Monthly Archives: April 2019

The Downfall of the Capital City

Artists and Climate Change

Featured image: Cheonggyecheon gentrification mapping workshop, Listen to the City, 2017.

I was born and raised in a capital city (Amsterdam), have always lived in capital cities (London, Seoul, Taipei), and expected I would continue to do so. I’m a cultural omnivore and food snob, and (ignorantly, I admit) thought the top-notch cultural and gastronomical offerings were only to be found in cosmopolitan cities.

Two years ago, I moved to a smaller, more rurally located city and realized how much the quality of my life increased. It suddenly became clear to me that capital cities are mostly overcrowded and overpriced; the quality of the air is terrible and you waste too much time on transportation. Though ideas may sprout, they can hardly be developed and reflected upon as everyone is busy-busy-busy trying to survive. I decided I would enjoy capital cities like one enjoys Uber or AirBnB: with no permanent commitment, temporarily making use of these services and amenities when I need them.

But a burning question kept haunting me: Have I given up on cities too soon?

I don’t seem to be the only one being pulled to the periphery. When I re-visited Seoul recently, I saw an exhibition in MMCA, the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, which showed works by the nominees for the Korea Artists Prize, including Okin Collective.

Okin Collective is a group of artists – Joungmin Yi, Hwayong Kim, and Shiu Jin – whose work often poses critical questions about contemporary Korean urban society. The collective was named after the Okin apartment complex in Jongno-gu, Seoul, where their first project was held and from where a group of residents got evicted in 2009. The exhibition included a film about artists moving from Seoul to Incheon, a bordering city where the main airport is located. The film follows an interesting group conversation where the artists explain why they traded Seoul for Incheon, and how this decision influences their lives and artistic practice. The reasons vary from “I feel less poor here” to “I just wanted to see the sea.”

Searching for Revolution, or Its contrary, single channel video, Okin Collective, 2018.

For so many artists (and non-artists), Seoul is becoming too expensive. It is a fast growing beast; the greater metropolitan area is already home to 25 million people. This population explosion forces us to reckon with gentrification and more specifically, with the ironic relationship between artists and gentrification.

You don’t have to have read Richard Florida to know that artists are often used to make a depressed area more attractive. Artists are offered affordable studios in exchange for their artistic sex-appeal. Then once the value of the property has gone up, they have to pack their bags and move further out to the fringe to gentrify another area. This phenomenon is happening all over the world and creates a tension between locals and “cheap-rent seeking artists.” However, both groups are victims of the same developers and real estate market.

A spring maker who has worked in Cheonggyecheon since 1974. Photo by Listen to the City.

A striking example of the threat of gentrification in Seoul is the Euljiro neighborhood, which is home to a lively artist community as well as some 50,000 tradespeople who sell objects you didn’t even know existed. All kinds of manufacturing parts can be found here: from tiny bolts to endless varieties of wiring. Euljiro tradespeople essentially made the postwar economic boom possible (called “Miracle on the Han” – after the river that flows through Seoul) by providing parts to build everything from phones to boats.

A craftsman who has worked in Cheonggyecheon since the 1970s. Photo by Listen to the City.

In October 2018, it was announced that the intricate ecosystem of small businesses that make up Euljiro will be replaced by swanky apartment and office buildings. Also art collective Listen to the City is located in Euljiro and yet again it is the artists standing up to developers in an attempt to save the neighborhood. They have been co-organising anti-eviction marches and protests. Listen to the City and several artists and designers have set up an organization called “Cheonggyecheon Euljiro Anti-gentrification Alliance”, organizing rallies and debates including an online poster protest. Over 100 designers have uploaded their posters against the redevelopment.

Destruction of Cheonggyecheon. Photo by Listen to the City.

