It is not until I return back to the layers of tree bark that frame the entrance to “Our Time on Earth” that I am bold enough to put my nose to it and inhale deeply. My suspicions are confirmed: it smells delicious, like sweet amber and something quietly sharp. I think immediately of how I want to wear it—to bottle it up — to be able to envelop myself in it any time I want. The thought is followed by a series of questions, all spurred by the very exhibit the bark marks the entrance to. Why do I want to “own” this scent? Where does that impulse come from? What if I could find satisfaction in the simple miracle of smelling it here, now? This is how I know the exhibition has done its job. I have already been changed.
Organized by London’s Barbican Centre and curated by Luke Kemp alongside guest curators Caroline Till and Kate Franklin of Franklin Till, “Our Time on Earth” makes its United States debut at the Peabody Essex Museum (PEM) this late winter and spring. The exhibition is multidisciplinary and multicultural, featuring artists, designers, scientists, technologists and changemakers from 12 countries. As part of PEM’s Climate + Environment Initiative, the exhibit aims to not just speak to the climate crisis but also act in response; to minimize its carbon footprint, the exhibition is built from biodegradable, sustainable materials.
Thoughtfully curated with today’s anxious, climate- overwhelmed viewer in mind, the show is a much-needed antidote to paralysis in the face of ongoing climate catastrophe. It is divided into three distinct yet interconnected sections: “Belong,” which invites us to shift toward a more relational worldview; “Imagine,” which offers creative visions of a sustainable future; and “Engage,” which aims to spark action.