In a bid to draw attention to the ways in which climate change could affect the UK’s capital city, a series of 14 photomontages is currently on display at the Museum of London. With views of the iconic Royal Mall flanked by wind turbines and Buckingham Palace surrounded by a shanty town of slums where climate refugees have fetched up with nowhere else to go, this vision of a potential future for London may seem far-fetched to some, but to others these scenarios are not only a real possibility, but help people to connect with how climate change might affect their lives.
As Cathy Ross, Director of Collections and Learning at the Museum, explains, “For most of us climate change is the kind of thing that might happen somewhere else. These pictures of London have enormous impact and really challenge the viewer to confront how climate change could shape London and their own life in the city.”
Charlie Kronick, Senior Climate Advisor for Greenpeace, takes a deeper perspective: “If we’re going to tackle climate change, then we’re going to have to tackle our addiction to oil. And forget about Houston or Dallas, there’s a real oil town just down the road from the Museum of London. The money in the City of London, and in many people’s pension funds, keeps the oil flowing, not just in the Gulf of Mexico, but in the Arctic, west of Shetland and in the tar sands of Canada. If we’re going to keep oil out of the most fragile environments on Earth, then we’re going to have to get oil out of the City as well.”
London Futures is indeed a thought-provoking exhibition and is on until 6 March 2011.
For more information visit: www.museumoflondon.org.uk