It’s not the first time this has happened: the traditional market was wiped out to make space for Zaha Hadid’s Dongdaemun Design Plaza, for example, and whole communities were evicted for the Olympics and for the making of the Cheonggye stream, an artificial stream that runs through the city. On numerous occasions, Listen to the City has staged artistic interventions to address these evictions, often having to face thugs. They have produced Urban Film Festivals, published a Sustainable Event Manual (on how to organize an event responsibly), organized food sharing days and feminist urban planning seminars, as well as presented exhibitions.

These are the people who inspire me, the people who have not given up on their cities and never will. And that’s exactly what still lures me to cities: the fact that they attract diversity and convene incredible talents and energies. If these heroes get priced out (or worse, beaten out), that last bit of appeal might be lost forever and our cities will be nothing more than expensive and soulless places.

(Top image: A protest march with artists and mechanics carrying posters from the online poster protest. By Ueta Jiro , February 18, 2019.)

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Curator Yasmine Ostendorf (MA) has worked extensively on international cultural mobility programs and on the topic of art and environment for expert organizations such as Julie’s Bicycle (UK), Bamboo Curtain Studio (TW) Cape Farewell (UK) and Trans Artists (NL). She founded the Green Art Lab Alliance, a network of 35 cultural organizations in Europe and Asia that addresses our social and environmental responsibility, and is the author of the series of guides “Creative Responses to Sustainability.” She is the Head of Nature Research at the Van Eyck Academy (NL), a lab that enables artists to consider nature in relation to ecological and landscape development issues and the initiator of the Van Eyck Food Lab.

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Artists and Climate Change is a blog that tracks artistic responses from all disciplines to the problem of climate change. It is both a study about what is being done, and a resource for anyone interested in the subject. Art has the power to reframe the conversation about our environmental crisis so it is inclusive, constructive, and conducive to action. Art can, and should, shape our values and behavior so we are better equipped to face the formidable challenge in front of us.

Go to the Artists and Climate Change Blog

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Green Tease Podcast: Can art get people travelling more sustainably?

Creative Carbon Scotland

Road vehicles such as cars, trucks and buses are Scotland’s largest – and growing – source of carbon emissions but what role can artists play in increasing  active travel and contributing to a more sustainable Scotland? Listen to the podcast from Green Tease: Arts and Active Travel, a collaboration between Sustrans Scotland and Creative Carbon Scotland. 

Can art get people travelling more sustainably?

To allow you to hear the full presentations and a summary of discussions we have created Creative Carbon Scotland first ever podcast “Can art get people travelling more sustainably?”! 

The podcast is available on Itunes, Google Podcasts (on your phone), Spotify and a bunch of other platforms. We welcome your feedback on the podcast as we’re aiming to produce recordings of more of our events, to allow a wider audience to benefit from the information and to ensure that there’s a means of participating when environmental or other considerations mean people choose not to travel.

You can also get the visuals from the presentations by taking a look at the slides, linked to in the section below.

In brief

Cosmo Blake, Arts and Diversity Officer at Sustrans Scotland, kicked off the event by showing diverse examples of public art works commissioned on Scotland’s cycle paths. He also gave an update on the ArtRoots Fund which offers grants to communities for artistic and aesthetic improvements to the National Cycle Network.

Arts producer and consultant Ben Spencer then gave a presentation on how artistic practices and projects have sought to affect social change.

Freshly inspired, Green Teasers then discussed how artists can influence the different stages of active travel projects (Inception, Design, Construction, Completion), as well as the potential challenges and opportunities. Questions were raised and explored such as;

  • If an artist was involved from the very start of projects (for example path building), could they be more visual and appealing?
  • How can health and safety requirements be managed while also encouraging the creative flair of an artist?
  • And how can you evaluate the impact of public artwork on cycle ways?

Green Tease

This event was part of Green Tease, a network and ongoing informal events programme, connecting creative practices and environmental sustainability across Scotland.  Creative Carbon Scotland runs the Green Tease Open Call, which is a funded opportunity supporting sustainability practitioners and artists to exchange ideas, knowledge and practices with the aim of building connections and widening understanding of the role of arts in influencing a more sustainable society.

