Canvas for Change

In the run-up to the United Nations Conference on Climate Change, which was held in Poznan, Poland, from December 1 to 12, 2008, Oxfam International launched the "Canvas for Change" project. The project culminated in an exhibition of works by world-famous artists from North and South, as well as artworks submitted by people who are personally affected by climate change. The exhibition took place during the UN meeting and attracted international media attention.
Find out more

The canvases on exhibition in Poznan on Flickr
Video clip of the exhibition in Poznan on Youtube

In Québec, we launched a competition in schools, inviting students to take part in this project. We received 12 magnificent entries, for the most part collaborative works. The jury, consisting of Jérôme Dupras, bass player with the Cowboys Fringants, the painter Johanne Cullen, and Süzel Back-Drapeau, Executive Vice President of Atelier Frédéric Back Inc., selected the two winning entries that were sent to Poland.

The first prize was awarded to La sécheresse (“The Drought”), a work by Alexandre Bouffard, Francis Houle-Buisson, Sandrine Larose, Andréa Olaciregui-Amorim, Kimberly Parent, Christina Parra, Ily Samoylenko, Hassan Sbeiti and Ann Sefana Sri Ranjan, grade 5 and 6 students at the St. Émile school in Montréal.

The second prize went to a painting produced by Mrs Serena Grenier’s fifth- and sixth-graders at Les-Enfants-du-Monde school in Montréal.