3000 Days and Counting - at the Belconnen Arts Centre, Belconnen, Canberra

by Sharon Field

The 2021 United Nations IPCC Report warned that we need to keep the global temperature below a 1.5° C rise by 2030. At that time … 2030 was 3000 days away.

I set myself a challenge – to do a drawing/painting a day for the next 3000 days on a series of scrolls, the purpose of which is to provide a visual record of the plants we are in danger of losing. 

I started my drawings on Earth Hour Day, 26 March 2022.

The format of a scroll is important because it is a symbol of life, time and wisdom. Both ends rolled up indicate a life that is folding and unfurling. Our lives in this time of climate change are like a scroll of uncertain length where the past has already been written and the future is hidden. We only see the present clearly.

Over 1100 days have passed since that significant IPCC report and still little has been achieved. There are less than 2000 days to go until 2030. What can we do?

The Scrolls have recently been shown in the USA, the UK, France, The Netherlands, Austria and Singapore. People's reactions have been the same all over the world. What can we do?

Come and visit The Scrolls and talk about the options we have - at Belco Arts during the exhibition from Thursday to Sunday 10am-3pm. It will be a wonderful opportunity to view The Scrolls while I am working on my daily drawings at the gallery.

Where: The Belconnen Arts Centre, Belconnen, Canberra

When:  February 7 - March 23, 2025. Opening Night - 6 pm on Friday 7th February, by Professor Mark Howden. Professor Howden from the ANU is Australia's representative on the United Nations IPCC Committee that wrote the report from which this artwork grew.

General Opening Times: Tuesday - Sunday 10am - 4 pm

This will be the first time that all of The Scrolls have been shown together. If you are concerned about the climate crisis and biodiversity issues, this will be the place to be - to consider the issues as well as looking at positive actions we can all take as we move into the future.