This online conference will explore the stakes of art and art history in the climate crisis.
In recent years, climate change has become a central issue on the international political agenda, due to the activism of groups such as Extinction Rebellion and the worldwide campaigning of figures such as Greta Thunberg. Yetthe disastrous effects of excessive fossil fuel emissions on the biosphere andhuman civilisation have long been understood by scientists, politicians and public figures alike,and environmental activism is hardly a new phenomenon.
In this decisive moment for our planet, we need to think critically about who or whatis allowed torepresent the climate crisis. As Chika Unigwe has recently argued, the long-term efforts of climate activists of colourrisk erasure in the western media’s current promotion of Thunberg.
Since the emergence of the novel coronavirus, the global economy has beenin a state of partial shutdownwith a reduction of emissions, surely providing an unprecedented opportunity finally to transition to a ‘greener’ mode of production.How can art contribute to this effort, especially in a moment whenmanyarts organisations risk permanent closure? As events move online, including this conference, how do we need to rethink accessibility to ensure the widespread dissemination of knowledge?
We shall considerthe role representation plays in our understanding ofclimate, andaskwhy some images of climate activism and environmental disaster might appear and become more alluring, effective and widespread than others. We’ll also exploreٳparticular dialecticalpotentials of art in the effort to avert thecatastrophic levels of warming.Papers will address the work of artists based in Europe, North America,Australia, Africaand South East Asia,and consider the methodological implicationsof both artists and art historians in global warming.
Please join us as we consider what it might mean for art to ‘tell the truth’ of the climate crisis.
Organised by Dr Theo Gordon (The Courtauld)
DAY 1: THURSDAY 25 JUNE
Opening Remarks
Panel 1:
Preeti Kathuria(Vasant Valley School, New Delhi) – ‘Activism and Response in Contemporary Art: Notes on Rural Distress in India’
Anna Reid (Paul Mellon Centre, London) – ‘The Day is Bright and Open: Lucy Skaer’s Geological Occasion’
Panel 2:
LucyBranchflower(University of Edinburgh) – ‘Defining the Body: Climate Art and Queer Ecology’
GraceThompson(University ofEast Anglia, Norwich) – ‘Ecological Participation; Ideas on the Value of an “Open” Subjectivity’
BREAK
Panel 3:
LisaReindorf(Artist) – ‘How Artists Follow Sustainable Practices of Artin a Time of Climate Change’
MaryGagler(The City College of New York) – ‘Time and the Art of Gunybi Ganambarr: Using Found Objects to Depict a Changing Country’
Panel 4:
MajaFowkesand ReubenFowkes(University College London) – ‘Climate Migration: Invasive Species in the Political Imaginary’
LindsayWells(The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York/University of Wisconsin, Madison) – ‘See and Be Cene: Picturing Planetary Change in Nineteenth-Century British Art’
DAY 2: FRIDAY 26 JUNE
Panel 1:
LauraOuillon(Universitéde Paris) – ‘Uprooted Ghanaian Trees in Trafalgar Square:Spectresof Empire and Global Deforestation in Angela Palmer’s 2009Ghost Forest’
FrancescaCurtis(University of York) – ‘Here/Now, Everywhere/Always:Ocean Landmarkand ٳSpatio-Temporal Conditions of Ecological Breakdown’
Panel 2:
AnnaMcLauchlan(University of Strathclyde, Glasgow) – ‘Grappling withThe Glasgow Effect: exploding art world and academic success fantasies’
Giulia Smith (Ruskin School of Art, Oxford) – ‘Can Art History Serve Global ecological struggles? A case study between Britain and Guyana’
BREAK
Panel 3:
Kadambari Baxi, (Columbia University, New York) – ‘Climate Dissonance: Loud & Clear and Amplified’
EdwardChristie(University College London) – ‘Towards an Eco-Logical Ontology:MobilisingAgnes Denes’Pyramid SeriesAgainst the Climate Crisis’
Panel 4:
EmilyTradd(King’s College London) – ‘Examining Art as a Tool for Communicating Climate Change and ElicitingBehaviourChange: Psychology, Efficacy, and Utilization in the United Kingdom’
BénédicteRamade(Universitéde Montréal) – ‘Beyond Representation, Sounds of Climate Change’
Concluding Remarks
This event is generously supported by the Association for Art History
