A poster made by NASA for World Earth Day 2022
On 22 April 2022, the 53rd Earth Day 2022 since 1970, nearly a billion people in more than 190 countries around the world participate in environmental conservation activities each year to commemorate the modern environmental movement and provide a place for emerging environmental awareness to speak out, putting environmental issues in front of everyone's eyes.
On earth day's official website, the theme for Earth Day 2022 is "Invest in Our Planet," and "it's a time to change everything — the business environment, the political environment, and the way we act on the climate." It is time to show unstoppable courage to preserve and protect our health, our families and our livelihoods. For Earth Day 2022, we need to act (boldly), innovate (broadly), and implement it (fairly). It will take the efforts of all of us. Full participation. Business, governments and citizens – everyone is responsible, everyone is responsible. Build a partnership for the planet. "
Meanwhile, when the international art world focuses on the Venice Biennale, Venice's rising sea level has led to its water level being higher than at any time in history and will disappear by 2100. It is imperative to find the final conservation solution, or we will witness the end of a historic city in this century. In addition, scientists, environmentalists, activists, politicians and artists around the world have been acting for the sake of environmental protection.
SFER IK in Mexico, Image credit: Azulik
In November 2021, representatives from nearly 200 countries attended the 13-day 26th United Nations Climate Change Summit (cum 26th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP26) in Glasgow, Scotland. U.S. Special Envoy John Kerry called it "the last greatest hope for the nations of the world to act together" and the last hope to curb rising greenhouse gas emissions after decades of commitments.
To mark the occasion, Art News International met with seven museum innovators who have taken on different roles to drive climate action in an area that is often slow to act. From exhibition planning to environmental controls for collectibles to restaurant menus, these interviews provide compelling case studies of how to actually tackle a planet's problems. If there's an important message that runs through it, it's that museums must also be prepared to change. Do leaders of public institutions dare to rise to the occasion?
Curator of the Swedish National Museum of Modern Art
Kit Ershkug
Would you ask Greta Thunberg to curate an exhibition? Why not?
Gite S. Erszkog, Credit: ?sa Lundén / Moderna Museet
Gite S. Gitte rskou is the curator of The Moderna Museet in Sweden. Since the 1960s, the museum has been known for hosting avant-garde exhibitions and embracing experiments. Its two museums, located in Stockholm and Malmö, focus the 2022 program on exhibitions created by artists on the spot.
National Museum of Modern Art, Sweden
"We believe that the current climate situation requires immediate action and that a radical and urgent approach will unleash new energy and power in the artists and other collaborators we work with." Rather than transporting works of art to museums, The Swedish National Museum of Modern Art will prioritize close collaboration with artists on site at the museum, guided by sustainable development.
We have been committed to the museum's long-term sustainability strategy for many years, and now our focus is on minimizing our carbon footprint. We ask ourselves whether we should transport works of art, what we should print, and how we can provide more sustainable food in restaurants.
We want to use local resources so that artists and the public can have freedom at their disposal. We will continue to invite artists from all over the world, but we will ask them to work locally, rather than transporting works.
Will we ask Greta Thunberg to curate an exhibition? Why not? "
Curator of Universal Ecology at the Serpentine Museum
Lucia Petrous
Working on environmental issues will bring greater and new possibilities to institutions
Lucia · Petrousti, Image credit: Thadd?us Salcher
Over the years, Lucia Lucia Pietroiusti has been curator of universal ecology at the Serpentine Gallery in London. She is now developing the Institute of Universal Ecology into a new independent institution. In 2019, she curated the Golden Lion-winning Lithuanian National Pavilion at the Venice Biennale, an ecological opera set against the backdrop of an indoor beach.
Serpentine Museum
"In 2017, I began drafting the Universal Ecology Project, a proposal to restructure the Serpentine Museum's public project into a long-term, systemic change to create a sense of purpose around environmental issues. It's an experiment, it's an original form, and we wanted to see if there were new possibilities.
