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17.05.2017 Science

Delegates to COP23 to experience weather exhibition in Bonn

17.05.2017 LISTEN
By GNA

Accra, May 17, GNA - Delegates who will be participating in the 23rd UN Climate Change Conference of Parties (COP23) in Bonn, will experience a major exhibition about the weather and climate.

The event, which will take place at the Bundeskunsthalle- the Art and Exhibition Hall of the Federal Republic of Germany is designed to highlight the linkages between climate, science and art.

The exhibition dubbed: 'Weather Report - About Weather Culture and Climate Science,' will run from 7th October, 2017 to 4th March, 2018, and will be located just a few minutes' walk away from the COP23 venue.

It will be supported by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) as part of a broad programme of cultural events to coincide with COP23.

A statement issued and copied to the Ghana News Agency said it would be part of a wider initiative of the UNFCCC to use art to raise climate change awareness in the lead up to COP23.

The UNFCCC is also promoting climate art through its Art4Climate initiative in partnership with the London-based non-profit organisation Julie's Bicycle.

The exhibition at the Bundeskunsthalle will feature top of the line artistic, historical and scientific exhibits from around the world.

The exhibits will include paintings by William Turner, John Constable and Otto Modersohn, the first waterproof rubber shoes by Macintosh, an original thermometer by Daniel Fahrenheit, and traditional artworks from Fiji.

Fiji has the Presidency of COP23, and is extremely vulnerable to the effects of rising sea levels and storm surges.

Prominently on display will be an 8-metre traditional Fijian sailing canoe (drua). Of highly symbolical value, the canoe will be presented at the COP23 venue as a symbol of the need to protect islands and oceans, and of sustainable transport.

Speaking at a presentation of the initiative during the May UN Climate Change Conference in Bonn, UNFCCC Patricia Espinosa, and Executive Secretary - patron of the exhibition - said:

'Science underpins our work and it is science that illuminates the risks of inaction and the opportunities from realising the Paris Climate Change Agreement and the related Sustainable Development Goals.'

Rein Wolfs, the Bundeskunsthalle's Director, said: 'As a national institution also working at the international level, we are proud to be part of the overall cultural programme of COP23.

Our exhibition clearly wants to serve educational purposes, but also aims to reach our visitors emotionally and aesthetically in order to raise awareness for the beauty of all weather phenomena and their essential importance in our everyday life and during our entire life times.

The exhibition, which comprises around 400 loans from more than 100 lenders from all over the world, was developed in close collaboration with the Deutsches Museum in Munich and its branch in Bonn.

Along with scientific instruments and major European art works, visitors will be able to see ethnographic objects such as weather gods, the earliest water resistant rubber shoes, other protective objects such as parasols and umbrellas from around the globe.

Some exhibits from the Deutsches Museum will also showcase the role of clean technology in combating climate change.

GNA

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