What is the art world doing to counter the climate crisis?
In the second of our series of articles to mark COP27, we take a look at the ways the art world helps fight the climate crisis.
November 17, 2022

Imagine looking at this: Fires are destroying the Amazonas, rivers are drying and cities are submerged in water. Feel it: Heat waves in the summer, and cold waves in the autumn. Listen to it: Tropical cyclones, floods, tsunamis. Smell it: Toasted Forest, Tsunami Mist and Dusty Drought. If we were to experience what may happen in ten, twenty or thirty years, how would we react? Would it change the way we think about ways to prevent the coming climate crisis? 

Art enables us to see and imagine worlds and situations in a materialised form, which could be effective in transforming ideas, concepts and beliefs. Many have claimed that when confronted with visually challenging stimuli, it is common to experience joy, pleasure, shivers down the spine, and awe, or sometimes even negative emotions: fear, anger or disgust. Perhaps, if we make people feel about the coming climate crisis instead of recycling the same hoarse and at times patronising sloganeering, we might be able to achieve more long-term accomplishments. It is important for us to change people's minds, or more importantly, to inspire them to take action against the coming crisis. 

Serperntine Gallery's Back to Earth project

The imminent action that the art world can take is platforming climate-based or environmental artists, exhibiting them and communicating to the public the topic and its deadly consequences.  Fortunately, some art institutions and museums are recognising their role in fighting climate change. There have been more and more exhibitions addressing climate change, such as the Serpentine Gallery's Back to Earth project, which addressed the global climate crisis over a multiyear period. Sharjah Architecture Triennial's 2023 edition is also focusing on resource extraction and scarcity. A number of exhibitions focused on aspects of the climate emergency have been announced or closed at Warehouse421 in Abu Dhabi, Jameel Arts Centre in Dubai, and Hayy Jameel in Jeddah. 

Though exhibitions are aimed at raising awareness of climate change, when considering the global nature of the art industry, and the act of organising exhibitions, it is worth considering publishing, communication, transportation of artworks, installation, and fabrication. All these elements have been shown to increase carbon footprint and thus, could be argued to be detrimental to the protection they attempt to achieve. While some argue that the message of these environmental exhibitions outweighs the negative climate effects of putting the show on, it is an issue that institutions, galleries, artists and art world participants should consider. 

One way to decrease the footprint of galleries is through digitisation of the artwork; after mostly avoiding digitisation, the art world has recently reached a technological turning point due to the pandemic, while the conversations around climate change have expanded. Fairs, exhibitions, talks, articles and online gallery visits transform online and become the 'new normal', which shaped the industry’s nature into ‘global-local’. In addition, an increasing number of online art apps and platforms have emerged into this semi-new art world, contributing to filling digitisation gaps and reducing their footprints. Some platforms allow institutions to measure their own carbon footprints, increase the public's access to art, information, and exhibitions, and bring together an international art world community, ‘global-local’, aiming to fight together against the climate crisis. As mentioned before by many, climate change cannot be solved by one person alone; the voices of eight billion people will not succeed without an incisive, shared message, and finding a single, effective message is possible with technology. 

Serpentine Gallery's Back to Earth Project

One of the most interesting communities that appeared in response to the climate crisis is the Gallery Climate Coalition (GCC). A community of more than 300 galleries, 150 non-profit organisations, and 160 artists and art collectives working to reduce our sector's environmental impact. In addition to committing to the Paris Agreement, Gallery Climate Coalition (GCC) members were asked to provide a contact who would be responsible for filling out the carbon calculator every year and keeping their organisation informed of the goal, which is a 50 per cent reduction in carbon emissions by 2030. Gallery Climate Coalition (GCC) has committees devoted to different topics and in different parts of the world, whilst encouraging sea transport which can 'reduce carbon emissions by 80 per cent compared to air travel'. Committees are spread in London, Berlin and Los Angeles and more committees are in the process of being formed in Belgium, Italy and Brazil.

A second coalition of organisations engaged in collaborative efforts to accelerate the visual arts' adoption of collective climate action is Partners for Arts Climate Targets. This coalition is intended to align the art industry with the Paris environmental accord. Among the groups are Art to Zero and Galleries Commit in New York, Art/Switch and Ki Culture in Amsterdam, ART 2030 from Denmark, and Art + Climate Action in San Francisco. In a statement, the group highlights the importance of community in confronting climate change. "By collaborating, we can offer support to each other, share news, questions, and knowledge, and agree on goals," they say, “This strengthens and amplifies our efforts while signalling to the public that our different organisations are connected.”

Other organisations to follow are Art 2023, a non-profit organisation uniting art with the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its 17 Global Goals. Art for a Healthy Planet aims to roster prominent artists across social media on World Earth Day and World Environment Day, while the European Commission aims to bring art, science and technology together to protect the environment. In the end, the greatest impact of the art world on sustainability will come from more and more individuals joining these local-global organisations aiming to create change.

Shani Haquin Gerade
17/11/2022
Discussions
Shani Haquin Gerade
What is the art world doing to counter the climate crisis?
Written by
Shani Haquin Gerade
Date Published
17/11/2022
Environmental Art
Serpentine Gallery
Science
Technology
In the second of our series of articles to mark COP27, we take a look at the ways the art world helps fight the climate crisis.

Imagine looking at this: Fires are destroying the Amazonas, rivers are drying and cities are submerged in water. Feel it: Heat waves in the summer, and cold waves in the autumn. Listen to it: Tropical cyclones, floods, tsunamis. Smell it: Toasted Forest, Tsunami Mist and Dusty Drought. If we were to experience what may happen in ten, twenty or thirty years, how would we react? Would it change the way we think about ways to prevent the coming climate crisis? 

Art enables us to see and imagine worlds and situations in a materialised form, which could be effective in transforming ideas, concepts and beliefs. Many have claimed that when confronted with visually challenging stimuli, it is common to experience joy, pleasure, shivers down the spine, and awe, or sometimes even negative emotions: fear, anger or disgust. Perhaps, if we make people feel about the coming climate crisis instead of recycling the same hoarse and at times patronising sloganeering, we might be able to achieve more long-term accomplishments. It is important for us to change people's minds, or more importantly, to inspire them to take action against the coming crisis. 

Serperntine Gallery's Back to Earth project

The imminent action that the art world can take is platforming climate-based or environmental artists, exhibiting them and communicating to the public the topic and its deadly consequences.  Fortunately, some art institutions and museums are recognising their role in fighting climate change. There have been more and more exhibitions addressing climate change, such as the Serpentine Gallery's Back to Earth project, which addressed the global climate crisis over a multiyear period. Sharjah Architecture Triennial's 2023 edition is also focusing on resource extraction and scarcity. A number of exhibitions focused on aspects of the climate emergency have been announced or closed at Warehouse421 in Abu Dhabi, Jameel Arts Centre in Dubai, and Hayy Jameel in Jeddah. 

