The annual NEMO report in 2023 will offer an overview of climate related policies that address museums in Europe. NEMO will hire an external researcher to conduct and compile the research that will be presented in the report. Proposals from interested researchers are welcome until 31 March 2023.
Following up on NEMO’s 2022 report on the status quo of museums in the climate crisis, the next report will offer an analysis of current climate related policies on national, regional and local level in the 27 member states of the European Union. The researcher is also expected to collect examples of museums from different EU countries implementing and utilizing climate policies in their operations. It is also required that the researcher sets up a practical guide that museums can refer to when utilizing and implementing climate related policies in their work.
Apply by sending a proposal for the research including methodology, timeline and an estimate for your fee until 31 March 2023.
The selected researcher will be notified in the beginning of April. The study should be finalised by 1 September 2023. Publication design is made separately by NEMO.
Combining sound and art, local podcast producer and retired music composer Claude Schryer is reinventing the podcast medium with the fourth season of his climate-themed podcast, conscient.
In the podcast’s new season, titled “Sounding Modernity,” Schryer reflects on sounds in his everyday life. From the dripping of his tap to the heating system in his house, he explores various sounds in relation to their impact on climate change while addressing feelings of climate anxiety approximately 40 per cent of Canadians experience daily.
“I call it a personal learning journey,” he said. “I’ve decided to learn out loud and to use the medium of podcast to reach people.”
The post Interview in The Charlatan Newspaper (March 3, 2023) appeared first on conscient. conscient is a bilingual blog and podcast (French or English) by audio artist Claude Schryer that explores how arts and culture contribute to environmental awareness and action.
———-
About the Concient Podcast from Claude Schryer
The conscient podcast / balado conscient is a series of conversations about art, conscience and the ecological crisis. This podcast is bilingual (in either English or French). The language of the guest determines the language of the podcast. Episode notes are translated but not individual interviews.
I started the conscient project in 2020 as a personal learning journey and knowledge sharing exercise. It has been rewarding, and sometimes surprising.
The term “conscient” is defined as “being aware of one’s surroundings, thoughts and motivations”. My touchstone for the podcast is episode 1, e01 terrified, based on an essay I wrote in May 2019, where I share my anxiety about the climate crisis and my belief that arts and culture can play a critical role in raising public awareness about environmental issues. The conscient podcast / balado conscient follows up on my http://simplesoundscapes.ca (2016-2019) project: 175, 3-minute audio and video field recordings that explore mindful listening.
season 1 (may – october 2020) : environmental awareness and action Season 1 (May to October 2020) explored how the arts contribute to environmental awareness and action. I produced 3 episodes in French and 15 in English. The episodes cover a wide range of content, including activism, impact measurement, gaming, arts funding, cross-sectoral collaborations, social justice, artistic practices, etc. Episodes 8 to 17 were recorded while I was at the Creative Climate Leadership USA course in Arizona in March 2020 (led by Julie”s Bicycle). Episode 18 is a compilation of highlights from these conversations.
season 2 (march – august 2021 ) : reality and ecological grief Season 2 (March 2021 ) explores the concept of reality and is about accepting reality, working through ecological grief and charting a path forward. The first episode of season 2 (e19 reality) mixes quotations from 28 authors with field recordings from simplesoundscapes and from my 1998 soundscape composition, Au dernier vivant les biens. One of my findings from this episode is that “I now see, and more importantly, I now feel in my bones, “the state of things as they actually exist”, without social filters or unsustainable stories blocking the way”. e19 reality touches upon 7 topics: our perception of reality, the possibility of human extinction, ecological anxiety and ecological grief, hope, arts, storytelling and the wisdom of indigenous cultures. The rest of season 2 features interviews with thought leaders about their responses and reactions to e19 reality.
season 3 (october 2021 – february 2022 ) : radical listening Season 3 was about radical listening : listening deeply without passing judgment, knowing the truth and filtering out the noise and opening attention to reality and responding to what needs to be done. The format is similar the first podcast format I did in 2016 with the simplesoundscapes project, which was to ‘speak my mind’ and ‘think out loud’. I start this season with a ‘soundscape composition’, e63 a case study (part 1) and e64 a case study (part 2), a bilingual speculative fiction radio play, set in an undergraduate university history seminar course called ‘History of 2021 in Canada’. It concluded with a soundscape composition ‘Winter Diary Revisited’.
season 4 (1 january – 31 december 2023) : sounding modernity
About
I’ve been retired from the Canada Council for the Arts since September 15, 2020 where I served as a senior strategic advisor in arts granting (2016-2020) and manager of the Inter-Arts Office (1999-2015). My focus in (quasi) retirement is environmental issues within my area of expertise in arts and culture, in particular in acoustic ecology. I”m open to become involved in projects that align with my values and that move forward environmental concerns. Feel free to email me for a conversation :
Ecoart in Action was published in 2022 and has now been featured in the e-flux Art&Education database.
