Monthly Archives: February 2015

“I have a Dream” at Vancouver Biennale 2014-16

Cultura21

This post comes to you from Cultura21

Shweta Bhattad, a visual Artist from India, has been invited for Vancouver Biennale 2014-2016. The broader theme of this Biennale is Martin Luther’s King’s speech “I have a dream”. For this Biennale programme, she decided to stay and work in rural Canada, as she isworking with rural women and farmers in India too and want to collaborate with Artists and Farmers around the world to bring them altogether on one global stage.

For the project “I Have a Dream”, she is inviting artists around the globe to collaborate who can further collaborate with farmers of their respective countries to grow some grains or vegetables in fields or gardens in form of the sentence which means “I have a dream” in their own language and font which can be captured by aerial view.

CONCEPT: As farmland is being reduced around the globe, “I Have A Dream” Global Community Project hopes to draw attention to farming practices and communities by inviting artists to collaborate with farmers to sow fields or grow gardens in the shape of “I Have a Dream” in their own language. This community-based project takes art out of the studio and into the community and use art to empower communities through farming and gardening.

Trubia, Spain Project: Reflecting on the situation in the countryside and contemporary agriculture and its relationship with the city and increasing urbanization of the territory.

Overview

The project calls for moments of collective sowing, and documentation and several meetings with the local community and other local artists and local regional groups. These meetings serve to exchange knowledge, memories and create internal links to the local community. They serve to reflect on the situation in the countryside and contemporary agriculture and its relationship with the city and increasing urbanization of the territory, we will discuss about landscape, understood as a cultural construction in constant transformation that we are all artifices and therefore responsible. Each of the phases of the project will be published through the website, the facebook page and other digital media. Some of the meetings will be held within the framework of the Agricultural Landscape in Veranes, project designed by Virginia Lopez in collaboration with Lorena Lozano and ecoNodos which is subsidized by the Municipal Foundation of Culture and Popular University of Gijón.

Links:

> Ihaveadream_TRUBIA
> Vancouver Biennale      
> I Have A Dream Project 

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Cultura21 is a transversal, translocal network, constituted of an international level grounded in several Cultura21 organizations around the world.

Cultura21′s international network, launched in April 2007, offers the online and offline platform for exchanges and mutual learning among its members.

The activities of Cultura21 at the international level are coordinated by a team representing the different Cultura21 organizations worldwide, and currently constituted of:

– Sacha Kagan (based in Lüneburg, Germany) and Rana Öztürk (based in Berlin, Germany)
– Oleg Koefoed and Kajsa Paludan (both based in Copenhagen, Denmark)
– Hans Dieleman (based in Mexico-City, Mexico)
– Francesca Cozzolino and David Knaute (both based in Paris, France)

Cultura21 is not only an informal network. Its strength and vitality relies upon the activities of several organizations around the world which are sharing the vision and mission of Cultura21

Go to Cultura21

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PLAYA Residency Approaching Deadline March 1, 2015

news

PLAYA’s residencies are open to visual and performing artists, scientists, writers, and individuals engaged in other forms of creative research. PLAYA welcomes a range of applicants–from emerging artists of promise to professionals with an established history of accomplishment.

Residencies are awarded for 2, 4, 6, or 8 weeks and include housing, work or studio space, and twice weekly group dinners at no cost. There is a $35 application fee for individuals ($70 for collaborative teams) to cover administrative costs.

For more information visit our website at www.playasummerlake.org.

Apply online at http://playa.submittable.com/submit

Applications are now open with a deadline of March 1, 2015.

PLAYA, in south central Oregon, is a retreat for creative individuals who are committed and passionate about their work and who will benefit from time spent in a remote location. PLAYA offers seclusion and quiet in a natural environment and the opportunity for interaction, if desired, with a cohort of residents and the local rural community. A residency provides the time and space to create substantive work or to research and reflect upon one’s creative or scientific processes.

Opportunity: Pop-up Cinema Team Members Wanted

Creative Carbon Scotland, Open Calls

This post comes from Creative Carbon Scotland

Are you passionate about safeguarding our shared planet? Love film? Want to know Scotland better?