Though exhibitions are aimed at raising awareness of climate change, when considering the global nature of the art industry, and the act of organising exhibitions, it is worth considering publishing, communication, transportation of artworks, installation, and fabrication. All these elements have been shown to increase carbon footprint and thus, could be argued to be detrimental to the protection they attempt to achieve. While some argue that the message of these environmental exhibitions outweighs the negative climate effects of putting the show on, it is an issue that institutions, galleries, artists and art world participants should consider. 

One way to decrease the footprint of galleries is through digitisation of the artwork; after mostly avoiding digitisation, the art world has recently reached a technological turning point due to the pandemic, while the conversations around climate change have expanded. Fairs, exhibitions, talks, articles and online gallery visits transform online and become the 'new normal', which shaped the industry’s nature into ‘global-local’. In addition, an increasing number of online art apps and platforms have emerged into this semi-new art world, contributing to filling digitisation gaps and reducing their footprints. Some platforms allow institutions to measure their own carbon footprints, increase the public's access to art, information, and exhibitions, and bring together an international art world community, ‘global-local’, aiming to fight together against the climate crisis. As mentioned before by many, climate change cannot be solved by one person alone; the voices of eight billion people will not succeed without an incisive, shared message, and finding a single, effective message is possible with technology. 

Serpentine Gallery's Back to Earth Project

One of the most interesting communities that appeared in response to the climate crisis is the Gallery Climate Coalition (GCC). A community of more than 300 galleries, 150 non-profit organisations, and 160 artists and art collectives working to reduce our sector's environmental impact. In addition to committing to the Paris Agreement, Gallery Climate Coalition (GCC) members were asked to provide a contact who would be responsible for filling out the carbon calculator every year and keeping their organisation informed of the goal, which is a 50 per cent reduction in carbon emissions by 2030. Gallery Climate Coalition (GCC) has committees devoted to different topics and in different parts of the world, whilst encouraging sea transport which can 'reduce carbon emissions by 80 per cent compared to air travel'. Committees are spread in London, Berlin and Los Angeles and more committees are in the process of being formed in Belgium, Italy and Brazil.

A second coalition of organisations engaged in collaborative efforts to accelerate the visual arts' adoption of collective climate action is Partners for Arts Climate Targets. This coalition is intended to align the art industry with the Paris environmental accord. Among the groups are Art to Zero and Galleries Commit in New York, Art/Switch and Ki Culture in Amsterdam, ART 2030 from Denmark, and Art + Climate Action in San Francisco. In a statement, the group highlights the importance of community in confronting climate change. "By collaborating, we can offer support to each other, share news, questions, and knowledge, and agree on goals," they say, “This strengthens and amplifies our efforts while signalling to the public that our different organisations are connected.”

Other organisations to follow are Art 2023, a non-profit organisation uniting art with the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its 17 Global Goals. Art for a Healthy Planet aims to roster prominent artists across social media on World Earth Day and World Environment Day, while the European Commission aims to bring art, science and technology together to protect the environment. In the end, the greatest impact of the art world on sustainability will come from more and more individuals joining these local-global organisations aiming to create change.

Thanks for reading
Collect your 5 yamos below
REDEEM YAMOS
What is the art world doing to counter the climate crisis?
Discussions
Shani Haquin Gerade
Written by
Shani Haquin Gerade
Date Published
17/11/2022
Environmental Art
Serpentine Gallery
Science
Technology
In the second of our series of articles to mark COP27, we take a look at the ways the art world helps fight the climate crisis.

Imagine looking at this: Fires are destroying the Amazonas, rivers are drying and cities are submerged in water. Feel it: Heat waves in the summer, and cold waves in the autumn. Listen to it: Tropical cyclones, floods, tsunamis. Smell it: Toasted Forest, Tsunami Mist and Dusty Drought. If we were to experience what may happen in ten, twenty or thirty years, how would we react? Would it change the way we think about ways to prevent the coming climate crisis? 

Art enables us to see and imagine worlds and situations in a materialised form, which could be effective in transforming ideas, concepts and beliefs. Many have claimed that when confronted with visually challenging stimuli, it is common to experience joy, pleasure, shivers down the spine, and awe, or sometimes even negative emotions: fear, anger or disgust. Perhaps, if we make people feel about the coming climate crisis instead of recycling the same hoarse and at times patronising sloganeering, we might be able to achieve more long-term accomplishments. It is important for us to change people's minds, or more importantly, to inspire them to take action against the coming crisis. 

Serperntine Gallery's Back to Earth project

The imminent action that the art world can take is platforming climate-based or environmental artists, exhibiting them and communicating to the public the topic and its deadly consequences.  Fortunately, some art institutions and museums are recognising their role in fighting climate change. There have been more and more exhibitions addressing climate change, such as the Serpentine Gallery's Back to Earth project, which addressed the global climate crisis over a multiyear period. Sharjah Architecture Triennial's 2023 edition is also focusing on resource extraction and scarcity. A number of exhibitions focused on aspects of the climate emergency have been announced or closed at Warehouse421 in Abu Dhabi, Jameel Arts Centre in Dubai, and Hayy Jameel in Jeddah. 

Though exhibitions are aimed at raising awareness of climate change, when considering the global nature of the art industry, and the act of organising exhibitions, it is worth considering publishing, communication, transportation of artworks, installation, and fabrication. All these elements have been shown to increase carbon footprint and thus, could be argued to be detrimental to the protection they attempt to achieve. While some argue that the message of these environmental exhibitions outweighs the negative climate effects of putting the show on, it is an issue that institutions, galleries, artists and art world participants should consider. 

One way to decrease the footprint of galleries is through digitisation of the artwork; after mostly avoiding digitisation, the art world has recently reached a technological turning point due to the pandemic, while the conversations around climate change have expanded. Fairs, exhibitions, talks, articles and online gallery visits transform online and become the 'new normal', which shaped the industry’s nature into ‘global-local’. In addition, an increasing number of online art apps and platforms have emerged into this semi-new art world, contributing to filling digitisation gaps and reducing their footprints. Some platforms allow institutions to measure their own carbon footprints, increase the public's access to art, information, and exhibitions, and bring together an international art world community, ‘global-local’, aiming to fight together against the climate crisis. As mentioned before by many, climate change cannot be solved by one person alone; the voices of eight billion people will not succeed without an incisive, shared message, and finding a single, effective message is possible with technology. 

Serpentine Gallery's Back to Earth Project

One of the most interesting communities that appeared in response to the climate crisis is the Gallery Climate Coalition (GCC). A community of more than 300 galleries, 150 non-profit organisations, and 160 artists and art collectives working to reduce our sector's environmental impact. In addition to committing to the Paris Agreement, Gallery Climate Coalition (GCC) members were asked to provide a contact who would be responsible for filling out the carbon calculator every year and keeping their organisation informed of the goal, which is a 50 per cent reduction in carbon emissions by 2030. Gallery Climate Coalition (GCC) has committees devoted to different topics and in different parts of the world, whilst encouraging sea transport which can 'reduce carbon emissions by 80 per cent compared to air travel'. Committees are spread in London, Berlin and Los Angeles and more committees are in the process of being formed in Belgium, Italy and Brazil.

