Barcelona’s annual Earth Day Festival, Fira de la Tierra, had some surprising guests. In between the stalls selling local cheeses emerged “The History of the World in 4 Minutes”. This low-tech street theater production made took advantage of a bit of creativity (and a few big pieces of cardboard) to let the world know what is headed their way on October 10th, and how they can get involved. The crowd loved it, and had such a good time they signed up to join the local 350 network. If we can show the world how vibrant and inspiring this movement truly is – then everyone will want to be a part! Lets make this movement as beautiful as the planet we are trying to save.

Sometimes in the face of an impending climate catastrophe, you need to be a little silly. Watch the video now!

 

We knew that there would be many other groups at this Earth Day Festival so we decided we needed to stand out. So, the night before the festival a group of 350 Barcelona volunteers got together and we decided to make a show. The show was an instant success, stopping people in their tracks as they listened with wide grins as the narrators told of the story of the Earth’s relationship with CO2, and giggled as the we dramatized about local food. This is a fun, easy and no-cost way to spread the word about October 10th and to help grow the local movement. And this was just the first day of performances and already we could see the impact.

Using recycled materials (cardboard and old house paint), we drew up 8 simple pictures that would guide the story and help the viewers to understand the main ideas. We grabbed a bunch of these images from the great 350 Animation (nominated for a Webby Award!) and got a basic storyline. Throw in some cardboard arrows, a few cardboard CO2s and presto: you’ve got a show! This is proof that a little creativity can still trump any slick advertising campaign, and demonstrates the true grass-roots nature of this movement. Check out some other great ideas to help spread the word on our Arts D-I-Y page, and stay tuned for our upcoming “Artivist Guidebook”.