Then apply now to be part of a dream team of volunteers bringing green global cinema to the streets and glens of Scotland.

TAKE ONE ACTION is an independent Scottish charity celebrating the people and movies that are changing the world, from Argyll to Zimbabwe. We believe small actions lead to big ones, and that we all make a difference.

Take One Action is now recruiting its first Pop-up Cinema Squad to take our brand new bike & solar powered “Wee Green Cinema” to communities and festivals over the coming year. If you’re an outgoing, can-do adventurer based near Edinburgh, aged 16-30, undaunted by early starts, long days, Scottish weather and LOTS of fun, with a minimum of 4 weekends to spare from March 2015 to October 2015, apply now.

The post Opportunity: Pop-up Cinema Team Members Wanted appeared first on Creative Carbon Scotland.

———-

Creative Carbon Scotland is a partnership of arts organisations working to put culture at the heart of a sustainable Scotland. We believe cultural and creative organisations have a significant influencing power to help shape a sustainable Scotland for the 21st century.

In 2011 we worked with partners Festivals Edinburgh, the Federation of Scottish Threatre and Scottish Contemporary Art Network to support over thirty arts organisations to operate more sustainably.

We are now building on these achievements and working with over 70 cultural organisations across Scotland in various key areas including carbon management, behavioural change and advocacy for sustainable practice in the arts.

Our work with cultural organisations is the first step towards a wider change. Cultural organisations can influence public behaviour and attitudes about climate change through:

Changing their own behaviour;
Communicating with their audiences;
Engaging the public’s emotions, values and ideas.

Go to Creative Carbon Scotland

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GALA Member Spotlight: Cape Farewell

Creative Carbon Scotland

This post comes from Creative Carbon Scotland

In March 2015, the Green Art Lab Alliance (GALA) will be meeting for its third and final meeting in Glasgow. One of the organisations involved in this project is Cape Farewell; based in London and Toronto, Cape Farewell brings together interdisciplinary  teams to generate ideas for a more sustainable future.

Creative Carbon Scotland recently spoke with Yasmine Ostendorf, Programme Director at Cape Farewell, about her thoughts on the Green Art Lab Alliance project to-date.

CCS: What organisation do you represent in GALA and how did you find yourself involved?

Yasmine Ostendorf  (YO): I currently represent Cape Farewell, associate partner in the GALA project. After receiving a grant from the Mondriaan Foundation in the Netherlands to work with Julie’s Bicycle in the UK, I found myself not only wanting to establish a collaboration between TransArtists (my then employer) and Julie’s Bicycle, but it came apparent that the amazing knowledge and resources Julie’s Bicycle holds should be shared on a European level. This was the incentive for the application for the European Commission that I then prepared. After the grant was awarded I moved on from working for TransArtists to Cape Farewell, who, in the framework of the GALA project organised the Sea Change Lab. Sea Change is originally a 4 year research programme which aims to encourage knowledge exchange, celebrating grassroots and national initiatives on the Scottish islands,  combining local knowledge and resources with advanced technologies and pioneering research into social and ecological resilience. These initiatives include community land ownership schemes, sustainability and heritage projects, and renewable energy, adaptation and coastal management programmes, some developed in partnership with island cultural organisations. The project also aims to extend the languages, metaphors and methodologies of participating artists, enabling them to find new and affective forms for the stories and experiences of island communities.

The GALA lab, as part of this 4 year research programme, was an expedition by sailing boat to Shetland. Swiss artist Ursula Biemann was selected to take part on this expedition for GALA.

CCS: What is the significance of GALA to you and how has the project contributed to your work?

YO: It has been valuable to learn about the international practice in sustainability and the arts, learning about what’s happening in the other countries in Europe and how we all have different ideas about what sustainability means in a cultural context, how important it is, and what the role of arts can be in working towards a more sustainable future. Next to that is has been really interesting working with different types of organisations- from the big government funded Swedish Exhibition Agency to the small artist-led residency GeoAir in Georgia, that kind of diversity has been inspiring. Furthermore it has been valuable on a practical level tapping into the networks of all those different local partners.

CCS: What is your favourite memory, moment, discussion or thought that you’ve taken from past GALA general meetings?