A second coalition of organisations engaged in collaborative efforts to accelerate the visual arts' adoption of collective climate action is Partners for Arts Climate Targets. This coalition is intended to align the art industry with the Paris environmental accord. Among the groups are Art to Zero and Galleries Commit in New York, Art/Switch and Ki Culture in Amsterdam, ART 2030 from Denmark, and Art + Climate Action in San Francisco. In a statement, the group highlights the importance of community in confronting climate change. "By collaborating, we can offer support to each other, share news, questions, and knowledge, and agree on goals," they say, “This strengthens and amplifies our efforts while signalling to the public that our different organisations are connected.”

Other organisations to follow are Art 2023, a non-profit organisation uniting art with the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its 17 Global Goals. Art for a Healthy Planet aims to roster prominent artists across social media on World Earth Day and World Environment Day, while the European Commission aims to bring art, science and technology together to protect the environment. In the end, the greatest impact of the art world on sustainability will come from more and more individuals joining these local-global organisations aiming to create change.

Thanks for reading
Collect your 5 yamos below
REDEEM YAMOS
17/11/2022
Discussions
Shani Haquin Gerade
What is the art world doing to counter the climate crisis?
Written by
Shani Haquin Gerade
Date Published
17/11/2022
Environmental Art
Serpentine Gallery
Science
Technology
In the second of our series of articles to mark COP27, we take a look at the ways the art world helps fight the climate crisis.

Imagine looking at this: Fires are destroying the Amazonas, rivers are drying and cities are submerged in water. Feel it: Heat waves in the summer, and cold waves in the autumn. Listen to it: Tropical cyclones, floods, tsunamis. Smell it: Toasted Forest, Tsunami Mist and Dusty Drought. If we were to experience what may happen in ten, twenty or thirty years, how would we react? Would it change the way we think about ways to prevent the coming climate crisis? 

Art enables us to see and imagine worlds and situations in a materialised form, which could be effective in transforming ideas, concepts and beliefs. Many have claimed that when confronted with visually challenging stimuli, it is common to experience joy, pleasure, shivers down the spine, and awe, or sometimes even negative emotions: fear, anger or disgust. Perhaps, if we make people feel about the coming climate crisis instead of recycling the same hoarse and at times patronising sloganeering, we might be able to achieve more long-term accomplishments. It is important for us to change people's minds, or more importantly, to inspire them to take action against the coming crisis. 

Serperntine Gallery's Back to Earth project

The imminent action that the art world can take is platforming climate-based or environmental artists, exhibiting them and communicating to the public the topic and its deadly consequences.  Fortunately, some art institutions and museums are recognising their role in fighting climate change. There have been more and more exhibitions addressing climate change, such as the Serpentine Gallery's Back to Earth project, which addressed the global climate crisis over a multiyear period. Sharjah Architecture Triennial's 2023 edition is also focusing on resource extraction and scarcity. A number of exhibitions focused on aspects of the climate emergency have been announced or closed at Warehouse421 in Abu Dhabi, Jameel Arts Centre in Dubai, and Hayy Jameel in Jeddah. 

Though exhibitions are aimed at raising awareness of climate change, when considering the global nature of the art industry, and the act of organising exhibitions, it is worth considering publishing, communication, transportation of artworks, installation, and fabrication. All these elements have been shown to increase carbon footprint and thus, could be argued to be detrimental to the protection they attempt to achieve. While some argue that the message of these environmental exhibitions outweighs the negative climate effects of putting the show on, it is an issue that institutions, galleries, artists and art world participants should consider. 

One way to decrease the footprint of galleries is through digitisation of the artwork; after mostly avoiding digitisation, the art world has recently reached a technological turning point due to the pandemic, while the conversations around climate change have expanded. Fairs, exhibitions, talks, articles and online gallery visits transform online and become the 'new normal', which shaped the industry’s nature into ‘global-local’. In addition, an increasing number of online art apps and platforms have emerged into this semi-new art world, contributing to filling digitisation gaps and reducing their footprints. Some platforms allow institutions to measure their own carbon footprints, increase the public's access to art, information, and exhibitions, and bring together an international art world community, ‘global-local’, aiming to fight together against the climate crisis. As mentioned before by many, climate change cannot be solved by one person alone; the voices of eight billion people will not succeed without an incisive, shared message, and finding a single, effective message is possible with technology. 

Serpentine Gallery's Back to Earth Project

One of the most interesting communities that appeared in response to the climate crisis is the Gallery Climate Coalition (GCC). A community of more than 300 galleries, 150 non-profit organisations, and 160 artists and art collectives working to reduce our sector's environmental impact. In addition to committing to the Paris Agreement, Gallery Climate Coalition (GCC) members were asked to provide a contact who would be responsible for filling out the carbon calculator every year and keeping their organisation informed of the goal, which is a 50 per cent reduction in carbon emissions by 2030. Gallery Climate Coalition (GCC) has committees devoted to different topics and in different parts of the world, whilst encouraging sea transport which can 'reduce carbon emissions by 80 per cent compared to air travel'. Committees are spread in London, Berlin and Los Angeles and more committees are in the process of being formed in Belgium, Italy and Brazil.

A second coalition of organisations engaged in collaborative efforts to accelerate the visual arts' adoption of collective climate action is Partners for Arts Climate Targets. This coalition is intended to align the art industry with the Paris environmental accord. Among the groups are Art to Zero and Galleries Commit in New York, Art/Switch and Ki Culture in Amsterdam, ART 2030 from Denmark, and Art + Climate Action in San Francisco. In a statement, the group highlights the importance of community in confronting climate change. "By collaborating, we can offer support to each other, share news, questions, and knowledge, and agree on goals," they say, “This strengthens and amplifies our efforts while signalling to the public that our different organisations are connected.”

Other organisations to follow are Art 2023, a non-profit organisation uniting art with the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its 17 Global Goals. Art for a Healthy Planet aims to roster prominent artists across social media on World Earth Day and World Environment Day, while the European Commission aims to bring art, science and technology together to protect the environment. In the end, the greatest impact of the art world on sustainability will come from more and more individuals joining these local-global organisations aiming to create change.

Thanks for reading
Collect your 5 yamos below
REDEEM YAMOS
17/11/2022
Discussions
Shani Haquin Gerade
What is the art world doing to counter the climate crisis?
Written by
Shani Haquin Gerade
Date Published
17/11/2022
Environmental Art
Serpentine Gallery
Science
Technology
In the second of our series of articles to mark COP27, we take a look at the ways the art world helps fight the climate crisis.

Imagine looking at this: Fires are destroying the Amazonas, rivers are drying and cities are submerged in water. Feel it: Heat waves in the summer, and cold waves in the autumn. Listen to it: Tropical cyclones, floods, tsunamis. Smell it: Toasted Forest, Tsunami Mist and Dusty Drought. If we were to experience what may happen in ten, twenty or thirty years, how would we react? Would it change the way we think about ways to prevent the coming climate crisis? 

