Ernest Zacharevic, also known as ZACH, recently joined the ranks of artists enlisted to create murals in Turin, Italy as a contribution for the city’s ‘Toward 2030’ in initiative. A press release for the artist’s latest work explains that this initiative is “an awareness concept referencing the United Nations’ seventeen sustainable development goals.” The project is coordinated by Charlotte Pyatt.
According to this statement, “the Towards 2030 Project is based in Turin and was initiated by Lavazza and the city of Turin. The project seeks to raise awareness of the United Nations’ sustainability goals (SDGs) through the presence of art. The SDGs are a UN agenda for sustainable development seeking to ‘end poverty, protect the planet and ensure that all people enjoy peace and prosperity’ by 2030. The goals concern the world community as a whole: 193 countries agreed and subscribed this project as well as many private sector companies, individuals etc.”
ZACH’s work in Turin “focuses the history of the city with the role of public sculpture; the leaders they traditionally celebrate and what this means now for our time and future generation.” His biography explains that he “is a Lithuanian-born artist combining fine art techniques with a passion for creating art outdoors.” Many of his outdoor works make use of the surrounding environment, allowing him to “[produce] dynamic compositions both inside and outside of the gallery space,” that showcase his “primary interest in the relationship between art and the urban landscape.”
The artist’s work frequently features children at play, as we see with his most recent piece in Turin. Here, he blends this consistent motif with his interest in capturing the urban environment, paying tribute to Turin’s reputation as a haven for public art. Public Art Around the World, a practical guide for travelers, explains that the city “is known for its art galleries, churches, museums, and palaces.” This is partially due to the Public Arts and Monuments Project, enacted by the city in 2006. In its efforts to create a comprehensive list of the city’s numerous pieces of public art, it found that of “216 statues and sculptures, 96 are contemporary works of art.”
ZACH’s mural shows a child holding a small tree branch as he sits upon a sculpture of a horse whose stoic, strong stance resembles Italian sculptor Pietro Canonica’s “Solider on a Horse”. The original sculpture is located beside the Palazzo Madama in Piazza Castello, and features a soldier in uniform aboard the horse’s back. ZACH’s artistic liberty, substituting the child holding a small piece of nature on the monument’s back, makes a statement as to the importance of fulfilling the UN’s goals. Ultimately, we are working to create a better world for our children, who are the true soldiers in this battle. They will come of age around the project’s deadline. It is our duty to create something workable to place into their hands.
The seventeen goals laid out by the UN are incredibly ambitious, beginning with “Goal 1: End poverty in all its forms everywhere” and ending with “Goal 17: Revitalize the global partnership for sustainable development.” The UN explains the latter by stating, “a successful sustainable development agenda requires partnerships between governments, the private sector and civil society.” A fractured image of such partnerships exists currently. Through campaign contributions and subtle opportunities for tax breaks, governments and the private sector have enjoyed great success in a shared alliance against civil society.
Goal One cannot be achieved without a profound attempt to rethink our approach to Goal Seventeen. It’s reasonable to believe that we have all the assets necessary to provide a dignified, enjoyable life for every inhabitant on Earth. Unfortunately though, given our species’s inherent avarice, borne of animal instincts that have not yet fallen by the wayside in our developed society, many of those resources are hoarded by a small percent of the population.
With the recent tragedy at Notre Dame, we received a rare opportunity at a glimpse into our future if this obsolete greed were to be overcome. In an article for Joe, Carl Kinsella notes that “within hours of the spire coming down, two of France’s wealthiest families — led by François-Henri Pinault and Bernard Arnault — had pledged no less than €300million in funding for the restoration effort … if two men in a world of more than 7 billion people can provide €300million to restore Notre Dame, within six hours, then there is enough money in the world to feed every mouth, shelter every family and educate every child. The failure to do so is a matter of will, and a matter of system.”
“Brick and mortar and stained-glass might burn,” Kinsella continues, “but they do not bleed, and they do not starve, and they do not suffer. Humans suffer. Everywhere in the world, from Paris to Persepolis, people are suffering. But their suffering is every day. It does not light up a front page, and it does not inspire immediate donations from the world’s wealthiest men.” Many of these human beings are children, like the child depicted in ZACH’s mural supporting the UN’s goals. With his work, ZACH’s brings each and every one of their innocence to the forefront, with a simple mural that rallies our efforts to find triumph over suffering.
Ernest Zacharevic: website | facebook | instagram
toward.2030: website | instagram
