UNITED NATIONS HEADQUARTERS, NEW YORK, USA
NEW YORK, USA
“A BETTER PLANET, A BETTER WORLD”
UNITED NATIONS, 2023
United Nations Headquarters, Visitor Lobby, 46th Street and 1st Avenue, New York, NY
From July 10th, 2023, to August 28th, 2023.
Free and open to the public.
Art curator and architect: Augusto Ferretti
Music and videos: Taylor A. Purdee and his band, The Cumberland Kids
WITH THE ENDORSEMENT OF THE PERMANENT MISSION OF ITALY AT THE UN – New York
WITH THE ENDORSEMENT OF THE PERMANENT MISSION OF GERMANY AT THE UN – New York
A BETTER PLANET A BETTER WORLD SUPPORTS THE UNITED NATIONS’ SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS:
“Climate change is moving faster than we are, but we don’t give up because we know that climate action is the only path.”
– António Guterres, United National Secretary-General
„A BETTER PLANET, A BETTER WORLD” art exhibition inside the main art gallery at the United Nations Headquarters in New York focused on the power of the arts to create awareness and inspire action to PROTECT NATURE, the FLORA, and FAUNA and the ENVIRONMENT, to advocate for the respect and preservation of INDIGENOUS PEOPLES’ CULTURES and to PROMOTE PEACE IN THE WORLD through the POWER OF THE ARTS and LOVE FOR PLANET EARTH.
The art exhibition started with a video created by Taylor A. Purdee and was inspired by the campaign www.abetterplanetabetterworld.com, created by Alessandra Mattanza in 2022. It includes a digital art exhibition of her photography on the website taken over the last 25 years in the most pristine areas of the planet and quotes about nature by different poets, writers, artists, scientists, and visionaries from the past to the present.
Taylor A. Purdee also created the art exhibition’s “soundtrack” with his band, The Cumberland Kids, which you can hear all around the walls of the art exhibition thanks to the TVs provided by the United Nations’ team.
The art exhibition has been developing as a JOURNEY and ADVENTURE inside THE MAGIC WORLD OF NATURE AND PLANET EARTH. It also includes panels explaining the connection between NATURE and HUMANITY, NATURE and ART, SUSTAINABILITY IN ARCHITECTURE AND IN THE WORLD, and seeking SOLUTIONS, from very simple solutions to more elaborate solutions, which is also proposed in the book,”SOS Planet Earth”, by Alessandra Mattanza, with Foreword by Borge Brende, President of the WORLD ECONOMIC FORUM, and Dr. Gavin A. Schmidt, Director of NASA GISS in New York, published by WHITE STAR and NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC.
The art exhibition’s journey has then started with FOUR PAINTINGS by Alessandra Mattanza about THE POWER OF NATURE AS HEALING FORCE: AIR, WATER, EARTH, FIRE. With these paintings, Alessandra has also explored empowering female figures, goddess of the planet and symbol of its protection:
"THE ANGEL" for the AIR
"THE GEISHA" for the EARTH
"THE SNAKE" for the FIRE
"THE MERMAID" for the WATER
The art exhibition’s adventure continued with the PHOTOGRAPHY ART INSTALLATION as a photographic gallery by Alessandra Mattanza: “NATURE: AIR, EARTH, FIRE, WATER”, taken in pristine locations around the world, which explores the important meaning of air, earth, fire, water in nature.
The art exhibition’s experience becomes more tangible through Alessandra Mattanza’s creation of THREE CONTEMPORARY ART INSTALLATIONS with collages of 100 per cent recycled plastic focusing on FAUNA AND THE BIODIVERSITY, the FLORA AND THE BUTTERFLY EFFECT, and the INDIGENOUS PEOPLE’S CULTURE BETWEEN THE PAST AND THE PRESENT.
Alessandra believes: “When plastic becomes art, magic can happen”. The contemporary art collage in this art exhibition represents a possible creative solution to the plastic problem. The plastic is integrated into the art, with photos by Alessandra and mirrors and will remain forever without poisoning the environment to always inspire people to reflect on the issue.
Alessandra created a circle of life for the biodiversity collage and to remember the importance of every creature on Mother Earth: FAUNA – The Cycle of Nature: Will these species exist again in the future?
Alessandra has also shaped the collage FLORA – The Beauty of Nature: Would you like to preserve these flowers for the next generation? It represents a butterfly in the “butterfly effect”, on which her campaign www.abetterplanetabetterworld.com is based, and for which a simple action creates a global change.
Alessandra created two separate panels shaped like four canoes for the collage INDIGENOUS PEOPLES – The Balance among Nature, Work, and Education, to remember the connection with humanity worldwide. For generations, the canoe has been the symbol and the tool of sovereignty, resurgence, and resilience for Indigenous Peoples.
As a conclusion, the art curator and architect Augusto Ferretti has created LIGHT INSTALLATIONS from old, potentially very old “purposeless” objects and infused them with light, seeking to create a newfound meaning for these discarded articles.
LIGHT becomes so a powerful symbol to illuminate peoples’ minds with ideas and possible solutions and as inspiration to take actions to recycle and create. Each of us can become an artist for a better planet. Each of us can become a hero for a better world.
LIGHT becomes so a symbol to illuminate your way on a SUSTAINABLE JOURNEY for A BETTER PLANET and A BETTER WORLD.
From the right, Augusto Ferretti, Alessandra Mattanza, Taylor A. Purdee
THIS ART EXHIBITION WAS MADE POSSIBLE THANKS TO:
UN EXHIBITION TEAM, New York, USA
THE PERMANENT MISSION OF ITALY AT THE UN, New York, USA
THE PERMANENT MISSION OF GERMANY AT THE UN, New York, USA
SIMONE COLLA E L’ANGOLO DELLA FOTOGRAFIA, Flero, Italy, www.langolodellafotografia.it
BAYEUX, London, UK, www.bayeux.co.uk
FABRIZIO BARTOLOZZI, FB INTERNATIONAL, INC., New York, USA, www.fbinternational.com
TAP AIR PORTUGAL, www.flytap.com
DEBORAH CALMEYER AND ROAR AFRICA, New York, USA, www.roarafrica.com
ECOALF, Madrid, Spain, www.ecoalf.com
JOAO RODRIGUES AND SILENT LIVING, Lisbon, Portugal, www.silentliving.pt
We had also 150,000 – 200,000 visitors daily during the art exhibition “A Better Planet, A Better World”.
A HEARTFELT THANK YOU TO EVERYONE who came, and especially again to the UN in New York.
A special THANKS to the United Nations’ tourist guides.
