*That's interesting. Nice to see indignant figures waxing all politically-correct over "montages." Note that they are freaking out over race, rather than the prospect of London being seven meters underwater.
*Those are some pretty nice pics; they tried hard to bother people. And succeeded, obviously.
"The effects of climate change are so hard to imagine that we should welcome an exhibition of Postcards from the Future that promises "Images that bring ideas to life and frame the climate debate in a way that everyone can understand". Unfortunately the debate it frames is dangerous ((("the debate it frames is dangerous," that's pretty good))) and the main reason that it can be readily understood is that it fits all too easily with existing prejudices.
"The pictures are artfully composed photomontages that juxtapose iconic London landmarks with eye-catching climate impacts – for example the Household Cavalry ride down a sand-strewn Whitehall on camels; an oil palm plantation grows in Hyde Park; and people skate on the Thames after the Gulf Stream packs in.
The creators, Robert Graves and Didier Madoc-Jones, assure us that they "researched different scientific projections". Really? Not one of these images reflects any real climate scenario for London. They are pure science-fiction. (((The debate it frames is dangerous.)))
Certainly they are striking and win attention, but at a price. Public acceptance of climate change is still weak and 55% of people believe that climate change has been exaggerated for political ends. (((How could it not be? What isn't exaggerated for political ends?))) Fantasy images actively feed that public denial and with it the widespread assumption that climate change is conjectural and without firm basis in fact.
"However the greatest concern with this show is not that it parts with reality, but that it speaks all too well to real prejudices against immigrants "swamping" British culture. This is a recurring theme. One postcard shows Asian peasants working in paddy fields in the shadow of Big Ben. Two postcards in the series show shantytowns around Nelson's Column and Buckingham Palace. (((Those aren't immigrants or Asian peasants, but Britons reduced to Third World conditions. Looks like the viewers are having a bit of a time getting their heads around that lively possibility.)))
"These images cause deep disquiet for those who work with refugees and immigrants. Jonathan Ellis, policy director at the Refugee Council, calls them "lazy and unhelpful" at a time when "we need fresh and creative messages, and a fair and rational debate based on the facts".
"Producing sensationalist pictures which fall back on cheap stereotypes of refugees do not help anyone's cause," says Vaughan Jones, the chief executive of Praxis, a London-based charity that provides practical support for refugees and asylum seekers. "The issue is too serious for this inaccurate treatment."
"Hannah Smith from the Climate Outreach Information Network runs a programme that brings together over 30 refugee, human rights and environment organisations. She argues that the images give an entirely erroneous impression and that "the actual patterns of migration are far more likely to be the movement of people inside existing national borders, or, in the case of the UK, from within the European Union. To suggest that there will be mass migration from the [global] south is misleading and feeds xenophobia." ..."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/gallery/2010/oct/27/london-futures-exhibition?intcmp=239
*The Buckingham Favela:
