Where's My Mother?
Artist
Yen-Chang Cheng
Artist
Hung-Yu Chen
Taiwan
Date2008
Dimensions39 x 27 1/2 in. (99.1 x 69.9 cm)
ClassificationsPoster
Credit LinePoster House Permanent Collection
Object numberPH.6707
DescriptionIn March 2003, the polar bear became one of the most ubiquitous symbols of climate change after Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA) held up a photograph of one against a snowy Alaskan backdrop as part of her argument against drilling for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Surprisingly, this gesture proved successful and drilling was forestalled. The photograph of the polar bear was taken by Subhankar Banerjee and was originally intended to be part of a large exhibition at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History. Controversially, however, after the photograph had been used as a key prop in the vote against drilling, museum management relegated the exhibition to a remote corner of the museum and the wall text was significantly altered to remove much of the original context and analysis. This Taiwanese poster was entered into the debut category of the 21st International Poster Biennial in Warsaw, proving the enduring popularity of the polar bear as the unofficial ambassador of environmental issues.On View
Not on view