The book captures the scope of issues that art and ecology intersects with – the first contribution is on the need for media literacy in relation to environment and politics, and the last is concerned with how to work with grief and climate anxiety.
It has a section of ‘exercises’ – activities designed to be adapted; a section of Case Studies with examples of works that artists have created in places with communities (human and more-than-human) and scientists; and a section of theory which addresses the key pedagogical challenges of bringing together art and ecology. The aim is to enable and empower artists to develop their own approaches by opening up ways a wide range of artists have been working.
The book is much more than a teaching resource – it has contributions from four generations of artists, from the earliest pioneers of art and ecology to emerging practices.
Contributors: Changwoo Ahn, Marcia Annenberg, Lillian Ball, Liza Behrendt, Vaughn Bell, Jackie Brookner, Jenny Brown, Brian Collier, Reiko Goto Collins, Tim Collins, Marlene Creates, Cynthia Cutting, Betsy Damon, Cameron Davis, Mo Dawley, Hans Dieleman, Samantha DiRosa, Anne Douglas, Jesse Etelson, Cathy Fitzgerald, Chris Fremantle, Amara Geffen, Arlene Goldbard, Beth Grossman, David Haley, Tom Hansell, Ruth Hardinger, Newton Harrison, Susan Hoenig, Nancy Holmes, Eileen Hutton, Basia Irland, Sacha Kagan, Denise Kenney, Don Krug, Eve Andrée Laramée, Loraine Leeson, Stacy Levy, JuPong Lin, Amy Lipton, Mary Mattingly, Christopher McNulty, Elizabeth Monoian/Robert Ferry (LAGI), Kerry Morrison, Beverly Naidus, Devora Neumark, Chrissie Orr, Carol Padberg, Wioletta Piascik, Deanna Pindell, Milena Popov, Aviva Rahmani, Ann Rosenthal, Hope Sandrow, Fern Shaffer, Bonnie Ora Sherk, Margaret Shiu, Ginny Stearns, Lorna Stevens, Joel Tauber, Chrissie Tiller, R. Eugene Turner, Jan van Boeckel, Ruth Wallen, Linda Weintraub, Robyn Woolston, Shai Zakai. To learn more about the contributors, all of whom are members of the international Ecoart Network, visit here.
Ecoart in Action reflects major activist and art-political movements, feminism and ecofeminism, conceptual art, performance art, and deep ecology. Interdisciplinarity and transdisciplinarity underpin many of the book’s contributions … offering ambitious, well-informed practices for art to address climate change.
VERONICA SEKULES, WRITER, CURATOR, AND DIRECTOR OF GROUNDWORK GALLERY IN THE ENVIRONMENT, CHARTERED INSTITUTE OF WATER AND ENVIRONMENT MANAGEMENT MAGAZINE
What a book! The examples show the role of art for building community and furthering important discussions about the way humans relate to the living world—and, crucially, the place for artists to highlight problematic issues, disrupt harmful ways of thinking, and stimulate positive change.
HARRIET FRASER, WRITER, POET, ARTIST, AND VISITING RESEARCH FELLOW AT UNIVERSITY OF CUMBRIA
A vitally important and inspirational survey of ecoart. A beautiful pedagogical tool. And a great resource for anyone interested in a more ecologically minded world.
JOEL TAUBER, ARTIST, FILMMAKER, AND ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR AT WAKE FOREST UNIVERSITY
We had four linked Panels at the College Art Association Conference in 2022, and a session at The Nature of Cities Conference. A full list of the panels and events featuring contributors to the book (with links to recordings where available) can be found here.
(Top image: [1] Ecoart in Action, 2022. Photo: Amara Geffen. [2] Robyn Woolston, Habitus (Detail), 2013. Steel, foamex, aluminium, and printed vinyl. Photo: Robyn Woolston. [3] Fern Shaffer, Cornfield Outside Mineral Point, Wisconsin, 1997. Performance costume made from canvas and raffia. Photo: Othello Anderson. [4] David Haley, Making Our Futures: MA Students from Art, Landscape Architecture and Architecture. Students Walking Research to Question their Urban Environment, 2016. Photo: David Haley. [5] Venn Diagram Representing the Three Interconnecting Fields of Ecoart Practice, 2018. Courtesy of the editors. Photo: Amara Geffen.)
Note : Une version en français de cet article est disponible sur : Français
(bell, breath and occasional balloon sounds)
Me : Have you ever had the feeling that you were being observed?
