The Earth Issue

0:00 [Applause]

0:05 hey everyone I'm Isabel landicho I'm a multi-disciplinary creative based in London by the Philippines I am fashion director of the earth issue a creative agency with a focus on environmental intersectionality as well as my work with the Earth issue my own work encompasses disciplines such as styling art Direction public speaking and content creation the Earth issue is a creative agency dedicated to using art. And image culture as a driving force for intersectional and environmental activism established in 2016 is apparent pioneering platform for the environmental Arts we offer fully integrated creative services such as art Direction photography fashion styling video production web and graphic design and editorial writing we are passionate about raising awareness for intersectionality ecological sustainability social justice and for inspiring an empowered Consciousness towards our planet and Global Society our clientele include Barbican Stella McCartney Lush and the Edition hotels we have been featured in another magazine dazed in Tate modern so what sets us apart as a creative agency is that we value diversity anti-racism inclusion representation and equality we aim to instigate change through our work and collaborate with people who share the same values as us we are enthusiastic about Brands and projects who care for people and for nature and who respect the mutual relationship between the two we place impactful arts and education at the center of all collaborations our aim is to inspire through storytelling and to continue creating space for activism and conversation we are committed to exclusively working with clients who share respect for the environment and social justice whenever possible we work with local teams and avoid flying out Talent OR crew in order to reduce the carbon footprint of our production we shoot with natural light as much as possible to reduce electricity usage we had heard a low-waist methodology on location in terms of catering and production we use sustainable printing practices and or carbon neutral print shops for any printed media and we team with local artisanal small scale small-scale businesses for all Partnerships or vendors and suppliers we admit that we are not perfect in our practice but however we are committed to being wholly transparent and strive to work as ecologically as possible while not compromising on quality and production these are my teammates the people behind the Earth issue despite what you may think we are a really small group of dedicated individuals who work together in running the business as a startup we Face many challenges but the best and possibly the worst thing is running a company with your friends Elena founded the Earth issue in 2016 with Milo who is based in Montreal and I joined in 2018 after art directing a freelance Stella McCartney project with them the benefit to being a small business is that we are reactive free-flowing in an open Forum which is also arguably its downsides despite having official titles within the Earth issue we each do our part outside of our formal roles in ensuring the business runs smoothly sometimes it can be overwhelming but I have learned a lot of things from working outside my comfort zone the first project I'm going to share with you all is the freedom fundraiser as a creative agency in my opinion the freedom fundraiser is probably the best thing we've ever worked on in the midst of the pandemic in support of the black lives matter movement and the protests against George Floyd's murder at the hand of the police we decided to organize a fundraising initiative to provide financial support to Frontline organizations what we came up with was a print sale featuring artwork generously donated by over 300 artists around the world running in June 2020 for 30 days the freedom fundraiser raised just over 200 000 pounds with 100 of the proceeds distributed to George Floyd belfund and other organizations fighting for racial Justice helping provide crucial support to over 26 Global organizations and individual courses within the black lives matter movement to name a few artwork was donated by Ronan McKenzie de magello and Jamie Hawksworth the print sale was picked up on and featured on platforms such as Vogue the British photography journal and hypebeast so this project I'm going to be sharing with you. Now is stories of change for the Barbican to our time on Earth exhibition we were commissioned by the Barbican to produce a series of video interviews featuring Global voices spearheading Grassroots environmentalist initiatives presented across 10 screens and focusing on the global South with each Storyteller creating positive change through direct activism or by amplifying the actions of their communities through stories of change and accountability each video has the power to ignite hope and courage while inspiring views to discuss reflect and consider their own power to protect the natural world through 10 stories the Earth issue weaves together the perspective of both people and planet it unites people fighting for a more interconnected future from documentary photographers and filmmakers to Grassroots activists and Youth campaigners these stories investigate how colonialism racial Justice identity and Indigenous knowledge intersect with Global Environmental effort stories of change celebrate the power of global creativity to transform the conversation around the climate emergency and and here is a little trailer this is a letter to the Future can't see past today but here.

6:07 I am trying to summon the right words to say to you I began to notice Pals blurred and focus of trash and litter so bitter and told us a story We Are The Generation that has to take actions provides the ability to maintenance process the human population has grown rapidly over 200 years and still continues growing exponentially as a result indigenous people have to bear with the consequences of climate change firsthand to the extraction of our resources the Earth is First losing its natural resources it needs dedicated and committed people to provide leadership I invite you as a Storyteller and as chroniclers of the most important stories of our times let our voices be heard let's preserve a Heritage our culture our Coastal communities and our home. So that the powers that we sit up and take notice it's imperative that the importance and insight of a local ecological knowledge is not lost time we listen and remembered how to be earnings again I have never heard so much life maybe we should be singing more about it too I'm Nathan Dawson I enjoy seeing London my name is Sharona Schneider my name is this is a letter from the future foreign and a bit of a step change but this is a rail I put together when I took my family to see the exhibition they never. Actually been to the Barbican but my grandma immigrated to London from the Philippines in the 70s and worked really hard to be able to provide for my dad and my aunt she no doubt is the main track of the family and the reason why I'm standing here today and there she is oh [Applause]

8:04 so to be able to take my family to an exhibition where they could see your family name on display in a city that left the home their home for was definitely a full circle moment and made me so proud to represent my family in the Philippines oh God thank you oh here's a real shoes ♪

9:03 don't need diamonds so shiny I'm like thanks so moving on to more of the fashion aspect of the business this is an editorial we worked on called Eleni and EO an in-house fashion story that aims to highlight the BT and longevity in a classic and memorable design featuring exclusively conscious fashion brands and small businesses such as sewn Regina Pio and Gerbes and a little BTS of the shoot and lastly this is our Earth month editorial primary colors are only found in nature honoring the colors red blue and yellow are symbols of the essential essential elements of nature for this story We exclusively partnered with london-based industry-leading vintage archive 1801 London founded in 2016 by creative Consultants Dean Thomas and Christina rubadulare who have traveled the wild sourcing rare pieces for fashion design research and inspiration this set is mostly upcycled using dead stop materials and resources it was important for me to work on an editorial that showcases essentially second-hand clothing portrayed in a high fashion way I believe that.

10:26 There is still stigma attached to the concept of pre-loved clothing the fashion industry is one of the world's biggest polluters yet we continue to manufacture newness without a thought of how it was affecting the planet and its people.

10:39 This is particularly topical at the moment with London Fashion just finishing and it being secondhand September another little BTS of the glamor behind the scenes my work with the Earth issue is rewarding liberating and at times mentally and emotionally exhausting because of the subject matter being so important to us living with respect to the planet and our people is how I choose to live my life.

11:04 And so my advocacy and personal life can sometimes be blurred and can take a toll it's important for me to say this in the hope that other people who feel this way can take solace in the fact that you're not alone in this fight we must come together and stand up for what we we believe in to quote the Brazilian indigenous leader Sonia guajihara we are the Earth we arise from the earth and we return to it the Earth is within us the Earth is our sister our daughter our Aunt our mother our grandmother the Earth is our womb our food and our cure and before I finish I always like to end talks with the climate confession in order to close things on a lighter note and to express that I am no means the Pinnacle of virtue so I usually just like Freestyle this bit. And so my climate confession for today is so many it was right before this talk I went to go get hot chocolate and I used single-use plastic cup so but I did bring a water bottle so yeah on that note thank you everyone [Applause]