Ted Leeming | COP26 Most Wanted Playing Cards

6 December 2021 - 15 January 2022

(Window display only, the gallery is closed until Mid-Janaury for an extended Christmas break)

Half the gases contributing to climate change have been released into the atmosphere since 1990…... (Source - IPCC)

As we approach Christmas, Departure Lounge is taking an extended break and will return to programming in mid-January 2022. During this period of temporary closure, we are returning to our programme of window displays and showcasing environmental photographer Ted Leeming’s innovative COP26 Most Wanted Playing Card Project.

With a passing resemblance to the ‘Iraqi Most Wanted’ playing cards produced by the US Defence Intelligence Agency in the aftermath of the Iraq war, the COP26 Most Wanted deck identifies the main causes and consequences of climate change, noting achievable solutions and mind resets.

These include principally:

·      We - not them - are both the problem and the solution.

·      We can no longer simply wait for ‘them’ to address the imminent threat facing us all.

·      We must all ‘Be the Change’.

Playing cards are a recurring theme in contemporary art practice with both Pablo Picasso and Salvador Dali producing their own decks of Tarot cards, while American photographer Larry Sultan created a series of ‘Baseball Trading Cards’ featuring the luminaries of the American photography scene in 1975.

Ted Leeming is an environmental photographer based in Scotland and part of the photography collective Leeming : Patterson whose practice focusses on issues surrounding climate breakdown.

The COP26 Most Wanted Playing Cards window display is organised by Departure Lounge and is delivered in partnership with The Culture Trust Luton.

Ted Leeming | COP26 Most Wanted Playing Cards

6 December 2021 - 15 January 2022

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