YO: During the second meeting in Sweden we had an open seminar attended by Swedish cultural organisations and artists. TransArtists director Maria Tuerlings spoke passionately about an artist from the Pacific whose whole village was washed away due to flooding caused by climate change. She (Maria) shed a tear and it made everyone realise how pressing and real the issue of a more sustainable future is. It made the room realise this is a global, human problem we are all part of, and we can only make progress if we collaborate across borders. For me that moment unified the group.

CCS: What role(s) do you think the arts/artists can play in building a more sustainable society?

YO: In order to build a more sustainable society we need a cultural shift. Our excessive consumption, obsession with growth, depletion of natural resources, unsustainable food system, usage of fossil fuels etc are -at least for a big part- a cultural problem. The arts offer a  space for dialogue, alternatives, a place to articulate complex ideas, and creativity and imagination is crucial in thinking about what a sustainable future society would look like.  The arts allow confusion and uncertainty and create a fertile playground to spark innovation and creative solutions.What does the alternative look like? How can we fix a broken system? It allows people to think and associate freely, there is no right or wrong, things are questioned or addressed. Arts and culture allow people to engage and respond to narratives and stories on an emotional level, creating deeper levels of engagement and therefore it is more likely to instigate long term, intrinsic change.

CCS: What are your hopes for the final GALA general meeting in Glasgow this coming March?

YO: Taking into account the urgency of the topic we need to be making further international links and think about building relationships, or ‘knowledge alliances’, with places like Asia and Latin America- influential, growing economies where sustainable practice could and should be central to further development. These are areas of crucial importance if we want to instigate change on a global level and areas from which we- Europe- can learn a lot from, for instance about our relationship with the natural world.

For GALA I think it would be great to keep on collecting and showcasing inspiring arts projects in the different countries of Europe. We need to keep on supporting and facilitating these projects. These best practice projects could lay a foundation for influencing policymaking as I think a next step should be to engage governments, the EU, policymakers and funding bodies. To make a strong point we need to collaborate as countries, as artists, as people.

Image: Away with the Birds / Air falbh leis na h-eòin by Hanna Tuulikki, part of the Sea Change programme by Cape Farewell. Photo: Alex Boyd.

 

The post GALA Member Spotlight: Cape Farewell appeared first on Creative Carbon Scotland.

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Creative Carbon Scotland is a partnership of arts organisations working to put culture at the heart of a sustainable Scotland. We believe cultural and creative organisations have a significant influencing power to help shape a sustainable Scotland for the 21st century.

In 2011 we worked with partners Festivals Edinburgh, the Federation of Scottish Threatre and Scottish Contemporary Art Network to support over thirty arts organisations to operate more sustainably.

We are now building on these achievements and working with over 70 cultural organisations across Scotland in various key areas including carbon management, behavioural change and advocacy for sustainable practice in the arts.

Our work with cultural organisations is the first step towards a wider change. Cultural organisations can influence public behaviour and attitudes about climate change through:

Changing their own behaviour;
Communicating with their audiences;
Engaging the public’s emotions, values and ideas.

Go to Creative Carbon Scotland

Powered by WPeMatico

Reflections from the first GALA general meeting

Creative Carbon Scotland

This post comes from Creative Carbon Scotland

The inaugural meeting took place at the Jan van Eyck Academie in Maastricht, Netherlands. By bringing the project’s international partners together, this meeting allowed for collaborations and connections to be forged between like-minded organisations looking at the myriad possibilities for artists working within the context of sustainability.

Discussions began with keynote speaker Catherine Langabeer of Julie’s Bicycle introducing JB’s work, moving onwards to a “wishes and challenges” brainstorming session, along with project presentations by all of the GALA partners. Projects that GALA partners are involved with range from an artists’ lab treehouse in rural Abruzzo to an online platform that connects the artists’ networks of Europe and Asia.

Though this meeting took place nearly two years ago, the linkages and ideas formed around this network have come to play a critical role in the development of arts and sustainability projects across the world. With the final GALA meeting coming to Glasgow in March 2015, it’s imperative to reflect on the progress that has been made through the opportunities presented by GALA.

More information and full details about this first meeting can be read on the TransArtists website.