For more information please click on the links above or email gemma.lawrence@creativecarbonscotland.com 

Image: Slow Down C Jacqueline Donachie (2014)

The post Green Tease Podcast: Can art get people travelling more sustainably? 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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Guest Blog: Crises. Crocuses. Creativity.

Creative Carbon Scotland

The third in a series of blogs from playwright Lewis Hetherington about his work with Glasgow cycling charity Bike for Good and Creative Carbon Scotland.

I’m currently Artist in Residence with the brilliant Bike for Good documenting their Velocommunities project which has two main aims; Firstly, to increase the number of short journeys made by bike in Glasgow and secondly, to raise awareness of climate change.

This is my third blog in this series and has been by far the hardest one to write. As we’ve stopped to take stock of where we are in the process, I’ve been reminded of the scale and the urgency of the issues which this residency is engaging with.

Before Christmas we made a short film launched at the Climate Challenge Fund Gathering in Perth. We’re now working towards a longer film which we’ll share as part of Climate Week later this year.

Geraldine and I have been talking about everything that our next film could, and maybe should contain. So of course we’ve found ourselves in conversations about potholes, asteroids, politics, religion, education, schools, alien life, transatlantic flights, shopping, central heating, children, cars, pavements, air quality, skeletons, traffic, motorways, accessibility, solar power, dancing and much much more.

So this has been the hardest blog to write because we’re not at the beginning and we’re not at the end, and when you’re in some way grappling with the climate crisis, you’re kind of dealing with everything all at once.

I was going to write about being warm in a T-shirt in February.

I was going to write about the rift between legislation and culture.

I was going to write about the tension between wanting to provoke and wanting to be thoughtful.

I was going to write about the fact that even some of the most enthusiastic young cyclists I’ve met still talk with mega excitement about getting a car when they’re older, and I think how can we challenge that when of course they would want a car when they look out the window everyday and see a city built for cars.

I was going to write about a children’s TV show that is basically Top Gear for kids where an extremely excited rally driver grins as she enthuses about sports cars and super yachts.

Racing car driver behind the wheel

I was going to write about the striking students across the world that have made me feel genuinely hopeful and inspired and overwhelmed.

I was going to write about Greta Thunberg.

I was going to write about what role art can have in advocating for social change.

I was going to write about how some people don’t want art to have a role in advocating for social change, they just want it to distract people and make them feel better for a bit.

I was going to write about the crocuses appearing in Queen’s Park. The purple, yellow and white flowers poking out and reaching up to the sky.

Purple crocuses in leaf litter, bare treas in the background

I was going to write about international travel.

I was going to write about how it’s easy to point fingers elsewhere.

I was going to write about how we have to point fingers elsewhere because none of us can solve this on our own.

I was going to write about how pointing fingers sometimes feels abrupt and uncomfortable.

I was going to write about how awful it would be if the world burned just because we didn’t want to do anything abrupt or uncomfortable.

I was going to write about how there are so many people, who are doing SUCH TERRIBLE things for the environment that it’s really easy to go ‘oh well they’re worse’ and slip into atrophy.

I was going to write about the fact that I’m just supposed to be documenting what’s happening at Bike for Good on Victoria Road so no one needs to hear my free wheeling, nervy musings on this climate catastrophe we’re all facing.

I was going to write about how the first film made some people think and smile and debate and we have some exciting ideas for the next film.

I was going to write about a robot who comes back from the future and tells us a moving story of how we destroyed the earth and convinces us to all change our ways, and that’s when I knew I was really going into freefall.

I was going to write something that was breezy and upbeat and made it seem like broadly I’ve got everything under control.

But instead I wrote this.

I’m reminded of a quote from Timothy Morton;

We are losing a fantasy – the fantasy of being immersed in a benevolent Mother Nature –  and a person who is losing a fantasy is a very dangerous person.

And also of Joanna Macy’s call for us to have Active Hope.

