Mueen Saheed, an award winning artist from Sri Lanka, presented his two masterpieces of art one to Ambassador Majid Al Suwaidi, Director-General COP28, on “Net Zero Carbon” and the other on Global Warming to Alexander Saier, Chief of Communications and Outreach at United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
The Net Zero Carbon 2050 painting illustrates the unfortunate global catastrophe we are facing today resulting from climate change.
Mueen Saheed’s Global Warming painting series is an exploration of the impact of climate change on our planet. In a striking depiction, Saheed draws inspiration from artistic luminaries such as Monet and Van Gogh, whose works reflected the pristine and beautiful environments of their time. As Van Gogh said, “if you truly love nature, you will find beauty everywhere“. One-half of Saheed’s painting depicts this aesthetic, portraying abstract forms reminiscent of the bygone era’s artistic elegance. One can see lush fields green everywhere, clear water and fresh air.
The other half, however, unveils a stark contrast as scorched earth and a polluted environment rendered in abstract expressionist forms. He has emphasised on the global change of weather patterns, with rising temperatures, droughts, floods, industrial wastes, carbon emissions and tsunami. Once can see deforestation, rising water levels, oil spills destroying the marine and coral life by his unique style of abstract expressionism.
This dichotomy serves as a visual metaphor, capturing the evolution from the once untouched beauty of nature to the current state of environmental degradation.
Saheed’s series goes beyond a mere portrayal of ecological decline; it becomes a powerful narrative on the urgency of addressing climate change.
Through the dualistic approach, he prompts viewers to reflect on the profound transformation our planet has undergone, emphasising the stark disparity between the past and present.
Mueen believes that art is one of the best medium to bring awareness to pressing global issues as a visual medium it can capture over 65 percent attention compared to other mediums of communication which have a lower rate.
He has done 15 paintings on global warming and net Zero Emission.
He has travelled extensively taking his message and exhibited in Paris, London Florence, India, Malaysia, Maldives and Saudi Arabia. The UNFCCC will permanently display his masterpiece at the Bonn headquarters, Germany and use the painting for future awareness campaigns on global warming.
