Young Hamilton artists are invited to share their visions of the future they would like to live in, for the first-ever Solarpunk Art Contest hosted by Action 13.
The initiative aims to empower local youth ages 15 through 30 to reimagine their city as a beacon of sustainability and innovation. Those who enter drawings, paintings, digital or other visual media, have a chance to show how one of 13 pre-selected sites in Greater Hamilton could look in a solarpunk future.
According to the Action 13 website, “Solarpunk is a sci-fi art genre that envisions a sustainable future in which people and nature thrive alongside one another, incorporating biodiversity, urban design, inclusive local communities, and technology.”
The genre is unique, in that most of the knowledge and technology to create these imagined futures already exist today.
“Hamilton youth are invited to envision possible transformations of a Hamilton location to be ecologically sustainable and imaginatively integrated with nature,” says the group on the Action 13 website.
The 2024 Solarpunk re-envisioning sites include a Waterdown subdivision, Ancaster Meadowlands, the parking lot at Foundry and McMurray in Dundas, and the Jackson Square rooftop, among others.
The Solarpunk Art Contest is open to individuals and collaborative projects. All submissions must be original and unpublished, and reflect the solarpunk aesthetic (renewable energy, green spaces, community, sustainable design and regenerative practices).
Action 13 is a grassroots group of citizens concerned about the climate crisis based in Dundas/Flamborough. To find out more about their initiatives, visit the Action 13 website.
For complete rules and details about the Solar Punk Art Contest, visit https://www.action13.ca/solarpunk/,
The deadline for submissions is June 30.
