One of the leading non-profit organisations uniting art and environmental action, Art of Change 21 will play a central role at this year’s COP28 climate conference with its programme Art at COP28, which will bring attention to urgent environmental issues, as well as advocating for the importance of art and artists in the fight against climate change.
HIGHLIGHTS
Highlights include a climate-oriented exhibition with internationally-renowned artist Julian Charrière and a panel discussion at the official COP28 French Pavilion. The programme is organised in partnership with Alserkal Initiatives and France Muséums and is supported by R3, Maison Ruinart, LAccolade and Epson. Following a year of unprecedented record-breaking temperatures, COP28 – the 28th UN Climate Change Conference, the most important annual intergovernmental meeting on climate change – taking place in Dubaï, UAE, from November 30th to December 12th 2023, is a pivotal milestone for global climate action. For its ART AT COP28 Programme, Art of Change 21 brings artists to the centre of COP and its surrounding local and international ecosystem with two major actions:
MELTING POINT
“Melting Point”: November 30, 2023 to January 6, 2024, an exhibition by Julian Charrière, in partnership with Alserkal Initiatives. Art of Change 21 pioneered a tripartite collaboration with the internationally renowned artist Julian Charrière and Alserkal Initiatives, a socially responsible arts and culture enterprise. The collaboration gave way to a climate-oriented exhibition located in Alserkal Avenue’s unique Project Space. The show brings to light rarely seen perspectives of our planet’s Polar regions, especially impacted by the repercussions of climate change. Showing two important pieces of his body of work, Towards No Earthly Pole (2019) and Pure Waste (2021), Julian Charrière will transform Alserkal Avenue’s Project Space into an immersive experience depicting a glacial realm to provide a first-hand account of the consequences of climate change on these distant but significant landscapes. Polar regions are key in stabilising climate and sea level on Earth but are the first to feel the negative impact. The accelerated melting of the ice sheets is approaching its tipping point, reaching an alarming lowest annual level on record in September 2023 in the Antarctic. The show will provide an educational service with a docent and a QR code to access information on the poles and the climate, as well as climate actions for visitors. In order to be aligned with the message being conveyed by the exhibition and its production process, all three partners are working together to reduce its environmental impact and will conduct a carbon assessment.
THE POWER OF ART AND CLIMATE CRISIS
“The Power of Art to Respond to the Climate Crisis”: Wednesday, December 6; panel discussion at the French Pavilion, in collaboration with France Muséums. Organised by Art of Change 21 in collaboration with France Muséums, “The Power of Art to Respond to the Climate Crisis” roundtable discussion at COP28 invites leading voices in the art and culture fields to discuss the importance of art as a driving force in the response to the climate crisis. As part of the official French Pavilion of the COP28 Blue Zone event programme, the panel discussion includes Alice Audouin (Art of Change 21 Founder-President), Etienne Bonnet-Candé (Deputy Director – Abu Dhabi, France Muséums), Talin Hazbar (Contemporary artist based in the UAE), Vilma Jurkute (Executive Director, Alserkal Initiatives) and Alison Tickell (Julie’s Bicycle Founder-CEO and member of the Steering Committee of Climate Heritage Network). The roundtable discussion will take place on the 6th December at the official French Pavilion (COP28 Blue Zone) at 1:30PM GST (10:30AM CET).
SUSTAINABILITY MUSEUM
Additional actions include “Sustainability in Museums”: Thursday, December 7; panel discussion co-organized by Louvre Abu Dhabi and France Muséums. Alice Audouin, Art of Change 21 Founder-President and art curator specialised in the environment will also be a panellist speaker at Louvre Abu Dhabi’s Sustainability in Museums event co organized by Louvre Abu Dhabi and France Muséums on December 7th. The panel discussion titled “How to Rewire the Arts and Culture Fields to Address Climate Change” will showcase specific case studies on exhibitions to address some central reflections such as: balancing environmental sustainability and public appeal in museums, nurturing artists’ social awareness without limiting creativity, assessing the response to climate change-themed exhibitions in the UAE and exploring the role of sustainability in cultural education and capacity-building. Her panel discussion also includes Maya Allison ( Executive Director of NYUAD Art Gallery) and Bruno Girveau (Director of Palais des Beaux-Arts of Lille).
HIGH-LEVEL MINISTERIAL DIALOGUE CULTURE
High-Level Ministerial Dialogue Culture: Friday, December 8, Presidency Roundtable. Art of Change 21 also contributes to the wider agenda on art, culture, climate and sustainability taking place in the UAE on the occasion of COP28. After playing a part in the Art Culture Heritage Day during the COP27 in 2022 in Sharm el-Sheikh (Egypt), Art of Change 21 is committed to keeping the momentum high for this year’s COP becoming a founding member of the “Global Call to Action to Put Cultural Heritage, Arts and Creative Sectors at the Heart of Climate Action”. This global call for Culture-Based Climate Action to the UNFCCC is led by Climate Heritage Network. A “High-Level Ministerial Dialogue Culture – Based Climate Action”, led by the UAE Government will take place during the Presidency Roundtable on December 8th.
A KEY ACTORS
About Art of Change 21, a key actor around art and environment at the COP climate since 2015. Art of Change 21, an international actor engaged in the intersection between art, climate and environment, has been a leading voice in the advocacy for the recognition of the crucial role artists play in addressing the climate crisis. The non-profit organisation engages in different modes of actions, including exhibi- tions, art prizes, workshops, and its online media “Impact Art News”. Art of Change 21 has played a key role collaborating with leading contemporary artists at each annual COP climate conference since COP21.
ECO-CONSCIOUS
Eco-conscious artists such as John Gerrard, Hassan Hajjaj, Wen Fang, Lucy Orta and Jérémy Gobé are among the many artists who have contributed to the organisation’s actions at COP. At COP26 in Glasgow, UK (2021), Art of Change 21 inaugurated John Gerrard’s monumental artwork “Flare (Oceania)”, in front of the University of Glasgow. At COP27 (Egypt), its flagship participatory creative project “Maskbook” was the main focus with an exhibition at the heart of the COP27. Founded in 2015 by Alice Audouin and headed with Stefano Vendramin, a leading voice in the French art and climate sphere, at the occasion of the historic COP21 in Paris, the organisation is supported by the French Ministry of Culture, ADEME (French Environmental Agency), Maison Ruinart, Maison Guerlain, Schneider Electric Foundation, Fondation Norsys.
ART AT COP28
Art at COP28 is supported by the French company R3, at the forefront of CSR, Decarbonisation, and Energy Performance solutions, assisting companies in accelerating their transition.“MeltingPoint” is also supported by Maison Ruinart, the first established champagne house, deeply committed to sustainability and art, Fondation LAccolade, an international program of artistic residencies and exhibitions at the intersection of art, environment, fragility of the living, and Epson, a market leader for projectors for the last 20 years, whose support with visual technology brings the installation to life. Download the “Melting Point” exhibition press release
INFO
COP28: November 30 to December 12, 2023
Dubaï; «Melting Point», Project Space, Dubaï
December 1, 2023 to January 6, 2024
30th November, 2PM GST: Press opening / Link to the invitation
Public opening by invitation Thursday, November 30: 6 p.m. GST
Art of Change 21
Programme Art at COP28
