Climate change art installation commissioned by Fine Acts makes global leaders sweat at COP27

Heaven and Hell in the Anthropocene immerses decision makers at the UN Climate Change Conference in two competing scenarios for the future

SHARM EL-SHEIKH, Egypt, Nov. 14, 2022 /PRNewswire/ — To heat things up for world leaders gathered at the 2022 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP27) in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt, prominent Egyptian-Lebanese contemporary artist Bahia Shehab teamed up with global creative studio Fine Acts to produce an experiential artwork that envisions two competing scenarios for our future.

Artist Bahia Shehab in front of her artwork Heaven & Hell in the Anthropocene, installed at COP27

Launched at the largest annual meeting on climate change, the artwork Heaven and Hell in the Anthropocene is informed by a famous study which concluded that people sitting in warmer rooms are more likely to say that ‘global warming’ is a problem.

The creatives turned this insight into an impactful artistic experience to raise questions around responsibility, participation and action. Since they couldn’t literally heat up COP27’s plenary rooms, they created an immersive public art installation at COP27 and invited decision-makers to experience two ‘scenarios of eternity’.

“Many governments, companies and individuals are still insensitive to scientific facts and numbers. Thus, a more physical and visceral experience is needed,” says Yana Buhrer Tavanier, co-founder and executive director of Fine Acts.

The installation is composed of two adjacent rooms: one representing heaven and the other – hell. Participants do not know which of the two ‘scenarios of eternity’ they will be engaging with, as from the outside the rooms look entirely identical.

Before entering, each visitor is prompted to make a series of choices, which send them to either ‘heaven’ or ‘hell’– where all their senses are targeted by different sights, sounds, temperatures, and smells.

“For many the perception of eternity is divided between the two poles of heaven in hell. Living in the Anthropocene – the most recent period in Earth’s history when human activity started to have a significant impact on the planet’s climate and ecosystems – we need to ask ourselves, what’s our eternity really going to look like? Are we going to heaven, or are we going to hell?” says artist Bahia Shehab.

The aim of the installation is to make people feel like stakeholders in our collective future and drive action towards making change possible.

The artwork is displayed on site in the Green Zone at COP27 (November 6-18).