Arts & Ecology

Arts & Ecology Day 2009

Today on World Environment Day, the Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA), in association with Bash Creations, will announce the launch of an Arts & Ecology Day in 2009.

The announcement of Arts & Ecology Day 2009, which takes place at City Hall, will comprise a fast moving one-hour programme of performance and commentary by people committed to responding positively to sustainability challenges. Music, poetry, practical ideas and inspiration will be provided by a range of contributors including Royal Institute of British Architects President Sunand Prasad, theatre director Nigel Hinds, musician Marmaduke Dando, and world leading expert in the development of sustainable cities, Peter Head, Director at Arup.

This pioneering initiative will engage the creativity and influence of the arts community in making London a more sustainable city. ‘Arts & Ecology Day 2009’ will raise the profile of sustainability by celebrating new plays, poems, music, artworks and dance across London, with the aim of developing into a world-wide campaign.

Click here to see Smartplanet's photo essay which promotes the concept and stay tuned to this blog and our site to hear more about Arts & Ecology Day 2009...

Greenwashing in Turin

Tue Greenfort Untitled, 2008 modified Eurobins

Arts & Ecology recently made a trip to Turin for the opening of Greenwashing at the Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo which has been curated by Ilaria Bonacossa and Latitudes (Max Andrews and Mariana Cánepa Luna). It is the concluding project of a year long programme at the Fondazione tied to the environment.

25 international artists were invited to participate in Greenwashing, including some familiar faces to the Arts & Ecology project; Lara Almarcegui, Maria Thereza Alves, Jennifer Allora & Guillermo Calzadilla, Tue Greenfort, Cornelia Parker, Tomas Saraceno and Sergio Vega.

Among the highlights were The Bruce High Quality Foundation’s ironic demonstration of alternative energy sources in the form of wired up citrus fruits in the guise of BP's logo which in time exposed itself as a health hazard and Chu Yun’s collection of defunct outdated technologies whose stand-by buttons were winking in the dark in a sedate yet sinister fashion - last year the government announced that stand-by switches will be outlawed in the UK

If you are able to get to Greenwashing you won’t be disappointed - this is undoubtedly the seminal exhibition of artists who are reflecting, responding and challenging the state of our planet.

Cornelia Parker at the Whitechapel

On Wednesday night we launched Arts & Ecology EXCHANGES with a panel discussion, Culture in a Time of Crisis.

One of the highlights of the evening was Cornelia Parker showing an extract from her filmed interview with Noam Chomsky, in which he spoke with incredible clarity about our future, consumerism and our relationship to the environment.

You can see this work, Chomskian Abstract, at the Whitechapel Art Gallery from 13 February to 30 March 2008, open Wed – Fri, 11– 6. This exhibition is in partnership with Friends of the Earth.

80-82 Whitechapel High Street London E1 7QX. The Whitechapel is expanding and during this time the entrance to the Whitechapel Laboratory is via Angel Alley, which is the first passage on the left when facing the building.

Stop. Watch. New short films by artists that address ecological emergencies

Animate Projects and RSA Arts & Ecology, in partnership with Arts Council England and Channel 4, have commissioned seven artists to make short films for the internet that explore ecological themes.

The artists, from the UK, USA, Switzerland, Sweden and Korea are: Jordan Baseman, Phil Coy, Manu Luksch, Christine Ödlund, Elodie Pong and Annie Wu, Simon Woolham, and Young-Hae Chang Heavy Industries.

They take diverse approaches, that consistently and powerfully challenge common perceptions and clichés of current debates about environmental crises and their human impact.

The films will premiere online in June 2008.

One Big Day

Last week I went to One Big Day, an event organised by Arup, an innovative, international firm of engineers and consultants providing design, project management and consultancy services, in partnership with Climate Group. Bringing together leaders from government, business and civil society, the question that framed the event was how we can achieve a low-carbon UK by 2050. I went on behalf of Michaela Crimmin, RSA Head of Arts and London Leader.

The day started by looking at our current situation. Jim Walker from The Climate Group explained statistically the damage we are causing and the targets we are aiming to meet; as well as addressing public opinion and the barriers to the UK becoming 80% carbon neutral by 2050. One of Arup’s current building projects is the Dongtan eco-city outside Shanghai, China. In a fictional film, with that comically old fashioned sci-fi feel that portrayals of the future often have, Arup presented their vision of everyday life in a carbon neutral community, 40 years from now. This would be a compact and highly efficient community dealing with waste, food, energy, water etc collectively, with most amenities within walking distance and the inhabitants working from home to reduce travel emissions.