Art enables us to see and imagine worlds and situations in a materialised form, which could be effective in transforming ideas, concepts and beliefs. Many have claimed that when confronted with visually challenging stimuli, it is common to experience joy, pleasure, shivers down the spine, and awe, or sometimes even negative emotions: fear, anger or disgust. Perhaps, if we make people feel about the coming climate crisis instead of recycling the same hoarse and at times patronising sloganeering, we might be able to achieve more long-term accomplishments. It is important for us to change people's minds, or more importantly, to inspire them to take action against the coming crisis. 

Serperntine Gallery's Back to Earth project

The imminent action that the art world can take is platforming climate-based or environmental artists, exhibiting them and communicating to the public the topic and its deadly consequences.  Fortunately, some art institutions and museums are recognising their role in fighting climate change. There have been more and more exhibitions addressing climate change, such as the Serpentine Gallery's Back to Earth project, which addressed the global climate crisis over a multiyear period. Sharjah Architecture Triennial's 2023 edition is also focusing on resource extraction and scarcity. A number of exhibitions focused on aspects of the climate emergency have been announced or closed at Warehouse421 in Abu Dhabi, Jameel Arts Centre in Dubai, and Hayy Jameel in Jeddah. 

Though exhibitions are aimed at raising awareness of climate change, when considering the global nature of the art industry, and the act of organising exhibitions, it is worth considering publishing, communication, transportation of artworks, installation, and fabrication. All these elements have been shown to increase carbon footprint and thus, could be argued to be detrimental to the protection they attempt to achieve. While some argue that the message of these environmental exhibitions outweighs the negative climate effects of putting the show on, it is an issue that institutions, galleries, artists and art world participants should consider. 

One way to decrease the footprint of galleries is through digitisation of the artwork; after mostly avoiding digitisation, the art world has recently reached a technological turning point due to the pandemic, while the conversations around climate change have expanded. Fairs, exhibitions, talks, articles and online gallery visits transform online and become the 'new normal', which shaped the industry’s nature into ‘global-local’. In addition, an increasing number of online art apps and platforms have emerged into this semi-new art world, contributing to filling digitisation gaps and reducing their footprints. Some platforms allow institutions to measure their own carbon footprints, increase the public's access to art, information, and exhibitions, and bring together an international art world community, ‘global-local’, aiming to fight together against the climate crisis. As mentioned before by many, climate change cannot be solved by one person alone; the voices of eight billion people will not succeed without an incisive, shared message, and finding a single, effective message is possible with technology. 

Serpentine Gallery's Back to Earth Project

One of the most interesting communities that appeared in response to the climate crisis is the Gallery Climate Coalition (GCC). A community of more than 300 galleries, 150 non-profit organisations, and 160 artists and art collectives working to reduce our sector's environmental impact. In addition to committing to the Paris Agreement, Gallery Climate Coalition (GCC) members were asked to provide a contact who would be responsible for filling out the carbon calculator every year and keeping their organisation informed of the goal, which is a 50 per cent reduction in carbon emissions by 2030. Gallery Climate Coalition (GCC) has committees devoted to different topics and in different parts of the world, whilst encouraging sea transport which can 'reduce carbon emissions by 80 per cent compared to air travel'. Committees are spread in London, Berlin and Los Angeles and more committees are in the process of being formed in Belgium, Italy and Brazil.

A second coalition of organisations engaged in collaborative efforts to accelerate the visual arts' adoption of collective climate action is Partners for Arts Climate Targets. This coalition is intended to align the art industry with the Paris environmental accord. Among the groups are Art to Zero and Galleries Commit in New York, Art/Switch and Ki Culture in Amsterdam, ART 2030 from Denmark, and Art + Climate Action in San Francisco. In a statement, the group highlights the importance of community in confronting climate change. "By collaborating, we can offer support to each other, share news, questions, and knowledge, and agree on goals," they say, “This strengthens and amplifies our efforts while signalling to the public that our different organisations are connected.”

Other organisations to follow are Art 2023, a non-profit organisation uniting art with the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its 17 Global Goals. Art for a Healthy Planet aims to roster prominent artists across social media on World Earth Day and World Environment Day, while the European Commission aims to bring art, science and technology together to protect the environment. In the end, the greatest impact of the art world on sustainability will come from more and more individuals joining these local-global organisations aiming to create change.

Thanks for reading
Collect your 5 yamos below
REDEEM YAMOS
17/11/2022
Discussions
Shani Haquin Gerade
What is the art world doing to counter the climate crisis?
Written by
Shani Haquin Gerade
Date Published
17/11/2022
Environmental Art
Serpentine Gallery
Science
Technology
In the second of our series of articles to mark COP27, we take a look at the ways the art world helps fight the climate crisis.

Imagine looking at this: Fires are destroying the Amazonas, rivers are drying and cities are submerged in water. Feel it: Heat waves in the summer, and cold waves in the autumn. Listen to it: Tropical cyclones, floods, tsunamis. Smell it: Toasted Forest, Tsunami Mist and Dusty Drought. If we were to experience what may happen in ten, twenty or thirty years, how would we react? Would it change the way we think about ways to prevent the coming climate crisis? 

Art enables us to see and imagine worlds and situations in a materialised form, which could be effective in transforming ideas, concepts and beliefs. Many have claimed that when confronted with visually challenging stimuli, it is common to experience joy, pleasure, shivers down the spine, and awe, or sometimes even negative emotions: fear, anger or disgust. Perhaps, if we make people feel about the coming climate crisis instead of recycling the same hoarse and at times patronising sloganeering, we might be able to achieve more long-term accomplishments. It is important for us to change people's minds, or more importantly, to inspire them to take action against the coming crisis. 

Serperntine Gallery's Back to Earth project

The imminent action that the art world can take is platforming climate-based or environmental artists, exhibiting them and communicating to the public the topic and its deadly consequences.  Fortunately, some art institutions and museums are recognising their role in fighting climate change. There have been more and more exhibitions addressing climate change, such as the Serpentine Gallery's Back to Earth project, which addressed the global climate crisis over a multiyear period. Sharjah Architecture Triennial's 2023 edition is also focusing on resource extraction and scarcity. A number of exhibitions focused on aspects of the climate emergency have been announced or closed at Warehouse421 in Abu Dhabi, Jameel Arts Centre in Dubai, and Hayy Jameel in Jeddah. 

Though exhibitions are aimed at raising awareness of climate change, when considering the global nature of the art industry, and the act of organising exhibitions, it is worth considering publishing, communication, transportation of artworks, installation, and fabrication. All these elements have been shown to increase carbon footprint and thus, could be argued to be detrimental to the protection they attempt to achieve. While some argue that the message of these environmental exhibitions outweighs the negative climate effects of putting the show on, it is an issue that institutions, galleries, artists and art world participants should consider. 