Observer : I’m observing you.
Me: Who are you and what are you observing?
Observer: Ah, well, I’m a part of you and I’m observing the traps that you fall into.
Me: Traps?
Observer : Do you remember the Facing Human Wrongs course you took during the summer of 2022
Me: Ya.
Observer: The one about navigating paradoxes and complexities of social and global change and all those trappings along the way?
Me: Ya, I remember. Easier said than done, though.
Observer: Yup
Me: So. What are you observing?
Observer : Well, what can I say? I notice that you’ve fallen into a trap called ‘exit fixation’ which is where people feel a strong urge to walk out on an existing commitment. For example, when someone realises that the path they are on is full of paradoxes, contradictions, and complicities. Often their first response is to find an immediate exit in hopes of a more fulfilling and/or more innocent alternative or maybe even an ideal community with whom to continue this work.
Me: Like an escape?
Observer: Ya, something like that
Me: BTW where are those balloon sounds coming from?
Observer : Oh, that’s from your imagination
Me: Hum. It sounds like …
Observer: (laughter) It could be anything…
Me: OK. Anyway, what else do you see?
Observer: Well. I also see a trap called proselytizing which happens when people try to teach and convince others that a particular issue of interest should be the most important thing for everyone.
Me: Wait a second, I do that all the time as a climate activist and with my art and ecology podcast and…
Observer :(interrupting) of course you do and well you should – no worries – but, the danger is that your work could be perceived as an effort to assert ‘moral high ground’ and while this trap may be driven by a genuine passion for an issue, and you certainly are passionate about your work, it has the potential to impose onto others in a way that does not respect their own un/learning journey, and often actually has the opposite effect, pushing people away rather than inviting them in.
Me: Ok. Ya, I see. Let me think about that.
Observer: Sure and when this trap occurs, it can be useful to ask, you know, why do I need to teach or convince or inspire others about my learning experience? Where is this perceived need stemming from? And if you really feel you need to bring something to the attention of others, maybe you can ask yourself: What is the most pedagogically responsible and effective thing to do so that your message can land?
Me: Ok. What else?
Observer: I also see some virtue signalling and self-righteousness trappings, which is when you assert yourself as having the best, most righteous, most critical, most insightful, most creative, most valid or, the most marginalised perspective.
Observer: This approach tends to be focused on wanting to be seen in a certain way by others or by oneself, and may be motivated by a desire to minimize or deny one’s complicity in harm.
Me: Maybe subconsciously, but it’s a catch 22, isn’it ?
Observer: (interrupting) More like a labyrinth or a dilemma that you need to sit with… You remember when Donna Haraway says that we need to ‘stay with the trouble’. Something like that. (silence) ok. one last trap?
Me: Sure
Observer: This is a tough one for you.
Me: Hum…
Observer: Hey I need you to be strong here buddy, OK?
Me: Ya ya ya I’m listening.
Observer: It’s called spiritual bypassing and it happens when spiritual ideas or practices are used to sidestep, avoid, or escape sitting with analyses of historical and systemic violence and the difficulties of one’s complicity in historic and systemic harm. Do you know what I mean?
Me: Yes, I think I do but I don’t think I do this.
Observer: (interrupting) maybe not consciously but spiritual bypassing often manifests itself alongside with cultural appropriation which is something you think about every time you record a soundscape with that microphone of yours, right?
Me: I see what you mean. You’re quite a good observer.
Observer: Thank you, but right back at you. Think of me as a guardian angel.
Me: Or the devil…
Observer: Whatever (laughter) Now one of the dangers with spiritual bypassing is to project interpretations of ‘oneness’ that erase the realities of historical and systemic inequalities, and interpretations of ‘Enlightenment’ that tend to reinforce exceptionalism and you tend to do that…
Me: Yes, sure, I do, but it’s all part of being an artist..
Observer: (interrupting) True but that does not necessarily make it right, does it? Something to think about…
Me: (interrupting) That’s a lot to think about, to learn and unlearn.
Observer: what are the traps in your life?
*
This episode is longer than the usual 5 minutes (7 minutes) because that’s how long it took to tell this story.
This episode comes from learnings I received from taking the Facing Human Wrongs course during the summer of 2022 with support from Azul Carolina Duque.
The sound of balloon came to me while I was deflating a balloon while creating sound for a theatre production called Why Worry About their Future, produced by my colleague Sanita Fejzić, as part of the undercurrents festival here in Ottawa, when I realised that the sound of air being released from a balloon was the right sound to accompany this 2 person play.
I am grateful and accountable to the earth and the human labour that provided me with the privilege of producing this episode. (including all the toxic materials and extractive processes behind the computers, recorders, transportation and infrastructure that make this podcast possible).
