The world’s young focus on Earth Day
A new collection of paintings from children around the globe aims to show the community how droughts, water shortages and climate change look – through the eyes of our youngest.
The special exhibition, to mark the 51st World Earth Day, opened last night at the Christchurch Arts Centre.
It’s made up of more than 70 paintings by children aged between five and 16 from around the world, united by the theme ‘‘value every drop of water’’.
Coordinator Lily Li, from the Everyone An Artist Trust, said their goal was to encourage children to share their thoughts on how people could protect water resources and the environment around them.
‘‘We all have the power to do something for our country, and for the city we live in ... It’s our responsibility to take care of our homelands, and the Earth.’’
Li said her personal favourite was by 12-year-old Jiali Xie from China, who painted the world’s last drop of water as a woman’s teardrop. ‘‘Lack of water resource and climate change are very serious issues, and it’s important to both raise young people’s awareness of them, but also to inspire them to make a difference.’’
Li said part of the goal was to show children everywhere that they do not need a lot of money or power to save the environment.
‘‘Kids can, and do, have the ability to influence others, to make better decisions for the planet going forward.’’ The Earth Day exhibition at the Christchurch Arts Centre is free, and runs until 5pm on Sunday.