Nicole Bazuin is a Toronto-based film director and visual artist. She is a recipient of the Universal Studios Scholarship and the HSBC Filmmaker’s Award. She also co-founded Madeleine Co., an organization that creates interdisciplinary art installations and events, often with a focus on audience participation.
In 2016, Nicole was awarded a grant of $10,000 from ArtReach, and in partnership with the Ryerson Image Centre, created a video series of child-led conversations in which youth interviewed adults on their fears, failings, and hopes of their inheritance of the earth.
“Climate Talks” aimed to take the daunting issue of climate change and spark interest and conversation around it through art- in this case, a workshop series for youth and elders. Nicole saw the curiosity in children about their world today and the future, and wanted to create a process for students (with help from a climate educator) to develop questions to ask adults, from parents to teachers to politicians. Nicole says, “Kids were excited to engage and were inspired to ask questions.”
Nicole partnered with a local school to work with students on developing a talk series between youth and adults on issues of climate change. “We had an excellent group of students who grew through the project- they gained a lot of confidence through the video series,” Nicole Bazuin says. The kids rose to the challenge and took control of the situation. Nicole says it was very inspiring to see what they were able to accomplish when they engaged with the subject matter. Even after the videos, the children wanted to keep asking questions.
Climate Talks even got in touch with Prime Minister Trudeau’s office. “The kids wanted to ask him questions, and he answered all seven of them.” It was a very positive experience for youth to engage with the leader of Canada. “ArtReach’s support helped us engage more youth and give a wider range of experiences to kids. What resulted was a beautiful series with a high production value,” Nicole says.
You can watch Climate Talks at www.climatetalks.ca.
Author: Ally Nohos