The post e111 traps – what are the traps in your life? appeared first on conscient. conscient is a bilingual blog and podcast (French or English) by audio artist Claude Schryer that explores how arts and culture contribute to environmental awareness and action.
———-
About the Concient Podcast from Claude Schryer
The conscient podcast / balado conscient is a series of conversations about art, conscience and the ecological crisis. This podcast is bilingual (in either English or French). The language of the guest determines the language of the podcast. Episode notes are translated but not individual interviews.
I started the conscient project in 2020 as a personal learning journey and knowledge sharing exercise. It has been rewarding, and sometimes surprising.
The term “conscient” is defined as “being aware of one’s surroundings, thoughts and motivations”. My touchstone for the podcast is episode 1, e01 terrified, based on an essay I wrote in May 2019, where I share my anxiety about the climate crisis and my belief that arts and culture can play a critical role in raising public awareness about environmental issues. The conscient podcast / balado conscient follows up on my http://simplesoundscapes.ca (2016-2019) project: 175, 3-minute audio and video field recordings that explore mindful listening.
season 1 (may – october 2020) : environmental awareness and action Season 1 (May to October 2020) explored how the arts contribute to environmental awareness and action. I produced 3 episodes in French and 15 in English. The episodes cover a wide range of content, including activism, impact measurement, gaming, arts funding, cross-sectoral collaborations, social justice, artistic practices, etc. Episodes 8 to 17 were recorded while I was at the Creative Climate Leadership USA course in Arizona in March 2020 (led by Julie”s Bicycle). Episode 18 is a compilation of highlights from these conversations.
season 2 (march – august 2021 ) : reality and ecological grief Season 2 (March 2021 ) explores the concept of reality and is about accepting reality, working through ecological grief and charting a path forward. The first episode of season 2 (e19 reality) mixes quotations from 28 authors with field recordings from simplesoundscapes and from my 1998 soundscape composition, Au dernier vivant les biens. One of my findings from this episode is that “I now see, and more importantly, I now feel in my bones, “the state of things as they actually exist”, without social filters or unsustainable stories blocking the way”. e19 reality touches upon 7 topics: our perception of reality, the possibility of human extinction, ecological anxiety and ecological grief, hope, arts, storytelling and the wisdom of indigenous cultures. The rest of season 2 features interviews with thought leaders about their responses and reactions to e19 reality.
season 3 (october 2021 – february 2022 ) : radical listening Season 3 was about radical listening : listening deeply without passing judgment, knowing the truth and filtering out the noise and opening attention to reality and responding to what needs to be done. The format is similar the first podcast format I did in 2016 with the simplesoundscapes project, which was to ‘speak my mind’ and ‘think out loud’. I start this season with a ‘soundscape composition’, e63 a case study (part 1) and e64 a case study (part 2), a bilingual speculative fiction radio play, set in an undergraduate university history seminar course called ‘History of 2021 in Canada’. It concluded with a soundscape composition ‘Winter Diary Revisited’.
season 4 (1 january – 31 december 2023) : sounding modernity
About
I’ve been retired from the Canada Council for the Arts since September 15, 2020 where I served as a senior strategic advisor in arts granting (2016-2020) and manager of the Inter-Arts Office (1999-2015). My focus in (quasi) retirement is environmental issues within my area of expertise in arts and culture, in particular in acoustic ecology. I”m open to become involved in projects that align with my values and that move forward environmental concerns. Feel free to email me for a conversation :
Note : Une version en français de cet article est disponible sur : Français
(sound of bath draining, at first with a strong oscillating rhythm followed by water flowing and silence)
It goes down the drain (again) and into the sewer system to be processed and dumped into the Ottawa river, then it evaporates into the sky and it rains back into our lakes and rivers, bringing with it with many pollutants, and then is pumped into our homes, in our bodies and heated until… (repeated and improvised)
Where does your bathwater go?
*
The rhythm comes from this sound of my bathtub draining, which occurs from the pressure on the tub that creates an oscillation.
I am grateful and accountable to the earth and the human labour that provided me with the privilege of producing this episode (including all the toxic materials and extractive processes behind the computers, recorders, transportation and infrastructure that make this podcast possible).
My gesture of reciprocity for this episode is a donation to the Ottawa Riverkeeper.
The post e110 drain – where do your bathwater go? appeared first on conscient. conscient is a bilingual blog and podcast (French or English) by audio artist Claude Schryer that explores how arts and culture contribute to environmental awareness and action.
———-
About the Concient Podcast from Claude Schryer
The conscient podcast / balado conscient is a series of conversations about art, conscience and the ecological crisis. This podcast is bilingual (in either English or French). The language of the guest determines the language of the podcast. Episode notes are translated but not individual interviews.
