A mural created to raise awareness of the importance of sustainable energy has been created in Turin. From Barcelona based Jorge Rodriguez-Gerada. It is a piece which, according to the artist, “alludes to the importance of acting now to assure a positive outcome.”
Called ‘Promise’ it features the image of a young girl. She is pressing a button which in turn lets loose a flow of clean energy. The button is actually the icon button for the ‘Toward 2030 – What Are You Doing?‘ initiative. It’s a project established by Lavazza based on the United Nations 17 Sustainable Development Goals. The wider ambition is to create a more sustainable planet by 2030. “We must think towards our worlds future and the environmental conditions our children will inherit” says Gerada.
Sustainable Energy
Gerada highlights that over a billion people worldwide still don’t have access to electricity. Three billion people meanwhile are still cooking with fuels and stoves which pollute. Meanwhile electricity in the so called first world is still mainly obtained from polluting fuels. “To reach the goal we must start now” says the artist. That goal is for future energy sources to be clean and renewable.
The street art project is part of a collaboration with Lavazza and the City of Turin. It aims to transform the 17 Global Goals of the United Nations into different works of street art. Goal number 7 is ‘Affordable and Clean Energy‘. It’s this goal which Gerada has depicted in the Italian city. Other street artists will eventually replicate the others in their own style.
Street Art in Turin
‘Toward 2030 is a marriage of art and sustainability” explains Francesca Lavazza. It’s about colouring the walls of Turin with positive message and bringing a contemporary perspective to the 17 Sustainable Development Goals. That, he believes, can be done with street art and how innovative a city like Turin could be in terms of raising awareness of these kinds of issues.
‘Promise’ by Jorge Rodriguez-Gerada was created in Turin in July 2019. The mural was part of the ‘Toward 2030 – What are you doing?’ project and supported by Lavazza. You can read more about the work of Gerada on Inspiring City here.All photos used in this post are courtesy of Alessandro Genitori