One way to decrease the footprint of galleries is through digitisation of the artwork; after mostly avoiding digitisation, the art world has recently reached a technological turning point due to the pandemic, while the conversations around climate change have expanded. Fairs, exhibitions, talks, articles and online gallery visits transform online and become the 'new normal', which shaped the industry’s nature into ‘global-local’. In addition, an increasing number of online art apps and platforms have emerged into this semi-new art world, contributing to filling digitisation gaps and reducing their footprints. Some platforms allow institutions to measure their own carbon footprints, increase the public's access to art, information, and exhibitions, and bring together an international art world community, ‘global-local’, aiming to fight together against the climate crisis. As mentioned before by many, climate change cannot be solved by one person alone; the voices of eight billion people will not succeed without an incisive, shared message, and finding a single, effective message is possible with technology. 

Serpentine Gallery's Back to Earth Project

One of the most interesting communities that appeared in response to the climate crisis is the Gallery Climate Coalition (GCC). A community of more than 300 galleries, 150 non-profit organisations, and 160 artists and art collectives working to reduce our sector's environmental impact. In addition to committing to the Paris Agreement, Gallery Climate Coalition (GCC) members were asked to provide a contact who would be responsible for filling out the carbon calculator every year and keeping their organisation informed of the goal, which is a 50 per cent reduction in carbon emissions by 2030. Gallery Climate Coalition (GCC) has committees devoted to different topics and in different parts of the world, whilst encouraging sea transport which can 'reduce carbon emissions by 80 per cent compared to air travel'. Committees are spread in London, Berlin and Los Angeles and more committees are in the process of being formed in Belgium, Italy and Brazil.

A second coalition of organisations engaged in collaborative efforts to accelerate the visual arts' adoption of collective climate action is Partners for Arts Climate Targets. This coalition is intended to align the art industry with the Paris environmental accord. Among the groups are Art to Zero and Galleries Commit in New York, Art/Switch and Ki Culture in Amsterdam, ART 2030 from Denmark, and Art + Climate Action in San Francisco. In a statement, the group highlights the importance of community in confronting climate change. "By collaborating, we can offer support to each other, share news, questions, and knowledge, and agree on goals," they say, “This strengthens and amplifies our efforts while signalling to the public that our different organisations are connected.”

Other organisations to follow are Art 2023, a non-profit organisation uniting art with the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its 17 Global Goals. Art for a Healthy Planet aims to roster prominent artists across social media on World Earth Day and World Environment Day, while the European Commission aims to bring art, science and technology together to protect the environment. In the end, the greatest impact of the art world on sustainability will come from more and more individuals joining these local-global organisations aiming to create change.

Thanks for reading
Collect your 5 yamos below
REDEEM YAMOS
Written by
Shani Haquin Gerade
Date Published
17/11/2022
Environmental Art
Serpentine Gallery
Science
Technology
17/11/2022
Discussions
Shani Haquin Gerade
What is the art world doing to counter the climate crisis?

Imagine looking at this: Fires are destroying the Amazonas, rivers are drying and cities are submerged in water. Feel it: Heat waves in the summer, and cold waves in the autumn. Listen to it: Tropical cyclones, floods, tsunamis. Smell it: Toasted Forest, Tsunami Mist and Dusty Drought. If we were to experience what may happen in ten, twenty or thirty years, how would we react? Would it change the way we think about ways to prevent the coming climate crisis? 

Art enables us to see and imagine worlds and situations in a materialised form, which could be effective in transforming ideas, concepts and beliefs. Many have claimed that when confronted with visually challenging stimuli, it is common to experience joy, pleasure, shivers down the spine, and awe, or sometimes even negative emotions: fear, anger or disgust. Perhaps, if we make people feel about the coming climate crisis instead of recycling the same hoarse and at times patronising sloganeering, we might be able to achieve more long-term accomplishments. It is important for us to change people's minds, or more importantly, to inspire them to take action against the coming crisis. 

Serperntine Gallery's Back to Earth project

The imminent action that the art world can take is platforming climate-based or environmental artists, exhibiting them and communicating to the public the topic and its deadly consequences.  Fortunately, some art institutions and museums are recognising their role in fighting climate change. There have been more and more exhibitions addressing climate change, such as the Serpentine Gallery's Back to Earth project, which addressed the global climate crisis over a multiyear period. Sharjah Architecture Triennial's 2023 edition is also focusing on resource extraction and scarcity. A number of exhibitions focused on aspects of the climate emergency have been announced or closed at Warehouse421 in Abu Dhabi, Jameel Arts Centre in Dubai, and Hayy Jameel in Jeddah. 

Though exhibitions are aimed at raising awareness of climate change, when considering the global nature of the art industry, and the act of organising exhibitions, it is worth considering publishing, communication, transportation of artworks, installation, and fabrication. All these elements have been shown to increase carbon footprint and thus, could be argued to be detrimental to the protection they attempt to achieve. While some argue that the message of these environmental exhibitions outweighs the negative climate effects of putting the show on, it is an issue that institutions, galleries, artists and art world participants should consider. 

One way to decrease the footprint of galleries is through digitisation of the artwork; after mostly avoiding digitisation, the art world has recently reached a technological turning point due to the pandemic, while the conversations around climate change have expanded. Fairs, exhibitions, talks, articles and online gallery visits transform online and become the 'new normal', which shaped the industry’s nature into ‘global-local’. In addition, an increasing number of online art apps and platforms have emerged into this semi-new art world, contributing to filling digitisation gaps and reducing their footprints. Some platforms allow institutions to measure their own carbon footprints, increase the public's access to art, information, and exhibitions, and bring together an international art world community, ‘global-local’, aiming to fight together against the climate crisis. As mentioned before by many, climate change cannot be solved by one person alone; the voices of eight billion people will not succeed without an incisive, shared message, and finding a single, effective message is possible with technology. 

Serpentine Gallery's Back to Earth Project

One of the most interesting communities that appeared in response to the climate crisis is the Gallery Climate Coalition (GCC). A community of more than 300 galleries, 150 non-profit organisations, and 160 artists and art collectives working to reduce our sector's environmental impact. In addition to committing to the Paris Agreement, Gallery Climate Coalition (GCC) members were asked to provide a contact who would be responsible for filling out the carbon calculator every year and keeping their organisation informed of the goal, which is a 50 per cent reduction in carbon emissions by 2030. Gallery Climate Coalition (GCC) has committees devoted to different topics and in different parts of the world, whilst encouraging sea transport which can 'reduce carbon emissions by 80 per cent compared to air travel'. Committees are spread in London, Berlin and Los Angeles and more committees are in the process of being formed in Belgium, Italy and Brazil.

A second coalition of organisations engaged in collaborative efforts to accelerate the visual arts' adoption of collective climate action is Partners for Arts Climate Targets. This coalition is intended to align the art industry with the Paris environmental accord. Among the groups are Art to Zero and Galleries Commit in New York, Art/Switch and Ki Culture in Amsterdam, ART 2030 from Denmark, and Art + Climate Action in San Francisco. In a statement, the group highlights the importance of community in confronting climate change. "By collaborating, we can offer support to each other, share news, questions, and knowledge, and agree on goals," they say, “This strengthens and amplifies our efforts while signalling to the public that our different organisations are connected.”