I started the conscient project in 2020 as a personal learning journey and knowledge sharing exercise. It has been rewarding, and sometimes surprising.
The term “conscient” is defined as “being aware of one’s surroundings, thoughts and motivations”. My touchstone for the podcast is episode 1, e01 terrified, based on an essay I wrote in May 2019, where I share my anxiety about the climate crisis and my belief that arts and culture can play a critical role in raising public awareness about environmental issues. The conscient podcast / balado conscient follows up on my http://simplesoundscapes.ca (2016-2019) project: 175, 3-minute audio and video field recordings that explore mindful listening.
season 1 (may – october 2020) : environmental awareness and action Season 1 (May to October 2020) explored how the arts contribute to environmental awareness and action. I produced 3 episodes in French and 15 in English. The episodes cover a wide range of content, including activism, impact measurement, gaming, arts funding, cross-sectoral collaborations, social justice, artistic practices, etc. Episodes 8 to 17 were recorded while I was at the Creative Climate Leadership USA course in Arizona in March 2020 (led by Julie”s Bicycle). Episode 18 is a compilation of highlights from these conversations.
season 2 (march – august 2021 ) : reality and ecological grief Season 2 (March 2021 ) explores the concept of reality and is about accepting reality, working through ecological grief and charting a path forward. The first episode of season 2 (e19 reality) mixes quotations from 28 authors with field recordings from simplesoundscapes and from my 1998 soundscape composition, Au dernier vivant les biens. One of my findings from this episode is that “I now see, and more importantly, I now feel in my bones, “the state of things as they actually exist”, without social filters or unsustainable stories blocking the way”. e19 reality touches upon 7 topics: our perception of reality, the possibility of human extinction, ecological anxiety and ecological grief, hope, arts, storytelling and the wisdom of indigenous cultures. The rest of season 2 features interviews with thought leaders about their responses and reactions to e19 reality.
season 3 (october 2021 – february 2022 ) : radical listening Season 3 was about radical listening : listening deeply without passing judgment, knowing the truth and filtering out the noise and opening attention to reality and responding to what needs to be done. The format is similar the first podcast format I did in 2016 with the simplesoundscapes project, which was to ‘speak my mind’ and ‘think out loud’. I start this season with a ‘soundscape composition’, e63 a case study (part 1) and e64 a case study (part 2), a bilingual speculative fiction radio play, set in an undergraduate university history seminar course called ‘History of 2021 in Canada’. It concluded with a soundscape composition ‘Winter Diary Revisited’.
season 4 (1 january – 31 december 2023) : sounding modernity
About
I’ve been retired from the Canada Council for the Arts since September 15, 2020 where I served as a senior strategic advisor in arts granting (2016-2020) and manager of the Inter-Arts Office (1999-2015). My focus in (quasi) retirement is environmental issues within my area of expertise in arts and culture, in particular in acoustic ecology. I”m open to become involved in projects that align with my values and that move forward environmental concerns. Feel free to email me for a conversation :
Multidisciplinary residence/commission working alongside Crichton Carbon Centre researchers.
The Crichton Carbon Centre (CCC) is seeking to commission an artist to create new work in relation to the environment of the Upper Blackwater of Dee catchment as part of our multi-disciplinary water quality research initiative, Water Cycle, part of our Peatland Connections project.
Water Cycle has three elements:
Physical Science to collect baseline water quality data at 13 sites along the Upper Blackwater of Dee catchment: pH levels, peat particulate content, and water temperature.
Citizen Science to actively involve people in the process of data collection and conversations arising from the project.
Contemporary Art to contextualise the catchment and landscape dynamics.
We welcome applications across all forms of contemporary practice including inter and transdisciplinary approaches.
Contemporary artists, like contemporary scientists, conduct research to reveal new insights into the world around us. Accordingly, art holds potential to contribute to new forms of knowledge production and new ways of seeing and understanding environmental issues and complexities. At CCC, we recognise that art approaches can be an innovative, potentially unconventional, means of data collection; and that through combining art and science approaches our capacity to connect to a landscape and begin to understand it is greatly deepened.
We are seeking an experienced freelancer with project management and arts engagement experience.
Chrysalis Arts Development (CAD), is seeking an experienced freelancer with project management and arts engagement experience to contribute to our current programme of creative development work. This is an exciting opportunity to work as part of a highly skilled and collaborative team on an innovative programme of place-based and environmental arts-led activity with a particular role in helping us to improve the reach and impact of our audience engagement.
