Common Understanding · Common Consensus · Collective Action

EVENT DESCRIPTION

Opening Exhibition – Common Understanding · Common Consensus · Collective Action at The Planet Room

The exhibition begins with Common Understanding toward the global warming crisis and its major causes, sets to achieve Common Consensus among visitors on the importance to phasing out the continuous climatic hazards through the learning of 7Rs rule, and encourages the visitors to become a Common Action Taker after awakening, live a simple life by implementing “Purification at Source”, and reach a harmonic co-existence with our planet.

Recommended viewing sequence for Common Understanding · Common Consensus · Collective Action is as follows:

Wind – Through short films to view casualties and financial losses around the globe caused by wind disasters, such as tornadoes and tropical cyclones.

Water – An abnormal climate has caused localized flooding disasters on the planet, as well as heavy rains and blizzards to occur one after another, while in some places there have been persistent droughts resulting from insufficient rainfall. The interactive installation “Hong Kong in 10 Bottles” assessed the quality of Hong Kong’s water resources whose samples were collected from 10 places in town by Tzu Chi volunteers from different age groups.

Fire – Wildfires caused by lightning strikes, droughts and human factors not only burn down forests and human living facilities, but the toxic smoke they produced also induces respiratory diseases.

Land – The impact of human destruction on mountains, forests, and land are evident when a number of severe soil erosion occur amid earthquakes and heavy rains. Chris CHEUNG (h0nh1m)’s interactive ink installation Carbon Reveries records the stupefying increase in carbon emission over the past 63 years. 12 bamboo pipes are used to form a bamboo grove. Each corresponds to a set of annual carbon emission data, allowing visitors to rethink the relationship between carbon emission, nature’s vibrancy and human intervention to the ecosystem.

Upon understanding the irregularities of wind, water, fire and land, visitors can meditate at the round-shaped mediation area to reflect on what have been seen, heard, and felt; together with the round, mellow and harmonious sound of singing bowls, the entire setup is intended to awaken and inspire visitors to environmental protection from the body, mind to consciousness.

ABOUT THE ARTIST / ORGANISER

About Buddhist Compassion Relief Tzu Chi Foundation HK Ltd.
Established in 1993, the Buddhist Compassion Relief Tzu Chi Foundation Hong Kong Ltd. is a non-profit charity organization upholding the spirit of great-loving kindness with the elements of "Sincerity, Integrity, Faith and Truthfulness" and "Unconditional Kindness. Universal Great Compassion” for more than two decades.

Apart from actively promoting charitable works, such as regular visits to hospitals, homes for the blind, nursing homes, mentally recovered individuals, and schools for physically-challenged children, Tzu Chi Hong Kong also engages in other benevolent works from cases, including individual care services, visits to the homeless, emergency relief and free health check. Additionally, the Hong Kong chapter is committed to promoting Tzu Chi's humanistic culture, advocating the teaching of Jing Si Aphorisms, organizing parent-child growth classes for children, and providing financial assistance for the underprivileged students.

In November 2009, Tzu Chi established the first environmental education station in the Tai Wai Liaison Office, where a new impetus was injected to power Tzu Chi's mission on Hong Kong’s environmental protection. The Hong Kong branch has so far set up a network of 20 environmental recycling stations throughout the city.