Exhibition 2022: It's Only The End of The World

It’s Only the End of the World is a dystopian photography and poetry exhibition that imagines a future where complacency against climate change triumphs over action.

A fisherman attempts to fish in the desert. A young child sits in front of discarded lumber, grim souvenirs of a once thriving forest. A woman stands looking into the distance, as the ocean rises around her. Inspired by Théodore Géricault’s “The Raft of the Medusa”, the United Nations Network on Migration’s exhibition uses characteristic elements of Romantic art by depicting the grandeur of nature, alongside both the strength of the individual and the inherent fragility of our existence.

The exhibition pairs each imagined future with a poem from artists, whose works celebrate the beauty of our natural world, mourn its destruction and call out for urgent action. Listen to the poems while watching the images come alive. You can also visit a virtual exhibition of the still pictures here. 

Credits

Photos

Many of the original pictures used as the basis for these artworks were taken in the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) region where the Migration Multi-Partner Trust Fund is funding a programme aimed at addressing drivers and facilitating safe, orderly and regular migration in the contexts of disasters and climate change in the region. 

Alexander Bee/UN Network on Migration 
Muse Mohammed/IOM
Florence Kim/UN Network on Migration

Exhibition

Graphic design: Mohamed Hadj/UN Network on Migration

Video editing: Miguel Agundez/UN Network on Migration

Text: Olivia Headon/UN Network on Migration

Concept: Florence Kim/UN Network on Migration

Poems

All of the poems were generously contributed by their authors. They provided permission, along with their collaborators, publishers and other relevant bodies, for their poems to appear in this exhibition. 

Everything 
Poem written by Stephen James Smith
Commissioned and funded by Science Foundation Ireland
Original poem was released for Science Week 2019 with a video directed Simon Daniels and produced by Design for Life: https://youtu.be/UWIjinDEnDc.  

Only a Shadow
Poem written by Carmen Gimenez

The World Keeps Ending, and the World Goes On
"The World Keeps Ending, and the World Goes On" from The World Keeps Ending and the World Goes On by Franny Choi. Copyright 2022 by Franny Choi. Used by Permission of HarperCollins Publishers. 

Lullaby
Poem written by Matt Sowerby

Rainforest in the Sleep Room
Poem written by Pascale Petit from her book Mama Amazonica (Bloodaxe Books, 2017)

Violet Delights
Poem written by Selvi Bunce and Mimi Mutesa from their book NAKED: The Honest Musings of 2 Brown Women, published by Maida Vale Publishing (Black Spring Press Group, 2022)

It’s OK
Poem written by Matt Sowerby

Things that Already go Past Borders
"Things That Already Go Past Borders" from The World Keeps Ending and the World Goes On by Franny Choi. Copyright 2022 by Franny Choi. Used by Permission of HarperCollins Publishers.

Nurture
Poem written by Charmaine Papertalk Green from her book Nganajungu Yagu (Cordite Books, 2019)

World: Pronunciation
/wəːld/
Poem written by Matt Sowerby

Green Bee-eater
Poem written by Pascale Petit from her book Tiger Girl (Bloodaxe Books, 2020)

Yoho
Poem written by Lisa Bellamy 

Care
Poem written by Craig Santos Perez