The University of Winchester's West Downs Gallery will exhibit a unique art collection by former visiting research fellow Ms Marilene Cardoso Ribeiro, designed to underline the threat of climate change wildfires.
Known for her unconventional methods, the artist burns her own photographs of Brazilian conservation areas, emphasising the loss of natural and cultural landscapes to fires.
The exhibition, titled Open Fire, will be featured at the Gallery from October 2 to November 16.
On the opening day, October 2, a roundtable discussion is scheduled, with the artist herself participating alongside other distinguished panellists.
Other members of the panel include Dr Rachel Carmenta, assistant professor of Global Development and Climate Change at University of East Anglia’s Tyndall Centre and School of Global Development, and Danny Lee, a trustee of Winchester Action on the Climate Crisis and green party councillor on Winchester City Council.
The discussion will chaired by Professor Laura Hubner, co-convener of the Culture-Media-Text Research Centre at The University of Winchester.
Ribeiro’s project, which has earned a Royal Photoworks Digital Residency Award, a Geographical Society Earth Photo 2024 contest, and Brazil’s National Arts Foundation Marc Ferrez Photography Prize, among others, uses three-dimensional art pieces accompanied by captions and narrations.
These are in Ribeiro’s own voice and draw from news stories about wildfires as well as the artist’s own insights.
Ms Ribeiro said: "A few days after, the black smoke arrived in São Paulo, over 1,200 miles away from where the fire had taken place, and day became night in the largest city of the Americas."
She describes Open Fire as: "…a window to expose a contemporary issue that has injured the planet in a cyclic fashion, over and over throughout the years, and therefore demands society, decision- and policy-makers to take action."
Ms Ribeiro notes that these fires are largely man-made.
The public is welcome to attend the roundtable discussion on the exhibition's opening evening. For anyone interested in visiting, the West Downs Gallery is open Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm and Saturday, 8.30am to 4pm.
Bookings can be made online via Eventbrite.
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