Active Hope is not wishful thinking. Active hope is not waiting to be rescued by the Lone Ranger or by some saviour. Active Hope is waking up to the beauty of life on whose behalf we can act.

I was going to try and write an eloquent, robust yet empowering closing statement, but there isn’t an end yet. We’re right in the middle. And it’s how we write the present that will determine what the end is.

Lots and lots of light purple crocuses in grass

Lewis is working embedded with Bike for Good for two years to document their VeloCommunities project and contribute to their activities widening access to cycling and helping Glasgow to become a more sustainable city.

This artist in residence is part of Bike for Good’s VeloCommunities Project, which is funded by the Scottish Government’s Climate Challenge Fund. We’ll keep you posted of updates and developments on this blog, and please get in touch with any questions or ideas!

New project announcement: Velocommunities 1000th Climate Challenge Fund project                                      New project announcement: Velocommunities 1000th Climate Challenge Fund project 1

The post Guest Blog: Crises. Crocuses. Creativity. 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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Opportunity: Call for proposals – Nuit Blanche

Creative Carbon Scotland, Open Calls

As a cultural, artistic event, Nuit Blanche invites everyone to reclaim the city for just one night.

CALL FOR PROPOSALS NUIT BLANCHE – 17th edition – 5 October 2019

Supported by the City of Brussels, NUIT BLANCHE highlights every first Saturday in October dozens of sites across the capital as it presents a variety of contemporary artistic creations at night. Cultural venues, shop windows, school playgrounds, car parks, churches, stations, fountains, streets and squares are all potential locations.

In offering a series of artistic works closely related to the sites in which they are presented, NUIT BLANCHE sheds new light on familiar places as well as extending an invitation to discover locations that the public usually have little or no chance to see.

Each year, thousands of night owls flock to Brussels to live intriguing and one-of-a-kind experiences.

A distinctive feature of NUIT BLANCHE is that it takes place in a different district each year. The 2019 edition will take place in and around Thurn & Taxis on Saturday 5 October, from 7.00pm until 3.00am.

Back to Nature

The theme this time will be ‘Back to Nature’. The 2019 NUIT BLANCHE intends to examine the impact of the Anthropocene period- a term that describes the current period, which started when human activities began to have a global impact on climate – on Earth’s ecosystem, the need to take account of nature and the role of artists in creating an awareness of climate-related issues.

This call for projects is open to emerging artists with a professional experience of up to 5 years. Artists are allowed to submit several projects. These can be new creations as well as existing projects. Files must be sent by Wednesday 27 March 2019 at the latest.

Go to http://nuitblanche.brussels/en/open-call-for-proposals-2019/ to find the general provisions for this open call.

The post Opportunity: Call for proposals – Nuit Blanche 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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Life in the City of Dirty Water at HotDocs

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Life in the City of Dirty Water, a transmedia storytelling project, is an expression of decolonization and healing. Think of it as a survival guide to the urban Indigenous person.

The global premiere of the Life in the City of Dirty Water documentary will be at Hot Docs on May 1st, 2019!  

Rooted in Indigenous storytelling tradition, Life in the City of Dirty Water is a series of intimate vignettes that weave together the remarkable life of Indigenous climate change activist, Clayton Thomas-Muller. The film plunges audiences into an immersive storytelling journey, discovering the people and places and traumas and triumphs that shaped Clayton’s identity and cosmology. These are impossible stories weaving together different roles: a Sundancer, a father, a husband, an abused child, a hustler, a leader. Stories that juxtapose Clayton’s rise as a prominent Indigenous campaigner (at the Indigenous Environmental Network, Idle No More, and 350.org) with his raw and troubled journey of addiction, incarceration, healing, and forgiveness.

