmospheric Science (NCAS) at the University of Reading, UK, and an IPCC AR5 Contributing Author.
Warming Stripes have featured in multiple contexts around the world as a way of raising awareness of climate change, including the cover of The Economist, US Committee on Climate Change logo, 2019 United Nations Climate Change Conference, and multiple buildings and urban sites.
Jointly planned by Zena O’Connor, Naomi Shaw, and Geoffrey Gifford of the Colour Collective Sydney, we are looking for suitable locations in Sydney for this project. We are well-placed to co-ordinate this project in conjunction with project partners including paint suppliers (Resene Paints) and local government agencies and councils. We have been previously involved in a community project at North Sydney which won a Maestro Landscape Award (2017).
Zena has been granted permission by Prof. Ed Hawkins to use ‘Warming Stripes’ in Australia for the purpose of increasing awareness of climate change.
Colour interventions and murals play an important role in the built environment. They activate and enhance urban spaces and encourage a sense of community. In addition, they have the capacity to discourage graffiti and the dumping of rubbish by elevating a site via presentation of site-specific artwork.
