Drap-Art, sustainable art that warns of the climate emergency

Indignation, sadness, impotence, pain, rage and frustration are some of the feelings that are breathed in the artistic exhibitions of Drap – Art, where the works come to life as nature awakens and fight against pollution, incivility, unconsciousness and the lack of sensitivity shown by society in the 21st century.

Thomas Osborne
Thomas Osborne
17 November 2022 Thursday 13:48
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Drap-Art, sustainable art that warns of the climate emergency

Indignation, sadness, impotence, pain, rage and frustration are some of the feelings that are breathed in the artistic exhibitions of Drap – Art, where the works come to life as nature awakens and fight against pollution, incivility, unconsciousness and the lack of sensitivity shown by society in the 21st century.

With these emotions on the surface, the 26th edition of Drap – Art arrives in Barcelona, ​​the International Festival of Sustainable Art that exhibits works built from the waste of the consumer society. More than 40 artists occupy different emblematic spaces of the Gothic Quarter and express their indignation at human inaction to save nature.

Drap-Art was born in 1996 in Barcelona with the aim of promoting recycling and caring for the environment. Little by little, it has been acquiring a greater impact on society and has used art exhibitions to warn of climate change.

The participating authors manifest the lack of awareness that human beings are acquiring of the world in which they live. They lament the self-destruction of the natural habitat and through art invite critical reflection with the intention of reducing the existing problem: the devastation of the planet.

One of the main sources of pollution is in the sea, which is why for years it has been one of the main issues observed in Drap – Art. According to the latest study carried out by the UN in 2021, around 100,000 marine animals die year. The protest work of the Menorcan artists A D, Macroplásticos, is a clear example of how buoys, made of plastic, harm these living beings and the oceans. In the same way as the Reduce / Reuse / Recycle photographs, which show the shocking image of the “eighth continent” and an octopus that is a victim of pollution.

However, the novelty of this edition is in the technological age. The appearance and development of technologies and social networks have given rise to a mass society based on digital surveillance. Consequently, they have caused the loss of the feeling of community among human beings. Alfredo Blasco expresses it very well in his figures Ramona, Lumier, Petacum, some mini robots built from steel trays that express how technology controls people.

In this same line, the photographs of the Israeli Rani Bruchstein are the highlights of this artistic festival, where nature and technology are opposed to the human being and when viewing them one must move to the 3 paradises of nature. In the first scenario, the man is observed in contact with her. In the second, technology appears from a positive point of view to make life easier for people. And the last one has not yet arrived, but the day will come when man knows how to live in community at the same time that he respects nature and understands technology.

This year is also an opportunity to pay tribute to Modest Cuixart, the cousin of Antoni Tàpies, who since the sixties had already criticized this consumer society and gave discarded materials a second chance, including them in his compositions.

As the director of the festival Tanja Grass says “There is no sustainability without humanity”. Therefore, in human actions there is the will to want to change and prosper towards a better future, in which society realizes the mistake it makes by not taking care of its own home.