 SHORTS | 20 MINUTES | 2019 | CANADA | ENGLISH | WORLD PREMIERE

Wed, May 1 8:30 PM 
TIFF Bell Lightbox 4 
Screening With The Sound of Masks

GET TICKETS

Fri, May 3 3:30 PM 
Scotiabank Theatre 13 
Screening With The Sound of Masks

GET TICKETS

Sun, May 5 2:30 PM 
TIFF Bell Lightbox 4 
Screening With The Sound of Masks

GET TICKETS

Follow Clayton

https://www.facebook.com/ClaytonThomasMuller
https://www.instagram.com/clayton_thomas_muller/

The ninth annual Big Green Theater

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April 25 – 28

Thursday at 7pm (PS75): Free!
Friday at 6:30pm (PS239): $50 Benefit Event + Performance
Saturday at 1pm (PS75) + 4pm (PS239): Free!
Sunday at 1pm (PS239) + 4pm (PS75): Free!

Created in collaboration with The Bushwick Starr
Directed by Jeremy Pickard

Plays written by Bushwick/Ridgewood elementary students at PS75 + PS239
This year’s plays are inspired by two big problems facing local eco-systems: Habitat Loss and Climate Change. Student playwrights have created a menagerie of characters who live in a community surrounding an urban salt marsh (much like this one in Brooklyn’s Marine Park). Throughout the plays, this community of humans and non-humans face pollution, deforestation, giant storms, poaching, and heat waves that threaten the survival of the marsh eco-system, ultimately finding solace and solutions in each other.

Playwrights:
PS75: Jason Adams, Jhoan De Jesus, Brandon Delk, Ricardo Espinal, Nancy Galindo, Leah Gethers, Jahmair Herdigein, Leanne Samulu Hunt, Aliyanna Peña

PS239: Elias Estrella, Aiden Negron, Yerlenie Nunez, Destiny Ortiz, Leah Ortiz, Abi Pathak, Adrian Ramirez, Jaelyn Raspardo, Arielys Rodriguez, Emily Sanchez, Erin Torres

FULL PRODUCTION CREDITS HERE

Big Green Theater is made possible thanks to the support of the NYC Department of Cultural Affairs, City Council Members Antonio Reynoso, Rafael L. Espinal, and Stephen Levin, the Revada Foundation of the Logan Family, Con Edison, and the Lotos Foundation

RESERVE TICKETS

Art, Environment, and Justice in a Changing World

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Wednesday, May 1 – 6:30-8:30 PM

Asian American Arts Alliance
20 Jay Street, Suite 740
Brooklyn, NY 11201

Climate change, environmental justice, sustainability—these terms have become increasingly crucial to our current social and political discourse. How do artists respond to these issues in their creative work? How does their artistic practice advance their beliefs in environmental justice? How can the work itself gain wider traction and raise awareness in our culture and society?

Join the Asian American Arts Alliance for a closer look at how creative practice intersects with environmental justice and activism. Five artists working in multiple disciplines will present recent projects and walk us through their origin stories and underlying rationales, approaches to artmaking and activism, and desired impact. The presentations will be followed by a moderated discussion with the artists and Q&A with the audience.

Panelists include Lanxing Fu (Superhero Clubhouse), Juliann Ma (S E A S), Jess X. Snow (AFTEREARTH), Tattfoo Tan (Heal the Man in order to Heal the Land), and Yasuyo Tanaka (If the Wind Blows), moderated by Seema Pandhya (sustainability consultant and multidisciplinary artist).

This program is free and open to the public.

This program is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, in partnership with the City Council; the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo and the New York State Legislature; and Con Edison.

News: Citizen Bravo – Build a thing of Beauty

Creative Carbon Scotland

Chemikal Underground Records announce the exciting news around the launch of Citizen Bravo, a new music venture by Matt Brennan, who led the Fields of Green research which Creative Carbon Scotland collaborated on. As part of our Green Tease programme we’re taking part in the launch event for the new album and ‘interactive musical sculpture’.