Image:© 2005 – 2014 DutchCulture | TransArtists

The post Reflections from the first GALA general meeting appeared first on Creative Carbon Scotland.

———-

Creative Carbon Scotland is a partnership of arts organisations working to put culture at the heart of a sustainable Scotland. We believe cultural and creative organisations have a significant influencing power to help shape a sustainable Scotland for the 21st century.

In 2011 we worked with partners Festivals Edinburgh, the Federation of Scottish Threatre and Scottish Contemporary Art Network to support over thirty arts organisations to operate more sustainably.

We are now building on these achievements and working with over 70 cultural organisations across Scotland in various key areas including carbon management, behavioural change and advocacy for sustainable practice in the arts.

Our work with cultural organisations is the first step towards a wider change. Cultural organisations can influence public behaviour and attitudes about climate change through:

Changing their own behaviour;
Communicating with their audiences;
Engaging the public’s emotions, values and ideas.

Go to Creative Carbon Scotland

Powered by WPeMatico

Biophilia – Biology for Artists

Cultura21, Open Calls

This post comes to you from Cultura21

Call for applications. Deadline March 3rd.

Biolophilia is the urge to affiliate with other living forces. The term literally means the love of life or living systems.

Biophilia is a residency for Canadian and international artists interested in ecology, nature and life sciences to study, research and experience themes of interacting with the living natural world. It will take place over a week in Gatineau, Quebec, Canada in the spring 2015. The residency will facilitate daily excursions into natural habitats for collection of materials, exploration of and production within a wide range of Canadian wildlife. Daily expeditions into forests, wildlife sanctuaries, farms and research labs will be enriched by biologists, naturalists and experts.

Ayatana workshops focus on experience, research and brainstorming by visual and conceptual artists. Writers, poets, musicians and dancers are also invited to apply. Preference will be given to artists working with natural materials, bio art, performance, intervention, site specific installation, interactive or nomadic work, interdisciplinary research and collaboration. Although it is not necessary for a resident to produce work during the program, collaboration with each other and the non-artist community of biologists and nature observers is encouraged. All participants will be invited to give a short public artist talk, and to contribute to the residency catalogue. It is hoped that the residency will facilitate connection between participants and lead to collaborations or international shows.

The organizers are looking for adventurous artists with enthusiasm for daily brainstorming and creation and a willingness to share the development of early-stage work with a small group. Like-minded artists will be grouped together to encourage collaboration and skill share. The workshop will instigate the experimentation and sharing of new materials and artistic ideas in a supportive, analytical and critical context.

Outline:

Mycology:

Hike and forage with a mushroom expert in the Gatineau forest: Residents will be invited to step off the path to experience making decisions with intuition and their senses to see, smell and taste the forest from a new perspective. Guided by a mycology expert the goal of this walk will be to appreciate and be inspired by the wild life with an emphasis on wild mushrooms. While enjoying the forest and collecting natural materials you will learn about the life cycles of mushrooms and some of their practical uses and industrial applications, including dye and ink making and print making.

Dinner with foraged wild mushrooms depending on what the group found that day.

Sterile technique workshop:

During a demonstration of sterile tek for home biology experiments, grain with bioluminescent mushrooms will be inoculated for residents to grow at home.

Herpetology:

Guided tour of the frogs, snakes and turtles of the Ottawa Valley. Visit from Reptiles Rock, Ottawa’s Herpetological Center.

Botany:

The Ottawa area is covered in lush trees. Be guided by local arborist in the magic of local trees and plants on a hike through the forest.

Entomology:

According to physics, bee flight is impossible. Still, we will visit a honey farm to witness the magic of bees. A moth lure with UV light will be set up to observe the local moths.

Ornothology:

Learn about wild bird rehabilitation and the natural history of the birds of Canada and the magic of feathers through a guided tour of the Wild Bird Sanctuary. An up close look at ostriches, emu, peacocks, turkeys, ducks, geese and some other favorites of this local farmer and bird lover.

Local University Laboratory:

A guided visit to the Andrew Pelling Research Laboratory for Biophysical Manipulation to learn about synthetic biology. Residents will get expirience with lab equipment and working with human HeLa cells.

