Climate action with Tokyo Genso’s unveiling wall art for Shibuya

Unless you are well-to-do, there is no guarantee that you will not become a climate refugee. The UNHCR estimates that 23.9 million had to flee from climate-related disasters in 2019, especially from extreme storms and flood disasters. Developed countries are also not excluded from the list of affected countries and territories, with internally displaced persons (climate refugees in their own countries) existing in Japan, the United States, Australia, and Canada.

Yet, there are still gaps in action from the citizens of Japan. According to the Cabinet Office, in 2019, 56% did not take any steps to contribute to society, including addressing climate refugee circumstances. One reason for the indifference was, and still is, the lack of exposure to such social issues.

The RE:VISION ART PROJECT was launched to close that divide, planning to use art to overcome the inertia of taking action. The project’s vision is to “redraw our future,” to redefine the future of climate change and refugee issues before it is too late (thus “RE-VISION.”)

To that end, the project team is teaming up with artist Tokyo Genso to place two wall art installations at public and commercial facilities in Shibuya City. One would visualize the bleak future where Shibuya is ravaged by extreme climate. The other is an unfolding piece of 6,000 pieces, where each piece is unveiled with every donation from the public to UNHCR’s refugee assistance activities.

The artworks to be featured are from Tokyo Genso. For more than a decade, he has been transforming everyday environments into fantasy ones. Among the artist’s works include illustrations of post-apocalyptic worlds where nature takes over the ruins of modern civilizations. But Tokyo Genso realized that reality is beginning to mimic art, saying on his blog, “[Extreme weather events] that are “record-breaking” and “occur once every decade” are happening now every year around the world. This artwork is not fiction, as it may become the future of Japan.”

The project has also garnered support from UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador MIYAVI, “The threat of climate change is not only limited to us, but also to people called ‘refugees’ who are displaced from their homes by wars and conflicts… The goal is to make as many people as possible aware of the problems related to climate change and refugees, and to increase the number of friends to take action to solve the problems.”

RE:VISION ART PROJECT is currently crowdfunding on the READYFOR crowdfunding site now, so do consider visiting as a friend for climate action.