It gives Chemikal Underground Records great pleasure to introduce the unabashed geek pop of Citizen Bravo, AKA songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and music researcher Matt Brennan. His remarkable debut album Build A Thing Of Beauty will be released on 5 April 2019 exclusively on digital services, save for one, extraordinary and thoroughly unique physical manifestation – an interactive musical sculpture known as SCI★FI★HI★FI, which will be premiered at the launch event Green Tease: Citizen Bravo presents “The Terrifying Miracle of Recorded Sound” at the University of Glasgow Concert Hall on 11 April 2019. Completing this ambitious hybrid music and research experiment is a short documentary film The Cost Of Music, which will be screened as part of the sculpture launch event in Glasgow, ahead of further screenings at Berklee College of Music in Boston, Université du Québec in Montreal, the Australian National University in Canberra, and further tour dates to be announced. The video for the album’s lead single “Limbs And Bones,” was released on 15 March 2019.

Citizen Bravo is Matt Brennan, a dual citizen of Canada and Scotland. Born in Nova Scotia and raised in New Brunswick, he immigrated to Scotland at the age of twenty-two to study and make music. In the mid-2000s, Brennan was a founding member of indie pop group Zoey Van Goey (Stuart Murdoch of Belle and Sebastian produced the band’s debut single, and the group released two well received albums on Chemikal Underground Records before disbanding in 2012). Citizen Bravo marks Brennan’s first outing as a solo artist. Drawing on musical influences ranging from Jonathan Richman to Robert Wyatt, Brennan recorded the album with the help of friends including Andy Monaghan (Frightened Rabbit), Malcolm Benzie (Withered Hand), Raymond MacDonald (Glasgow Improvisers Orchestra), and Pete Harvey (Modern Studies). Brennan also found inspiration in scavenging and manipulating orphaned samples from antique recording formats and integrating them into his songs.

The Cost of Music

The short film The Cost Of Music (directed by Graeme O’Hara) documents Matt’s journey making the album: disillusioned by prevailing attitudes about the disposability of new music and the decline of physical formats, Matt set out to record his own songs and release them in an unusual way: not so much a ‘concept album’ as a musical sculpture that explores the concept of albums as historical artefacts. In doing so, he discovers how the cost of listening to records has changed over the past century: while the economic cost of listening to one’s choice of recorded music has never been lower, the environmental cost has never been higher.

By day, Brennan works as a music academic at the University of Glasgow. His research draws from his practice as a musician and vice versa. In the case of Build A Thing Of Beauty, for example, the album’s release coincides with the publication of videos presenting collaborative research on the economic and environmental costs of recorded music, including new research findings on how the price consumers have been willing to pay for recorded music has changed across formats and over history. Similarly, the sole physical copy of the album is a one-off interactive musical sculpture called the SCI★FI★HI★FI, which will tour as part of a series of public lectures in 2019.

SCI★FI★HI★FI

Built in collaboration an electronics engineer (Peter Reid) and metal worker (Mark Reynolds), the SCI★FI★HI★FI is what its name suggests: a science-fiction inspired hi-fi system that can play the music of Citizen Bravo on seven of the most historically significant recording formats (Edison wax cylinder, 78 rpm disc, vinyl LP, cassette tape, compact disc, mp3 on hard drive, and streaming remotely from the cloud). It explores how playback technology changed the parameters of musical work at different moments in history: from two minutes of lo-fidelity mono sound on wax cylinder, to a streamed AI-composed remix that is unstoreable and infinite in length. To listen to the album Build A Thing Of Beauty via the SCI★FI★HI★FI is to make sense of recorded music not as a fixed, frozen object but as an historical event unfolding over time. How was recorded music valued before the advent of albums, and how might it be valued after albums are gone?

