Bangkok – Greenpeace has organized an art exhibition displaying works created using particulates of less than 2.5 microns, to illustrate the dangers posed by air pollution.
Artist Ruangsak Anuwatwimol contributed the piece “Memory” to the exhibition entitled “Right to Clean Air” currently taking place at the Bangkok Art and Culture Center. The papier-mache sculpture depicts a child, mother and an elderly person and is covered in 2.5 micron particulates (PM2.5) collected from across Thailand to symbolize the crisis currently occurring in the air we breathe.
The exhibition underlines that PM2.5 is commonly found in Saraburi, Bangkok’s Thonburi area, Samut Sakhon and Ratchaburi. The particulate endangers the respiratory and vascular system and can cause premature death. It is considered carcinogenic by the World Health Organization and is widely used as an indicator of environmental safety.
Head of the Right to Clean Air program, Rattanasiri Kittikongnapang explained that the exhibition was put together to encourage state, private and civilian groups to pay more attention to air pollution and push for a reduction in contaminants being pumped into the air, either by businesses or transportation vehicles. It is also urging citizens to more regularly wear protective masks in areas with high pollution.
