Bike riding in the rain .. nothing could be more fun.

Unless, you can also throw in a ClimARTE festival.

With ClimARTE  co-founder, Guy Abrahams, as our guide we biked from the Yarra to Melbourne Uni to seek out new exhibition works that ‘harness the creative power of the Arts to inform, engage and inspire action on climate change’. Here are a couple of the exhibitions that particularly resonated with me. The Water Harvest by Debbie Symons (pictured) and Jasmine Targett. The collection of bottled water from Melbourne celebrates ‘the seemingly small acts of Melbournians collecting rain water in an effort to resilient to the impact of drought’. These beautiful old chemistry bottles had all been engraved with the name of the water collector and the exact location of the water source (lat/long). Indoor Clouds by Berndnaut Smilde. A favourite photo from the festival was from Berndnaut. Taken in on old apartment building in Paris, artist Berndnaut creates indoor clouds by getting atmospheric conditions just perfect. The clouds only last for a few seconds during which Berndnaut takes his photos. My husband Alberto, wandered into our group after the explanation of the science behind the photo and asked ‘did the cloud come in through an open window’? I told him to leave! Cape Farewell series of photographs by David Buckland. From a ship deck in the waters of Antarctica, David projects text and images onto the glaciers and then takes photographs. His art ‘highlights the acute challenges facing humanity through climate change‘. The photos were a real conversation starter, and we could have stayed discussing his art for longer (if it weren’t for the short day closing in). Going along to art exhibitions always gives me inspiration. I came away from this one with the idea to put some climate artwork onto the front shed out the front of our house. The wall is about 5 m x 5 m. We get a lot of passing traffic. Arty friends, this is an invite. Stay tuned for more info via Facebook. Slainte – Colleen