A priority for this opportunity is contributing to the creative consultation programme for Marton Wood, a new ten-year Slow Art initiative in North Yorkshire. The introductory programme for this project has commenced and currently includes workshops and taster activities led by freelance artists, seasonal workshops with local schools, community consultation events and a programme of artist engagement activity.
The project manager will be responsible for organising and facilitating activities for schools, youth and community groups which are contributing to the project’s development, including attendance at regular workshops and other engagement sessions. The role will also involve research to extend the reach of the Marton Wood project, working closely with the rest of the CAD team to identify additional audiences and project partners, including underserved and isolated groups and contributing to the research and writing of an audience development plan.
Fee and time
The work is offered on a freelance basis for 1.5 days per week, based on a daily rate of £170 per day, including VAT if applicable. A day is based on 7 hours. Working hours may be flexible, although a regular working pattern is required. This contract is offered for an initial period of six months commencing in April 2023, due for completion by the end of October 2023, with the option of renewal subject to successful funding being secured.
Responsibilities
Facilitation and co-ordination of engagement programmes of activity in conjunction with CAD’s core team. This will include research and consultation, particularly with schools and community groups, organisation of venues, liaison with artists and other workshop leaders, attendance at participatory sessions and gathering of participants feedback and other relevant information.
Contributing to the planning and implementation of CAD’s current project work which focuses on community engagement, art and environmental issues and place.
Contributing to the development of online community engagement content.
Data collection, evaluation, and presentation of material and project information.
Attendance at weekly team meetings – a combination of online and in-person.
Contribution to the research and writing of an audience development plan to underpin this work.
Experience
Essential
Knowledge/experience of arts and community engagement practice and project management
Strong communication and facilitation skills and confidence in engaging with young people, older people and underserved groups
Excellent organisational and planning abilities
Experience in audience research, data collection, analysis and evaluation
Flexibility, willingness to travel and work evenings and weekends as required
Ability to work independently and as part of a team with a strong collaborative ethos
Desirable
Knowledge of visual arts practice
Enthusiasm for and understanding of CAD’s artistic and environmental goals and values
Ability to work independently and as part of a team with a strong collaborative ethos
As this post goes live, so too is SPRINGBOARD: Assembly for creative climate action going live online for the first of four days of collaboration, networking and thinking with more than 200 cross-sector delegates. It’s an apt moment to remind ourselves, and you, what SPRINGBOARD is and why we’re doing it.
SPRINGBOARD is Creative Carbon Scotland’s response to the increasing urgency of the climate emergency.
Creative Carbon Scotland has been working on climate change with Scotland’s arts organisations and others for the past 11 years, and together we have done good work and made great progress. But the challenge has become more urgent, with tougher carbon reduction targets and the increasingly devastating impacts of climate change in Scotland and around the world, which we are seeing almost daily now. We need to step up our actions, our work.
We’re clear that culture – the arts, screen, creative industries, museums and heritage and libraries – needs to massively decarbonise to achieve zero carbon, and to be resilient in the face of a changed and changing climate. And we’re also clear that the rest of society needs to do the same, and that culture has a huge role to play in what will be a transformation of society. Art and culture help society think through difficult questions; cultural organisations enable communities to come together to do that thinking. Culture has knowledge, skills, ways of working and contacts to offer to those working on climate change; those climate change people have knowledge, technologies, finance and skills that culture needs. So, cultural- and climate-focused organisations and practitioners need to work together, and they need to work together at multiple levels. Deep decarbonisation and resilience can’t be achieved by anyone on their own.
Our aim with SPRINGBOARD is to strengthen the ambition of the cultural sector in this important work, to understand the transformational change that cultural organisations and individuals will need to undertake and enable them to start the process. We want the cultural and other sectors to recognise the essential role culture has to play in this transformational change and importantly, to facilitate their collaboration to address systemic blockages to deep decarbonisation. And we, Creative Carbon Scotland, want to know what we can and need to do to help.
But what is ‘transformational change’?
Here’s a useful definition from the health sector:
‘Transformational change is the emergence of an entirely new state, prompted by a shift in what is considered possible or necessary, which results in a profoundly different structure, culture or level of performance.’
Transformational change is about more than scaling up; it is complex and it will challenge us all. We believe it involves (and our thanks to Ruth Wolstenholme, Managing Director of the resilience charity Sniffer, for her ideas about this):
Taking a whole system approach, by which we mean thinking about interventions to bring about change at multiple scales and across sectoral divides rather than one-off interventions. An example of this from the health sector, because there isn’t a climate sector one yet, might be the UK-wide smoking ban. That change affected individuals, organisations such as pubs and cafes, which had to change their policies and behaviours, and had an impact on social structures including the health service, with many fewer heart attacks and strokes. We could even say it influenced the whole of society: how we see smoking, how we see pubs, how we see the impacts of our own choices on people around us.