Other organisations to follow are Art 2023, a non-profit organisation uniting art with the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its 17 Global Goals. Art for a Healthy Planet aims to roster prominent artists across social media on World Earth Day and World Environment Day, while the European Commission aims to bring art, science and technology together to protect the environment. In the end, the greatest impact of the art world on sustainability will come from more and more individuals joining these local-global organisations aiming to create change.

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What is the art world doing to counter the climate crisis?
17/11/2022
Discussions
Shani Haquin Gerade
Written by
Shani Haquin Gerade
Date Published
17/11/2022
Environmental Art
Serpentine Gallery
Science
Technology
In the second of our series of articles to mark COP27, we take a look at the ways the art world helps fight the climate crisis.

Imagine looking at this: Fires are destroying the Amazonas, rivers are drying and cities are submerged in water. Feel it: Heat waves in the summer, and cold waves in the autumn. Listen to it: Tropical cyclones, floods, tsunamis. Smell it: Toasted Forest, Tsunami Mist and Dusty Drought. If we were to experience what may happen in ten, twenty or thirty years, how would we react? Would it change the way we think about ways to prevent the coming climate crisis? 

Art enables us to see and imagine worlds and situations in a materialised form, which could be effective in transforming ideas, concepts and beliefs. Many have claimed that when confronted with visually challenging stimuli, it is common to experience joy, pleasure, shivers down the spine, and awe, or sometimes even negative emotions: fear, anger or disgust. Perhaps, if we make people feel about the coming climate crisis instead of recycling the same hoarse and at times patronising sloganeering, we might be able to achieve more long-term accomplishments. It is important for us to change people's minds, or more importantly, to inspire them to take action against the coming crisis. 

Serperntine Gallery's Back to Earth project

The imminent action that the art world can take is platforming climate-based or environmental artists, exhibiting them and communicating to the public the topic and its deadly consequences.  Fortunately, some art institutions and museums are recognising their role in fighting climate change. There have been more and more exhibitions addressing climate change, such as the Serpentine Gallery's Back to Earth project, which addressed the global climate crisis over a multiyear period. Sharjah Architecture Triennial's 2023 edition is also focusing on resource extraction and scarcity. A number of exhibitions focused on aspects of the climate emergency have been announced or closed at Warehouse421 in Abu Dhabi, Jameel Arts Centre in Dubai, and Hayy Jameel in Jeddah. 

Though exhibitions are aimed at raising awareness of climate change, when considering the global nature of the art industry, and the act of organising exhibitions, it is worth considering publishing, communication, transportation of artworks, installation, and fabrication. All these elements have been shown to increase carbon footprint and thus, could be argued to be detrimental to the protection they attempt to achieve. While some argue that the message of these environmental exhibitions outweighs the negative climate effects of putting the show on, it is an issue that institutions, galleries, artists and art world participants should consider. 

One way to decrease the footprint of galleries is through digitisation of the artwork; after mostly avoiding digitisation, the art world has recently reached a technological turning point due to the pandemic, while the conversations around climate change have expanded. Fairs, exhibitions, talks, articles and online gallery visits transform online and become the 'new normal', which shaped the industry’s nature into ‘global-local’. In addition, an increasing number of online art apps and platforms have emerged into this semi-new art world, contributing to filling digitisation gaps and reducing their footprints. Some platforms allow institutions to measure their own carbon footprints, increase the public's access to art, information, and exhibitions, and bring together an international art world community, ‘global-local’, aiming to fight together against the climate crisis. As mentioned before by many, climate change cannot be solved by one person alone; the voices of eight billion people will not succeed without an incisive, shared message, and finding a single, effective message is possible with technology. 

Serpentine Gallery's Back to Earth Project

One of the most interesting communities that appeared in response to the climate crisis is the Gallery Climate Coalition (GCC). A community of more than 300 galleries, 150 non-profit organisations, and 160 artists and art collectives working to reduce our sector's environmental impact. In addition to committing to the Paris Agreement, Gallery Climate Coalition (GCC) members were asked to provide a contact who would be responsible for filling out the carbon calculator every year and keeping their organisation informed of the goal, which is a 50 per cent reduction in carbon emissions by 2030. Gallery Climate Coalition (GCC) has committees devoted to different topics and in different parts of the world, whilst encouraging sea transport which can 'reduce carbon emissions by 80 per cent compared to air travel'. Committees are spread in London, Berlin and Los Angeles and more committees are in the process of being formed in Belgium, Italy and Brazil.

A second coalition of organisations engaged in collaborative efforts to accelerate the visual arts' adoption of collective climate action is Partners for Arts Climate Targets. This coalition is intended to align the art industry with the Paris environmental accord. Among the groups are Art to Zero and Galleries Commit in New York, Art/Switch and Ki Culture in Amsterdam, ART 2030 from Denmark, and Art + Climate Action in San Francisco. In a statement, the group highlights the importance of community in confronting climate change. "By collaborating, we can offer support to each other, share news, questions, and knowledge, and agree on goals," they say, “This strengthens and amplifies our efforts while signalling to the public that our different organisations are connected.”

Other organisations to follow are Art 2023, a non-profit organisation uniting art with the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its 17 Global Goals. Art for a Healthy Planet aims to roster prominent artists across social media on World Earth Day and World Environment Day, while the European Commission aims to bring art, science and technology together to protect the environment. In the end, the greatest impact of the art world on sustainability will come from more and more individuals joining these local-global organisations aiming to create change.

Thanks for reading
Collect your 5 yamos below
REDEEM YAMOS
What is the art world doing to counter the climate crisis?
Written by
Shani Haquin Gerade
Date Published
17/11/2022
In the second of our series of articles to mark COP27, we take a look at the ways the art world helps fight the climate crisis.
17/11/2022
Discussions
Shani Haquin Gerade

Imagine looking at this: Fires are destroying the Amazonas, rivers are drying and cities are submerged in water. Feel it: Heat waves in the summer, and cold waves in the autumn. Listen to it: Tropical cyclones, floods, tsunamis. Smell it: Toasted Forest, Tsunami Mist and Dusty Drought. If we were to experience what may happen in ten, twenty or thirty years, how would we react? Would it change the way we think about ways to prevent the coming climate crisis? 

Art enables us to see and imagine worlds and situations in a materialised form, which could be effective in transforming ideas, concepts and beliefs. Many have claimed that when confronted with visually challenging stimuli, it is common to experience joy, pleasure, shivers down the spine, and awe, or sometimes even negative emotions: fear, anger or disgust. Perhaps, if we make people feel about the coming climate crisis instead of recycling the same hoarse and at times patronising sloganeering, we might be able to achieve more long-term accomplishments. It is important for us to change people's minds, or more importantly, to inspire them to take action against the coming crisis. 