TOUR DATES:

  • Thursday 11 April, 7pm: Launch event – Green Tease: Citizen Bravo presents “The Terrifying Miracle of Recorded Sound” at University of Glasgow Concert Hall, Glasgow
  • Sunday 14 April, noon-5pm: SCI★FI★HI★FI demo as part of Record Store Day weekend at Monorail Records, Glasgow
  • Saturday 18 May: The Cost Of Music film screening at Berklee College of Music, Boston
  • Saturday 25 May: The Cost Of Music film screening at Université du Québec, Montreal
  • Friday 28 June: The Cost Of Music film screening at Australian National University, Canberra

More dates TBC at www.citizenbravo.com

The post News: Citizen Bravo – Build a thing of Beauty 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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On Earth Day, Take (Artistic) Action

Artists and Climate Change

Earth Day is one of the most important days of the year because it reminds us of a most fundamental truth: we belong to the Earth. Like it or not, we are of the Earth. Despite our dizzying technological progress and illusion of separateness, our well-being is still intricately connected to the well-being of all the creatures with whom we share this planet.

There are many ways to celebrate this day. We can (and should!) go outside, soak in the sun, take a walk in the forest or a long bike ride along the river. We can donate to worthwhile environmental organizations or participate in local festivities. Or, if we are short on time, we can at the very least step outside for a minute and take a deep breath.

But a day of appreciation is not enough. Given the urgent social and environmental challenges we are facing, ours is a time for sustained action – as exemplified by the courageous students and activists who have recently taken to the streets. So as an artist and co-organizer of Climate Change Theatre Action, I want to invite you, on Earth Day (or on any day between now and the end of the year), to sign up for a season of theatrical presentations and action taking place this fall between September 15 and December 21, 2019.

Climate Change Theatre Action is is a worldwide series of readings and performances of short climate change plays presented biennially to coincide with the United Nations COP meetings. Through theatre, we bring communities together and encourage them to take local and global action on climate. We providing tools (a series of plays) free of charge, some guidance on how to produce events, marketing support, a model that encourages leadership and self-determination, and empower everyone to harness their creative potential and put it in service of the greater good.

How It Works

Earlier this year, 50 professional playwrights, representing all continents as well as several cultures and Indigenous nations, were commissioned to write five-minute plays about various aspects of climate change under the theme “Lighting the Way.” (In the spirit of celebrating the amazing work that is being done, we are giving center stage to the unsung climate warriors and climate heroes who are lighting the way towards a just and sustainable future.)

This collection of plays is now available to producing collaborators (that’s you!) who might be interested in presenting an event in the fall using one or several plays from the collection. Events can be in-house readings, public performances, radio shows, podcasts, film adaptions – the possibilities are endless! You can design your event to reflect your own aesthetic and community, and include additional material by local artists.

The CCTA New York Launch, 2017

In addition, to emphasize the “Action” part of Climate Change Theatre Action, we urge collaborators to think about an action – educational, social, or political/civic – that can be incorporated into their event. It may involve the scientific community, other departments within a university, local environmental organizations, etc. Examples of actions from previous years include: presentations by scientists; donations to hurricane relief efforts and food banks; conversations with social justice and environmental organizations; writing letters to legislators, and; sharing tools for sustainability at the local level.

Our Track Record

We piloted this project in 2015. Two years later, in 2017, close to 140 collaborators in 23 countries hosted events, reaching an audience of 12,000. In the United States alone, 90 events took place in 60 cities. Plays were read and performed, live and on radio, and presented in a variety of settings including: theatres, high schools, middle schools, universities, yoga studios, community centers, libraries, churches, museums, cafes, bars, people’s living rooms, and outdoors. At the end of the season, the plays were published together in Where Is The Hope? An Anthology of Short Climate Change Plays available from the York University Bookstore.

Now, two years later, we want to continue to bring our communities together to discuss what kind of future we want to create, and put pressure on elected officials and CEOs to do what is right. We want to build on what other dedicated climate warriors are doing to ensure we avoid the worst. And most importantly, we want to help everyone come to terms with the inevitable losses we are facing, and learn to be resilient.