Going beyond a business-as-usual model and looking afresh at our aims and objectives and thinking about how we can achieve these in different ways, not simply doing what we currently do more efficiently.
Considering ethical questions, including challenging the status quo of the current system. For example, looking at power imbalances in terms of who makes the decisions, who is dominant. How much of a say do young people and future generations, who will have to deal with the impacts of climate change, have?
Taking a social justice approach. This means addressing the underlying socio-ecological root causes of the actions and activities that are causing climate change and the vulnerability to it. As well as a climate crisis and a biodiversity crisis – among others! – we are also in the midst of an inequality crisis, and this is being further exacerbated by climate change. Pakistan is responsible for almost none of the global carbon emissions but the monsoon flooding last year has pushed around 9m people into poverty. At home those most affected by climate change are generally the poorer and more disadvantaged, who have the lowest emissions.
Acknowledging that transformation is complex and requires greater investment and longer time frames than one-off measures. These sorts of changes won’t happen quickly, which underlines the urgency of getting started and planning well.
So transformational change isn’t just about doing more or doing more efficiently – it’s about being differently.
And that’s a complex task, but that’s why we believe the SPRINGBOARD assembly is an important thing to do: Scotland – the whole world! – needs people and organisations at all levels and from all fields to work together now to meet the challenge of climate change. Creative Carbon Scotland is proud to be leading this charge and we look forward to you joining us on the journey.
Follow #ClimateNeedsCulture on Twitter throughout SPRINGBOARD.
Apart from the assembly taking place from 27 February to 2 March, the SPRINGBOARD project has another strand:
A series of in-person local assemblies for creative climate action around Scotland – informal networks of cultural- and climate-focused organisations of individuals, meeting in-person to share knowledge, learn together and collaborate. Creative Carbon Scotland is supporting local partners to establish these assemblies.
Like a Ouija board or a dowsing wand, art is the capacity to pay attention to the world in unusual ways, a capacity to attend to the world in terms of the aesthetic. To make sense of life through lines, shapes, patterns, forms, colours, textures, rhythms, harmonies, imagery, and more. As Canadian poet Don McKay puts it, “Poetry returns from the business of naming with listening folded inside of it.” If we only speak with our arts, and do not listen with them first, revelation is replaced by dictation, and we can expect our audiences to engage with us as pamphlets or punditry. While not without purpose (no doubt didactic art can inform), information engages at the level of knowledge, whereas transformation requires engagement at the level of being, giving art a value proposition few can rival in this age of unprecedented need…
(3 minute ‘A Soundwalk in the Rain of St. John’s, NFLD’ 1992 by Claude Schryer)
Thank you David. Thank you David for your series of blogs on the relationship between art and transformation. Now David is from Newfoundland, which reminded me of a piece I recorded on July 2nd, 1992, at 2.20pm called A Soundwalk in the Rain of St. John’s, NFLD where I was a radio artist in residence at Sound Symposium 6.
Of course, an interesting debate is whether the sounds of the environment are music or whether they’re noise. And I guess that depends principally on your interest in hearing them as music or not. What we hear now is a combination of traffic sounds and water falling on concrete and grass and falling through trees. And once in a while a drop falls directly on the microphone. It’s quite loud and quite noisy, but I find it quite beautiful to listen to. And as I listen more and more, I hear little differences in how the rain sounds as it falls and different kinds of materials, how the traffic changes, how this space, Memorial University, is in fact an acoustic space with a lot of activity, a lot of different kinds of sound activity. And so we’ll try to hear it. The rain, of course, is a problem because it really is dominant and it’s a powerful natural phenomenon that we basically can’t avoid. So we’re probably better off listening to it and enjoying it. Of course, that’s from my perspective as a person from another part of the country, Montreal, where it probably rains less than here in St. John’s but I’m particularly interested in discovering this part of the world, this province, and seeing how it sounds. So rain is a part of your life here and it’s quite fascinating. It’s quiet though, and, and it’s a little gray here….
How can we listen through art?
*
Thanks to David Maggs and the Metcalf Foundation for your important work. David and I were co-founders of the Sectoral Climate Arts Leadership for the Emergency (SCALE) and have had many fruitful exchanges over the years. I admire his courage and encourage you to subscribe to his Dispatches (at the bottom of the page)
I am grateful and accountable to the earth and the human labour that provided me with the privilege of producing this episode. (including all the toxic materials and extractive processes behind the computers, recorders, transportation and infrastructure that make this podcast possible).
The post e109 being – how can we listen through art? appeared first on conscient. conscient is a bilingual blog and podcast (French or English) by audio artist Claude Schryer that explores how arts and culture contribute to environmental awareness and action.