Serperntine Gallery's Back to Earth project

The imminent action that the art world can take is platforming climate-based or environmental artists, exhibiting them and communicating to the public the topic and its deadly consequences.  Fortunately, some art institutions and museums are recognising their role in fighting climate change. There have been more and more exhibitions addressing climate change, such as the Serpentine Gallery's Back to Earth project, which addressed the global climate crisis over a multiyear period. Sharjah Architecture Triennial's 2023 edition is also focusing on resource extraction and scarcity. A number of exhibitions focused on aspects of the climate emergency have been announced or closed at Warehouse421 in Abu Dhabi, Jameel Arts Centre in Dubai, and Hayy Jameel in Jeddah. 

Though exhibitions are aimed at raising awareness of climate change, when considering the global nature of the art industry, and the act of organising exhibitions, it is worth considering publishing, communication, transportation of artworks, installation, and fabrication. All these elements have been shown to increase carbon footprint and thus, could be argued to be detrimental to the protection they attempt to achieve. While some argue that the message of these environmental exhibitions outweighs the negative climate effects of putting the show on, it is an issue that institutions, galleries, artists and art world participants should consider. 

One way to decrease the footprint of galleries is through digitisation of the artwork; after mostly avoiding digitisation, the art world has recently reached a technological turning point due to the pandemic, while the conversations around climate change have expanded. Fairs, exhibitions, talks, articles and online gallery visits transform online and become the 'new normal', which shaped the industry’s nature into ‘global-local’. In addition, an increasing number of online art apps and platforms have emerged into this semi-new art world, contributing to filling digitisation gaps and reducing their footprints. Some platforms allow institutions to measure their own carbon footprints, increase the public's access to art, information, and exhibitions, and bring together an international art world community, ‘global-local’, aiming to fight together against the climate crisis. As mentioned before by many, climate change cannot be solved by one person alone; the voices of eight billion people will not succeed without an incisive, shared message, and finding a single, effective message is possible with technology. 

Serpentine Gallery's Back to Earth Project

One of the most interesting communities that appeared in response to the climate crisis is the Gallery Climate Coalition (GCC). A community of more than 300 galleries, 150 non-profit organisations, and 160 artists and art collectives working to reduce our sector's environmental impact. In addition to committing to the Paris Agreement, Gallery Climate Coalition (GCC) members were asked to provide a contact who would be responsible for filling out the carbon calculator every year and keeping their organisation informed of the goal, which is a 50 per cent reduction in carbon emissions by 2030. Gallery Climate Coalition (GCC) has committees devoted to different topics and in different parts of the world, whilst encouraging sea transport which can 'reduce carbon emissions by 80 per cent compared to air travel'. Committees are spread in London, Berlin and Los Angeles and more committees are in the process of being formed in Belgium, Italy and Brazil.

A second coalition of organisations engaged in collaborative efforts to accelerate the visual arts' adoption of collective climate action is Partners for Arts Climate Targets. This coalition is intended to align the art industry with the Paris environmental accord. Among the groups are Art to Zero and Galleries Commit in New York, Art/Switch and Ki Culture in Amsterdam, ART 2030 from Denmark, and Art + Climate Action in San Francisco. In a statement, the group highlights the importance of community in confronting climate change. "By collaborating, we can offer support to each other, share news, questions, and knowledge, and agree on goals," they say, “This strengthens and amplifies our efforts while signalling to the public that our different organisations are connected.”

Other organisations to follow are Art 2023, a non-profit organisation uniting art with the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its 17 Global Goals. Art for a Healthy Planet aims to roster prominent artists across social media on World Earth Day and World Environment Day, while the European Commission aims to bring art, science and technology together to protect the environment. In the end, the greatest impact of the art world on sustainability will come from more and more individuals joining these local-global organisations aiming to create change.

Thanks for reading
Collect your 5 yamos below
REDEEM YAMOS
What is the art world doing to counter the climate crisis?
Written by
Shani Haquin Gerade
Date Published
17/11/2022
Environmental Art
Serpentine Gallery
Science
Technology
17/11/2022
Discussions
Shani Haquin Gerade
In the second of our series of articles to mark COP27, we take a look at the ways the art world helps fight the climate crisis.

Imagine looking at this: Fires are destroying the Amazonas, rivers are drying and cities are submerged in water. Feel it: Heat waves in the summer, and cold waves in the autumn. Listen to it: Tropical cyclones, floods, tsunamis. Smell it: Toasted Forest, Tsunami Mist and Dusty Drought. If we were to experience what may happen in ten, twenty or thirty years, how would we react? Would it change the way we think about ways to prevent the coming climate crisis? 

Art enables us to see and imagine worlds and situations in a materialised form, which could be effective in transforming ideas, concepts and beliefs. Many have claimed that when confronted with visually challenging stimuli, it is common to experience joy, pleasure, shivers down the spine, and awe, or sometimes even negative emotions: fear, anger or disgust. Perhaps, if we make people feel about the coming climate crisis instead of recycling the same hoarse and at times patronising sloganeering, we might be able to achieve more long-term accomplishments. It is important for us to change people's minds, or more importantly, to inspire them to take action against the coming crisis. 

Serperntine Gallery's Back to Earth project

The imminent action that the art world can take is platforming climate-based or environmental artists, exhibiting them and communicating to the public the topic and its deadly consequences.  Fortunately, some art institutions and museums are recognising their role in fighting climate change. There have been more and more exhibitions addressing climate change, such as the Serpentine Gallery's Back to Earth project, which addressed the global climate crisis over a multiyear period. Sharjah Architecture Triennial's 2023 edition is also focusing on resource extraction and scarcity. A number of exhibitions focused on aspects of the climate emergency have been announced or closed at Warehouse421 in Abu Dhabi, Jameel Arts Centre in Dubai, and Hayy Jameel in Jeddah. 

Though exhibitions are aimed at raising awareness of climate change, when considering the global nature of the art industry, and the act of organising exhibitions, it is worth considering publishing, communication, transportation of artworks, installation, and fabrication. All these elements have been shown to increase carbon footprint and thus, could be argued to be detrimental to the protection they attempt to achieve. While some argue that the message of these environmental exhibitions outweighs the negative climate effects of putting the show on, it is an issue that institutions, galleries, artists and art world participants should consider. 

One way to decrease the footprint of galleries is through digitisation of the artwork; after mostly avoiding digitisation, the art world has recently reached a technological turning point due to the pandemic, while the conversations around climate change have expanded. Fairs, exhibitions, talks, articles and online gallery visits transform online and become the 'new normal', which shaped the industry’s nature into ‘global-local’. In addition, an increasing number of online art apps and platforms have emerged into this semi-new art world, contributing to filling digitisation gaps and reducing their footprints. Some platforms allow institutions to measure their own carbon footprints, increase the public's access to art, information, and exhibitions, and bring together an international art world community, ‘global-local’, aiming to fight together against the climate crisis. As mentioned before by many, climate change cannot be solved by one person alone; the voices of eight billion people will not succeed without an incisive, shared message, and finding a single, effective message is possible with technology. 