Location:

Residents will be picked up in Ottawa, Canada and driven to the residency house where you will stay in the small town of Wakefield in Quebec. The culturally vibrant town, surrounded by mountains is nestled between the Gatineau Provincial Park and the Gatineau River and is home to many scientists and artists.

Cost 

$1200.
Residency places are limited to 6 artists. Official invites will be given to accepted applicants to help in the procuration of grants and funding.

What is included: 

  • Accommodation with bedding in the Birch and Pine Ranch. Indoor and outdoor work spaces
  • All activities
  • Ground travel to all activities
  • Most meals will be provided, cooked by the resident chef. *Residents will be responsible for paying for their own meals from restaurants
  • Workshops by members of local community
  • Introductions to sites and contexts
  • Facilitators / production assistants
  • Participation in residency catalogue

How to apply

Send the following material to ArtLovesScience [at] gmail [dot] com (digitalucid [at] gmail [dot] com) before March 3rd 2015
  1. Artist CV
  2. Artist statement (about 200 words)
  3. Ayatana form
  4. Portfolio 5 – 10 images

More info: http://www.artayatana.com/biophilia%20ottawa.html

———-

Cultura21 is a transversal, translocal network, constituted of an international level grounded in several Cultura21 organizations around the world.

Cultura21′s international network, launched in April 2007, offers the online and offline platform for exchanges and mutual learning among its members.

The activities of Cultura21 at the international level are coordinated by a team representing the different Cultura21 organizations worldwide, and currently constituted of:

– Sacha Kagan (based in Lüneburg, Germany) and Rana Öztürk (based in Berlin, Germany)
– Oleg Koefoed and Kajsa Paludan (both based in Copenhagen, Denmark)
– Hans Dieleman (based in Mexico-City, Mexico)
– Francesca Cozzolino and David Knaute (both based in Paris, France)

Cultura21 is not only an informal network. Its strength and vitality relies upon the activities of several organizations around the world which are sharing the vision and mission of Cultura21

Go to Cultura21

Powered by WPeMatico

Creating and Developing your Environmental Policy

Creative Carbon Scotland

This post comes from Creative Carbon Scotland

Wanting to update your current environmental policy for 2015? Or maybe you’re looking to create a new environmental policy and don’t know where to begin- whichever best describes your current situation, our latest resource is a useful read for now and to return to later.

Our Creating and Developing your Environmental Policy resource lists simple questions to ask yourself at the beginning of your policy-creating or policy-updating procedure. The process is also broken down into five simple steps- Involve staff in your policy development, Think about boundaries, Don’t start from scratch, Break it down into manageable chunks and Think about processes.

To read more from this resource, please click here.

Other resources about policies can be found in our Policies Case Study Section.

These resources include Environmental Policies from The Tron Theatre, CCA, Glasgow Film Theatre and National Theatre of Scotland, amongst others. Have a look for some inspiration to get started today!

The post Creating and Developing your Environmental Policy appeared first on Creative Carbon Scotland.

———-

Creative Carbon Scotland is a partnership of arts organisations working to put culture at the heart of a sustainable Scotland. We believe cultural and creative organisations have a significant influencing power to help shape a sustainable Scotland for the 21st century.

In 2011 we worked with partners Festivals Edinburgh, the Federation of Scottish Threatre and Scottish Contemporary Art Network to support over thirty arts organisations to operate more sustainably.

We are now building on these achievements and working with over 70 cultural organisations across Scotland in various key areas including carbon management, behavioural change and advocacy for sustainable practice in the arts.

Our work with cultural organisations is the first step towards a wider change. Cultural organisations can influence public behaviour and attitudes about climate change through:

Changing their own behaviour;
Communicating with their audiences;
Engaging the public’s emotions, values and ideas.

Go to Creative Carbon Scotland

Powered by WPeMatico

“Ghosts of the Gulf” by Brandon Ballengée

Cultura21

This post comes to you from Cultura21

Currently on view at the Beacon Institute for Rivers and Estuaries is an exhibition by artist/biologist Brandon Ballengée, co-organized by Amy Lipton of ecoartspace. The exhibition titled Ghosts of the Gulf includes several stark and brilliantly colorful images of marine species collected in the Gulf of Mexico directly following the deadly 2010 Deep Water Horizons (DWH) oil spill disaster.