———-
About the Concient Podcast from Claude Schryer
The conscient podcast / balado conscient is a series of conversations about art, conscience and the ecological crisis. This podcast is bilingual (in either English or French). The language of the guest determines the language of the podcast. Episode notes are translated but not individual interviews.
I started the conscient project in 2020 as a personal learning journey and knowledge sharing exercise. It has been rewarding, and sometimes surprising.
The term “conscient” is defined as “being aware of one’s surroundings, thoughts and motivations”. My touchstone for the podcast is episode 1, e01 terrified, based on an essay I wrote in May 2019, where I share my anxiety about the climate crisis and my belief that arts and culture can play a critical role in raising public awareness about environmental issues. The conscient podcast / balado conscient follows up on my http://simplesoundscapes.ca (2016-2019) project: 175, 3-minute audio and video field recordings that explore mindful listening.
season 1 (may – october 2020) : environmental awareness and action Season 1 (May to October 2020) explored how the arts contribute to environmental awareness and action. I produced 3 episodes in French and 15 in English. The episodes cover a wide range of content, including activism, impact measurement, gaming, arts funding, cross-sectoral collaborations, social justice, artistic practices, etc. Episodes 8 to 17 were recorded while I was at the Creative Climate Leadership USA course in Arizona in March 2020 (led by Julie”s Bicycle). Episode 18 is a compilation of highlights from these conversations.
season 2 (march – august 2021 ) : reality and ecological grief Season 2 (March 2021 ) explores the concept of reality and is about accepting reality, working through ecological grief and charting a path forward. The first episode of season 2 (e19 reality) mixes quotations from 28 authors with field recordings from simplesoundscapes and from my 1998 soundscape composition, Au dernier vivant les biens. One of my findings from this episode is that “I now see, and more importantly, I now feel in my bones, “the state of things as they actually exist”, without social filters or unsustainable stories blocking the way”. e19 reality touches upon 7 topics: our perception of reality, the possibility of human extinction, ecological anxiety and ecological grief, hope, arts, storytelling and the wisdom of indigenous cultures. The rest of season 2 features interviews with thought leaders about their responses and reactions to e19 reality.
season 3 (october 2021 – february 2022 ) : radical listening Season 3 was about radical listening : listening deeply without passing judgment, knowing the truth and filtering out the noise and opening attention to reality and responding to what needs to be done. The format is similar the first podcast format I did in 2016 with the simplesoundscapes project, which was to ‘speak my mind’ and ‘think out loud’. I start this season with a ‘soundscape composition’, e63 a case study (part 1) and e64 a case study (part 2), a bilingual speculative fiction radio play, set in an undergraduate university history seminar course called ‘History of 2021 in Canada’. It concluded with a soundscape composition ‘Winter Diary Revisited’.
season 4 (1 january – 31 december 2023) : sounding modernity
About
I’ve been retired from the Canada Council for the Arts since September 15, 2020 where I served as a senior strategic advisor in arts granting (2016-2020) and manager of the Inter-Arts Office (1999-2015). My focus in (quasi) retirement is environmental issues within my area of expertise in arts and culture, in particular in acoustic ecology. I”m open to become involved in projects that align with my values and that move forward environmental concerns. Feel free to email me for a conversation :
Where do books go? Can you recycle, up-cycle or repurpose unwanted books?
The future can be in our hands In the beginning was the word. The invention of the Guttenberg press spread the word and was a catalyst for change and scientific progress.
The books we read hold their own social history between the pages. Books develop our intellect, inform and inspire, they hold special meaning and some are precious to us.
But what now for the book?
Not to be too sentimental but are books to become just an expected casualty of modern technology, to be pulped or become just another filler of our landfill sites? It is a terrifying statistic that thousands of unsold books are destroyed each year. Bookshelves throughout the country are groaning with books that are unread but too cherished to be discarded.
Where do books go?
Can you recycle, up-cycle or repurpose the books we no longer want to tell new green stories? We want this exhibition to be about the books that are in one form or another a continuing part of our lives and sustainability.
How does a book feel in your hands?
Does it have the power to take you to another place? Is it the words that excite you or are you inspired to create visual images, three dimensional works or performance? The future is in your hands.
Deadline
Newly made or existing artworks/words/video can be submitted for exhibition/performance by: 12.00noon Monday 8 May 2023.
Up to £150 is available to exhibited artists to go towards materials and expenses.
The exhibition takes place at The Town House Museum & Gallery Dunbar Main Street throughout June 2023. Installation in late May.
If you have any questions or if you can offer sustainable workshops around the theme, please get in touch with us: contact.northlightarts@gmail.com.