Later that morning we were asked to discuss how to unlock the major opportunities and barriers to a low carbon economy. One thing raised on our table was how to mobilise local communities. After ten minutes enthusiastic talk about communities living more sustainably together, one person asked the sobering question, ‘Who is my community, as far as I know I don’t live in a community?’ highlighting another major barrier to tackle. The feedback from all the groups included barriers such as lack of consistent information and understanding, time scales and too many bad choices. Many of the opportunities centred on developing an economy around renewable energy and energy efficiency, creating new services and employment and providing the education to make this possible.

In the afternoon speakers, including Jeremy Webb, the editor of new Scientist and Mark Watts from the Greater London Authority, looked at climate change from a business, NGO, media and government perspective. Newscaster John Snow chaired the open discussion at the end with an impressive amount of energy. From an Arts & Ecology perspective one important point from the floor was where is culture in all of this? When it comes to innovative thinking, which tackling climate change needs, it seems to make a lot of sense to get the cultural industries more directly involved. Arup is itself addressing climate change in creative ways and in the wrap up John Miles, from Arup, stated that the next phase of these events would also include a cultural agenda.

Youth voyagers tell their tales

I’ve just come out of Cape Farewell’s Youth Expedition Conference which took place at the RSA today and was organised by Creative Partnerships.   12 students were selected to board Noorderlicht, the vessel bound for Svalbard in the Norwegian Arctic which became the crew’s temporary home between 14 – 23 September 2007.

Embarking from London, the chosen 15-16 year olds came from schools across the UK, Germany and Canada with the objective to explore climate change and see the very real effects for themselves.  During their trip they responded to the issues from a scientific and artistic point of view, but perhaps paramount to this was the invaluable experience of sharing perspectives from their own cultures and feeding back their discoveries to a much wider audience via online broadcasts. 

To assist with the communication and legacy of the project on dry land each school had a ground team who brought the project alive to those who weren’t on the trip – fuelled with pride and purposefulness these students made contact with the media and got the whole school on board in a philosophical sense.

I was totally blown away by the fascinating stories, observations and accounts from such a talented, articulate and positive group of young people.  There was a privileged insight into the perspective from the Inuit community courtesy of Doriana and her teacher who call the Arctic their home.  While Western eyes look at the Polar bear with wonder and spectacle, the Inuit community find their increasingly everyday presence alarming - Polar Bears are solitary animals but have been forced to come into villages to scavenge for food when the ice breaks up and doesn’t return when it should do. 

After lunch Josef and Jethro played an acoustic and enchanting rendition of a score that they had written on the boat and we had the opportunity to see Franzi’s innovative short film which ingenuously told the tale of plankton from a fluorescent narrative!

I urge you to look at the site and read these amazing accounts; it was an inspiring and incredibly optimistic day.  Creative Partnerships are now working on a tool kit which will be distributed to schools next year to ensure the outcomes and experiences reach a much wider audience.

Climate Change: Science, Art and Human Rights

Last night I went to the first in a series of talks organised by Arts Catalyst, the British Library and the Open University on Climate Change & Human Rights. The President of the Inuit Circumpolar Council, Greenland – Aqqualuk Lynge – made some very simple, very direct pleas. Work with us as equal partners. Develop mutual respect and compassion. Exercise moderation for the sake of our people today and your people tomorrow. He talked of ethics and human rights, of responsibilities to the earth and each other, in the context of science – of reaching for courageous alternatives. You could say the usual stuff and shrug – but coming from a highly intelligent and articulate man whose world is increasingly polluted and destabilised, it made for thoroughly uncomfortably listening.

Can Lynge’s appeal to the science community stretch to the arts as well? The chair, Dr Michael Bravo of the Scott Polar Research Group, University of Cambridge, rather wearily said he was tired of artists expressing the romantic in this context and yearned for something more critical. Someone from the audience said the arts can open the debate. Surely we can go further than that?

Tomorrow (Wednesday 7 November) at SOAS there is a day long symposium on how artists, technologists and scientists can lead African responses to climate change. Melting the Ice – African Perspectives on Climate Change – will be chaired by the publisher and playwright Margaret Busby OBE. Speakers include artists Yinka Shonibare MBE, Baaba Maal and Romuald Hazoume. Email nr20@soas.ac.uk for a place.