Around environmental issues, we have curated high-profile events such as a series of forums and events dedicated to human consciousness called The Shape of a Circle in the Fish's Heart. Our dialogue at these events is based on the idea that working on environmental issues does not mean that an institution will be in trouble, but in fact it will bring greater and new possibilities to it.
You'll suddenly find that the agency has grown into a community of artists and audiences who reflect on your agency's image, an institution with a long-term mission to the environment. This has helped the institution to reform at all levels, from planning and outreach to funding and infrastructure. ”
Mexican architect and eco-hotelier
Eduardo Nella
When asking the gods for permission to create an artistic space here, we promised not to cut down a single tree
Eduardo Nella, Credit: Tribaliasocial
Eduardo Neira, aka Roth, is a self-taught architect and eco-hotelier who has lived in Mexico for more than 20 years. In 2018, he completed the construction of SFER IK, an art space on the Yucatan Peninsula near Tulum. The structure, built with local materials, blends into the surrounding landscape. SFER IK will be rebooted next February under new artistic director Marcello Dantas.
"Our journey was not smooth sailing, but like a winding road, crossing the sacred land, which we promised to respect when we bought it from public landowners. When asking the gods for permission to create an artistic space here, we promised not to cut down a single tree and not to negatively affect the water sources around us.
The entire Yucatan Peninsula is built on a thin layer of porous limestone with covered caves and volcanic ash that are vulnerable to pollution, especially from mass tourism. We follow the contours of the local landscape, so the art center has no flat ground or inclined corners. We use poured concrete and abundant wood vines as materials, both of which serve a variety of purposes. Vines account for 20% of the region's renewable resources. Our water is recycled. Our goal is zero waste, and zero carbon in the future. As you walk through the undulating surface of space, you become part of the landscape. ”
SFER IK in Mexico, Image credit: Azulik
"Previously, we have shown artists or installations that study the effects of climate change – particularly on this part of the world or the rest of the Americas. Both Cecilia Bengolea and Sissel Tolaas have studied the challenges facing the Caribbean Sea on our doorstep and the possible links between deforestation and the growth of sargassum (seagrass), which is very common in coastal areas.
During the closure, we revisited our plans to support the next generation of artists. Local children will have the opportunity to try and restore various techniques such as ceramics, weaving and weaving using the hotel's used bed sheets for textile work, while Being supervised by Marcello. "
London art group "Culinary Department"
Partnering with museum restaurants to make more people "climate eaters"
London art group Cooking Sessions, Credit: Ruth Clark
The London art group Cooking Sessions, made up of Daniel Fernández Pascual and Alon Schwabe, is one of five artists nominated for the Turner Prize in 2021.
They recently launched a project called Becoming CLIMAVORE, working with 22 British museum restaurants to remove farmed salmon from their menus and introduce new dishes made with eco-friendly coastal ingredients. It's an extension of the "Climate Eaters" initiative launched by the duo on the Isle of Skye to promote new ways of eating in response to the climate crisis.
"The 'Become a Climate Eater' project is a way of thinking about how to protect the climate – using the Turner Prize to create a broader platform for collaboration with museums and restaurants and to reimagine the way eating is done." The idea goes beyond the public coming to the museum, trying out dishes and recreating recipes at home. Importantly, museums and restaurants had climate-related discussions first.
Many times, the responsibility for responding to climate emergencies falls on individuals, but we believe that what is needed now is more systematic change within institutions and governments. It's a long-term project – the food supply of participating institutions is expanding and is expected to change over time to address more manifestations of the climate crisis.
Australian art museum cultural protection professionals
Amanda Pagliarino
A testing ground for the promotion of more climate-conscious and energy-efficient collection management methods
Amanda M Pagliarino, Image: Queensland Art Gallery
Amanda M Amanda Pagliarino is head of cultural protection and registration at the Queensland Art Gallery and Museum of Modern Art in Brisbane, Australia. In recent years, she has drafted new, less stringent environmental guidelines for the Australian Institute for the Conservation of Cultural Materials, which are now being adopted nationwide. The policy is a testing ground for a more climate-conscious and energy-efficient approach to collection management.