Ballengée’s artistic and scientific inquiry has focused on the rapid decline of amphibian populations around the world and the occurrence of developmental deformities among amphibians. He has received international attention for this work as well as his scientific research publications. Ballengée’s work as a biologist looks at amphibians as bio-indicator species, particularly their development in complex ecosystems and the proximate causes for developmental deformities among wild populations. “Understanding amphibians at this point in history is very important as they are suffering from rapid wide-spread population declines at over 40% in less than half a century” said Ballengée. Though the Gulf of Mexico species depicted in Ghosts of the Gulf do not appear to show deformities, Ballengée, hypothesizes as to why; “The subjects in Ghosts were found shortly after the spill so do not have any obvious morphological abnormalities, however we don’t know what the long term impacts of the spill yet will be, on these species or even our own”. These images of species once common to the Gulf, represents a creative process that blurs the lines between art and biology. Ballengée’s specimen-subjects transition from their once living state to brightly colored x-rays revealing the complex architectural anatomy of these beautiful and vanishing species.

Beacon Institute is proud to welcome artist/biologist Brandon Ballengée to its gallery at 199 Main Street in Beacon, NY for a new show that will be on display through March 8, 2015.

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Cultura21 is a transversal, translocal network, constituted of an international level grounded in several Cultura21 organizations around the world.

Cultura21′s international network, launched in April 2007, offers the online and offline platform for exchanges and mutual learning among its members.

The activities of Cultura21 at the international level are coordinated by a team representing the different Cultura21 organizations worldwide, and currently constituted of:

– Sacha Kagan (based in Lüneburg, Germany) and Rana Öztürk (based in Berlin, Germany)
– Oleg Koefoed and Kajsa Paludan (both based in Copenhagen, Denmark)
– Hans Dieleman (based in Mexico-City, Mexico)
– Francesca Cozzolino and David Knaute (both based in Paris, France)

Cultura21 is not only an informal network. Its strength and vitality relies upon the activities of several organizations around the world which are sharing the vision and mission of Cultura21

Go to Cultura21

Powered by WPeMatico

Opportunity: Textiles – Circular by Design Workshop

Creative Carbon Scotland, Open Calls

This post comes from Creative Carbon Scotland

FUNDING OPPORTUNITY

Design in Action Chiasma: ‘ Textiles – Circular by Design’, 4pm, 18th – 20th March, Kirknewton, Edinburgh

Design in Action and Zero Waste Scotland invites academics, organisations, businesses and designers to take part in an exciting 2-day residential workshop and networking event to collaborate on generating and developing innovative ideas for the Scottish textiles sector. Following the event, there is the opportunity for attendees to apply for funding up to £20k to prototype ideas as near-to-market solutions.

The ‘Circular by Design’ Chiasma will explore emerging issues around textiles and the circular economy. In Scotland, the unique and world-renowned luxury fashion and textiles market is ready for change. The sector is big business, generating 9,500 jobs and a turnover of £956m each year (Scottish Government, 2013) and exports to more than 150 countries worldwide. This event will bring together stakeholders to inform and equip the Scottish textiles sector with the skills and resources to realise opportunities for a circular economy, focusing on smart innovation, material efficiency, collaborative consumption and the continuation of making meaningful, alternative products in the wake of new social and disruptive technologies.

The Chiasma will take place at the Dalmahoy Marriott Hotel, EH27 8EB and is free to attend. All meals and accommodation will be provided throughout the event and reasonable travel expenses reimbursed. Designers who meet the qualifying criteria will also have the opportunity to apply for a Design Support Grant worth up to £500 to attend.

APPLY ONLINE: http://www.designinaction.com/chiasmas/waste-scotland-chiasma
(closing date for applications is 4pm, Monday 16th February).

FURTHER ENQUIRIES: Contact Louise Jack, enquiries@designinaction.com (01382 385361) or Jen Ballie, j.ballie@dundee.ac.uk.