Serpentine Gallery's Back to Earth Project

One of the most interesting communities that appeared in response to the climate crisis is the Gallery Climate Coalition (GCC). A community of more than 300 galleries, 150 non-profit organisations, and 160 artists and art collectives working to reduce our sector's environmental impact. In addition to committing to the Paris Agreement, Gallery Climate Coalition (GCC) members were asked to provide a contact who would be responsible for filling out the carbon calculator every year and keeping their organisation informed of the goal, which is a 50 per cent reduction in carbon emissions by 2030. Gallery Climate Coalition (GCC) has committees devoted to different topics and in different parts of the world, whilst encouraging sea transport which can 'reduce carbon emissions by 80 per cent compared to air travel'. Committees are spread in London, Berlin and Los Angeles and more committees are in the process of being formed in Belgium, Italy and Brazil.

A second coalition of organisations engaged in collaborative efforts to accelerate the visual arts' adoption of collective climate action is Partners for Arts Climate Targets. This coalition is intended to align the art industry with the Paris environmental accord. Among the groups are Art to Zero and Galleries Commit in New York, Art/Switch and Ki Culture in Amsterdam, ART 2030 from Denmark, and Art + Climate Action in San Francisco. In a statement, the group highlights the importance of community in confronting climate change. "By collaborating, we can offer support to each other, share news, questions, and knowledge, and agree on goals," they say, “This strengthens and amplifies our efforts while signalling to the public that our different organisations are connected.”

Other organisations to follow are Art 2023, a non-profit organisation uniting art with the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its 17 Global Goals. Art for a Healthy Planet aims to roster prominent artists across social media on World Earth Day and World Environment Day, while the European Commission aims to bring art, science and technology together to protect the environment. In the end, the greatest impact of the art world on sustainability will come from more and more individuals joining these local-global organisations aiming to create change.

Thanks for reading
Collect your 5 yamos below
REDEEM YAMOS
17/11/2022
Discussions
Shani Haquin Gerade
What is the art world doing to counter the climate crisis?
In the second of our series of articles to mark COP27, we take a look at the ways the art world helps fight the climate crisis.

Imagine looking at this: Fires are destroying the Amazonas, rivers are drying and cities are submerged in water. Feel it: Heat waves in the summer, and cold waves in the autumn. Listen to it: Tropical cyclones, floods, tsunamis. Smell it: Toasted Forest, Tsunami Mist and Dusty Drought. If we were to experience what may happen in ten, twenty or thirty years, how would we react? Would it change the way we think about ways to prevent the coming climate crisis? 

Art enables us to see and imagine worlds and situations in a materialised form, which could be effective in transforming ideas, concepts and beliefs. Many have claimed that when confronted with visually challenging stimuli, it is common to experience joy, pleasure, shivers down the spine, and awe, or sometimes even negative emotions: fear, anger or disgust. Perhaps, if we make people feel about the coming climate crisis instead of recycling the same hoarse and at times patronising sloganeering, we might be able to achieve more long-term accomplishments. It is important for us to change people's minds, or more importantly, to inspire them to take action against the coming crisis. 

Serperntine Gallery's Back to Earth project

The imminent action that the art world can take is platforming climate-based or environmental artists, exhibiting them and communicating to the public the topic and its deadly consequences.  Fortunately, some art institutions and museums are recognising their role in fighting climate change. There have been more and more exhibitions addressing climate change, such as the Serpentine Gallery's Back to Earth project, which addressed the global climate crisis over a multiyear period. Sharjah Architecture Triennial's 2023 edition is also focusing on resource extraction and scarcity. A number of exhibitions focused on aspects of the climate emergency have been announced or closed at Warehouse421 in Abu Dhabi, Jameel Arts Centre in Dubai, and Hayy Jameel in Jeddah. 

Though exhibitions are aimed at raising awareness of climate change, when considering the global nature of the art industry, and the act of organising exhibitions, it is worth considering publishing, communication, transportation of artworks, installation, and fabrication. All these elements have been shown to increase carbon footprint and thus, could be argued to be detrimental to the protection they attempt to achieve. While some argue that the message of these environmental exhibitions outweighs the negative climate effects of putting the show on, it is an issue that institutions, galleries, artists and art world participants should consider. 

One way to decrease the footprint of galleries is through digitisation of the artwork; after mostly avoiding digitisation, the art world has recently reached a technological turning point due to the pandemic, while the conversations around climate change have expanded. Fairs, exhibitions, talks, articles and online gallery visits transform online and become the 'new normal', which shaped the industry’s nature into ‘global-local’. In addition, an increasing number of online art apps and platforms have emerged into this semi-new art world, contributing to filling digitisation gaps and reducing their footprints. Some platforms allow institutions to measure their own carbon footprints, increase the public's access to art, information, and exhibitions, and bring together an international art world community, ‘global-local’, aiming to fight together against the climate crisis. As mentioned before by many, climate change cannot be solved by one person alone; the voices of eight billion people will not succeed without an incisive, shared message, and finding a single, effective message is possible with technology. 

Serpentine Gallery's Back to Earth Project

One of the most interesting communities that appeared in response to the climate crisis is the Gallery Climate Coalition (GCC). A community of more than 300 galleries, 150 non-profit organisations, and 160 artists and art collectives working to reduce our sector's environmental impact. In addition to committing to the Paris Agreement, Gallery Climate Coalition (GCC) members were asked to provide a contact who would be responsible for filling out the carbon calculator every year and keeping their organisation informed of the goal, which is a 50 per cent reduction in carbon emissions by 2030. Gallery Climate Coalition (GCC) has committees devoted to different topics and in different parts of the world, whilst encouraging sea transport which can 'reduce carbon emissions by 80 per cent compared to air travel'. Committees are spread in London, Berlin and Los Angeles and more committees are in the process of being formed in Belgium, Italy and Brazil.

A second coalition of organisations engaged in collaborative efforts to accelerate the visual arts' adoption of collective climate action is Partners for Arts Climate Targets. This coalition is intended to align the art industry with the Paris environmental accord. Among the groups are Art to Zero and Galleries Commit in New York, Art/Switch and Ki Culture in Amsterdam, ART 2030 from Denmark, and Art + Climate Action in San Francisco. In a statement, the group highlights the importance of community in confronting climate change. "By collaborating, we can offer support to each other, share news, questions, and knowledge, and agree on goals," they say, “This strengthens and amplifies our efforts while signalling to the public that our different organisations are connected.”

Other organisations to follow are Art 2023, a non-profit organisation uniting art with the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its 17 Global Goals. Art for a Healthy Planet aims to roster prominent artists across social media on World Earth Day and World Environment Day, while the European Commission aims to bring art, science and technology together to protect the environment. In the end, the greatest impact of the art world on sustainability will come from more and more individuals joining these local-global organisations aiming to create change.

Thanks for reading
Collect your 5 yamos below
REDEEM YAMOS
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