Queensland Art Gallery, Brisbane, Australia
"For years, the heritage community has been discussing the reality of setting very strict relative humidity and temperature parameters for the collection environment. The conventional range of 50 or 55±5% relative humidity and 21±1°C places high demands on air conditioning systems. If you relax a little, you can get amazing energy efficiency.
The challenge is that when lending to an exhibition, these parameters are tied to a legal agreement. This involves works of high value and cultural significance, as well as the complexity of insurance and indemnity, so there are many concerns when talking about temperature and relative humidity requirements in different climatic zones and regions. It has been difficult to find the impetus for change. Timely practice is to encourage cultural preservation workers to embrace new collection management practices and provide technical and collection care information to their curators or boards of directors, because you cannot drive change unless you have the support of the curator or board. ”
Paul Tuki, Director of Environmental Management for Private Museums
With a professional green team, we can achieve sustainable development with fewer resources, saving time and money for institutions
Paul Tuki at the Glenstone Museum Environmental Management Office, Image credit: Paul Tuki
Paul Tukey is director of environmental management at the Glenstone Museum, a private museum for American collectors Mitchell and Emily Rales. The agency is located on a 230-acre estate in Potomac, Maryland. As an experience that combines art, architecture and nature, the Glenstone Museum dedicated an environmental centre in 2019.
Jeff Koons, "Split-Rocker", 2000, in Glenstone
"At Glenstone, our philosophy is that everyone should be involved in sustainability initiatives for us to succeed. We have a green team that meets regularly and is represented in almost every department. Every employee must attend sustainability training when they start their work.
We specialize in eight areas: organic land management, reforestation of suburban landscapes, invasive species management, water and energy conservation, recycling, watershed restoration and composting. One of the most important achievements was managing the surrounding landscape for more than 11 years without fertilizers and pesticides, and becoming one of the most energy-efficient museums reporting data to the International Association of Museum Facilities Administrators.
Sharing information with other agencies is the main focus of my current work. We're always trying to move forward. Achieve sustainability with fewer resources, be more thoughtful, and ultimately save time and money for every agency. ”
Artist Pablo Wendel
Through a small shift in energy suppliers,
Let the money go back to the art field itself
Pablo Wendell and Helen Turner, the two principals of E-WERK Luckenwalde, Credit: ? Lukas Korschan for The FACE
Pablo Wendel is an artist and the founder of two projects driven by ecological sustainability: Performance Electrics, a non-profit organization that provides German families and institutions with energy generated by art projects, and an art center converted from an abandoned coal power station in southern Berlin, E-WERK Luckenwalde, The center has now been fully converted to carbon-neutral biomass-based operations.
"The first time I had the idea of generating electricity with art was about a decade ago. At the time, I was struggling to make a living from short-lived, immaterial art, and I couldn't afford to pay studio rent and electricity bills. I started building my own studio and renewable energy infrastructure with recycled materials.
Engine room at the E-WERK Luckenwalde Centre, Image credit: ? Ben Westoby and E-WERK Luckenwalde
At the 'High Performance Electrical' and E-WERK Luckenwalde Centers, we use conceptual art methods such as wind sculptures and solar panel installations to create energy. It's a matter of aesthetic experience. We reinvest profits into cultural ideas to create more sustainable projects.
When people replace energy providers with us, they are supporting art. Museums are big energy consumers, and they spend more money on it than on art projects. With a small shift in energy providers, money can go back into the arts. At E-WERK, we wanted to use the old coal station as an image to transform it into a case of social progress. Even with only a small percentage of artists and engineers involved, we've proven it. I truly believe that it is possible to roll it out on a larger scale. ”
Written by Hannah McGivern, Albert Ehrnrooth, Tom Seymour,
Elizabeth Mistry，Frances Forbes-Carbines ;
Translation / Tong Yaqi
(Article from TANC)