Design in Action is a Knowledge Exchange Hub for the Creative Economy based primarily at the University of Dundee and funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council and Creative Scotland to research, promote and create opportunities for the adoption of design as a strategy for economic growth in industry.

The post Opportunity: Textiles – Circular by Design Workshop appeared first on Creative Carbon Scotland.

———-

Creative Carbon Scotland is a partnership of arts organisations working to put culture at the heart of a sustainable Scotland. We believe cultural and creative organisations have a significant influencing power to help shape a sustainable Scotland for the 21st century.

In 2011 we worked with partners Festivals Edinburgh, the Federation of Scottish Threatre and Scottish Contemporary Art Network to support over thirty arts organisations to operate more sustainably.

We are now building on these achievements and working with over 70 cultural organisations across Scotland in various key areas including carbon management, behavioural change and advocacy for sustainable practice in the arts.

Our work with cultural organisations is the first step towards a wider change. Cultural organisations can influence public behaviour and attitudes about climate change through:

Changing their own behaviour;
Communicating with their audiences;
Engaging the public’s emotions, values and ideas.

Go to Creative Carbon Scotland

Powered by WPeMatico

Navjot Altaf at Kochi Muziris Biennale 2014/15

Cultura21

This post comes to you from Cultura21

Navjot Altaf is known for her sustained engagement with interactive / collaborative art practices. Since 1997 she has also been working in collaboration with indigenous artists and community members of Bastar in Chhattisgarh, Central India on Nalpar (hand pump sites) and Pilla Gudi/Temples for children projects that seek to situate artistic production within the fabric of community life. An early encounter with Marxism leading to her interest in feminism has been instrumental in shaping Altaf’s sensibilities as an artist.

Altaf’s interactive installation at the Kochi- Muziris Biennale titled ‘Mary wants to read a book’ (2014) is a built up space / a library,  to recognize significance of the literacy movement and library culture in Kerala. The work is based on the visual of ‘Study Charts 2,000 Years of Continental Climate Changes’.  This work is to be viewed from an ecological perspective / the web of life of which we are a part, a critique of hyper production and consumption which has continued to grow and led civilizations to estrangement from life-world experiences – resulting in climatic catastrophe.

Library that documents global rise in temperatures in the last 2000 years. Weaved into this narrative is an homage to Kerala’s library movement. Closely linked to left cultural activism, The library movement along with the state’s drive towards full literacy is widely considered a key ingredient in the success of the ‘Kerala-model of development’; marked by high social indicators and political participation despite comparatively low levels of industrialization and per capita income. The installation takes its form- that of a library from this history.  Comprised of more than two thousands of multi-coloured books made from recycled paper each with text from Altaf’s research. Work also includes audio and video.  the  library is the three dimensional model of a chart depicting 2000 years of continental temperature change on earth.Coded to correspond to a colour spectrum (with red and blue indicating the highest and lowest temperatures respectively), The chart documents temperature changes including the alarming rise of the last decades. By cross referencing this chronicle of an impending ecological disaster with an idealized version of a social progress within the largely unindustrialized state of Kerala, Altaf is perhaps suggesting / asking for an alternative, less ecologically punishing mode of development.

The books that are part of the installation can be taken away by the audience in the last two weeks of the biennale.

The biennale will be taking place from Dec 2014 – March 2015.

More info at: http://kochimuzirisbiennale.org/.

———-

Cultura21 is a transversal, translocal network, constituted of an international level grounded in several Cultura21 organizations around the world.

Cultura21′s international network, launched in April 2007, offers the online and offline platform for exchanges and mutual learning among its members.

The activities of Cultura21 at the international level are coordinated by a team representing the different Cultura21 organizations worldwide, and currently constituted of:

– Sacha Kagan (based in Lüneburg, Germany) and Rana Öztürk (based in Berlin, Germany)
– Oleg Koefoed and Kajsa Paludan (both based in Copenhagen, Denmark)
– Hans Dieleman (based in Mexico-City, Mexico)
– Francesca Cozzolino and David Knaute (both based in Paris, France)

Cultura21 is not only an informal network. Its strength and vitality relies upon the activities of several organizations around the world which are sharing the vision and mission of Cultura21

Go to Cultura21

Powered by WPeMatico