Join Us

Climate Change Theatre Action is participatory – that means we can’t do it without you. We hope you’ll join us this fall by organizing an event in your community and adding your voice to the countless other voices who are demanding an end to the status quo. Actors, producers, directors, avid arts supporters, and concerned community members from all countries – everyone can participate! Check out our Call for Collaborators for more details and email us at ccta@thearcticcycle.org to receive the guidelines and access to the plays.

Together, we can do this. Happy Earth Day.

(Top image: The Anthropologists at the CCTA New York Launch in 2017. All photos by Yadin Goldman.)

Previous articles about Climate Change Theatre Action:

What I Learned About Gender Parity and Racial Diversity from Running a Global Participatory Initiative by Chantal Bilodeau
Changing the Climate Narrative Fifty Plays at a Time by Chantal Bilodeau
A Theatrical Revolution of Hope by Alicia Hyland
Graz, Austria: City of Culture… City of Climate Change Communication by Nassim Balestrini
Does Laughter Have a Place Here? by Aysan Celik

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Chantal Bilodeau is a playwright whose work focuses on the intersection of science, policy, art, and climate change. She is the Artistic Director of The Arctic Cycle – which uses theatre to foster dialogue about our global climate crisis, create an empowering vision of the future, and inspire people to take action – and the founder of Artists & Climate Change. She is a co-organizer of Climate Change Theatre Action, a worldwide series of readings and performances of short climate change plays presented in support of the United Nations COP meetings.

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Artists and Climate Change is a blog that tracks artistic responses from all disciplines to the problem of climate change. It is both a study about what is being done, and a resource for anyone interested in the subject. Art has the power to reframe the conversation about our environmental crisis so it is inclusive, constructive, and conducive to action. Art can, and should, shape our values and behavior so we are better equipped to face the formidable challenge in front of us.

Go to the Artists and Climate Change Blog

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The 2019 Artists & Climate Change Incubator – Alaska

Artists and Climate Change, Open Calls

Anchorage, Alaska
Monday – Friday, May 27 – 31, 2019
10am – 5:30pm
Fee: $385
Leader: Chantal Bilodeau

Calling all artists, activists, scientists, and educators who want to engage or further their engagement with climate change through artistic practices! Join The Arctic Cycle for the 3rd Artists & Climate Change Incubator, May 27 – 31, 2019 at the University of Alaska, Anchorage.

The Incubator is open to artists, activists, scientists, and educators who want to engage or further their engagement with climate change through artistic practices. All disciplines are welcome and individuals from traditionally underrepresented populations and communities are encouraged to attend. The Incubator is an inclusive environment that supports diverse perspectives.

During this 5-day intensive, participants interact with accomplished guest speakers from fields such as environmental humanities, climate science, climate change activism, and visual and performing arts. Work sessions allow everyone to dig deep into the challenges and concerns of working at the intersection of arts and climate change such as embracing activism without sacrificing personal vision and artistic integrity, letting go of the idea of “product,” and bringing the arts to non-traditional audiences. Group exercises and discussions cover a range of topics including:

  • How to think about climate change as a systemic issue
  • How to effectively engage communities
  • How to take the arts out of traditional venues to reach underserved populations
  • How to develop collaborative projects with non-arts partners to achieve specific goals
  • How to reframe climate change narratives to energize audiences

Limited to 20 participants.

All sessions will take place at the University of Alaska, Anchorage, 3211 Providence Dr, Anchorage, AK 99508. Availability is on a first come, first serve basis. Participants are responsible for their own travel and accommodation. For more information, visit the website or contact The Arctic Cycle at: info [at] thearcticcycle [dot] org.

The Incubator will also be offered in New York City this summer. For more info, click here.

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Artists and Climate Change is a blog that tracks artistic responses from all disciplines to the problem of climate change. It is both a study about what is being done, and a resource for anyone interested in the subject. Art has the power to reframe the conversation about our environmental crisis so it is inclusive, constructive, and conducive to action. Art can, and should, shape our values and behavior so we are better equipped to face the formidable challenge in front of us.

Go to the Artists and Climate Change Blog

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