Yearly Archives: 2014

Luxembourg: Environmental charter used as kickstarter

Cultura21, , , ,

This post comes to you from Cultura21

Inspirational: This is what a cultural institution’s environmental charter looks like:

kulturfabrik-env-charter

Reposted from Culture|Futures.

In recent years, the cultural institution and concert-venue Kulturfabrik in Luxembourg has devoted itself to reflecting on sustainable development and a continuous improvement of the institution’s practices for the purpose of minimising its impact on the environment.

A place to find inspiration for your own organisation’s first Environmental Charter, maybe?

» Download Kulturfabrik’s Environmental Charter

———-

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

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

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

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

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

Go to Cultura21

Powered by WPeMatico

Call for Applications: CCANW Soil Culture Artist Residency

ecoartscotland, , , , ,

This post comes to you from EcoArtScotland

Originally posted on soilarts:

soil pigments p ward 2009
DEADLINE 18 March 2014… The Centre for Contemporary Art and the Natural World (CCANW) is delighted to invite applications for the first of its Soil Culture artist residencies. In the lead up to and coinciding with the United Nations International Year of Soils 2015 the short residencies are aimed at encouraging an exploration of the importance of soil.
Taking place across the South West of the UK the residencies will not only provide dedicated time for experimentation, research and the development of new work but also unparalleled access to facilities, expertise and working contexts.
The residencies and the touring of the resulting works are a key part of CCANW’s Soil Culture Programme, which includes a forum at Falmouth University (July 2014) and a major touring exhibition of works by established artists. CCANW will also be helping to support residencies by Paul Chaney at Kestle Barton in Helston and…

View original 453 more words

ecoartscotland is a resource focused on art and ecology for artists, curators, critics, commissioners as well as scientists and policy makers. It includes ecoartscotland papers, a mix of discussions of works by artists and critical theoretical texts, and serves as a curatorial platform.
It has been established by Chris Fremantle, producer and research associate with On The Edge Research, Gray’s School of Art, The Robert Gordon University. Fremantle is a member of a number of international networks of artists, curators and others focused on art and ecology.
Go to EcoArtScotland

Powered by WPeMatico

BGA 5 Year Report

Broadway Green Alliance,

This post comes to you from the Broadway Green Alliance

In June 2008, over 250 theatre professionals from every part of the community gathered for a Town Hall at the Gershwin Theatre to discuss their nascent efforts to green Broadway. At that time, there was no place to go to find out how to make better environmental decisions on what paints to use for sets, which lighting instruments were more energy-efficient, or how a production could use rechargeable batteries or focus on recycling when closing. Working with the support of Dr. Allen Hershkowitz and the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), participants from that Town Hall formed a group called Broadway Goes Green, which was launched officially in November 2008 by leaders in the theatre community and NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg. Today, as we celebrate our milestone fifth anniversary, we are known as the Broadway Green Alliance and are a thriving organization disseminating information on greening theatre from front-of-house to backstage, from Broadway to all across the country and around the world. 

The Broadway Green Alliance educates, motivates, and inspires the entire theatre community and its patrons to  implement environmentally friendlier practices.

Click here to download BGA’s 5 Year Report.

 

———-

The Broadway Green Alliance was founded in 2008 in collaboration with the Natural Resources Defense Council. The Broadway Green Alliance (BGA) is an ad hoc committee of The Broadway League and a fiscal program of Broadway Cares/Equity Fights Aids. Along with Julie’s Bicycle in the UK, the BGA is a founding member of the International Green Theatre Alliance. The BGA has reached tens of thousands of fans through Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and other media.

At the BGA, we recognize that it is impossible to be 100% “green” while continuing activity and – as there is no litmus test for green activity – we ask instead that our members commit to being greener and doing better each day. As climate change does not result from one large negative action, but rather from the cumulative effect of billions of small actions, progress comes from millions of us doing a bit better each day. To become a member of the Broadway Green Alliance we ask only that you commit to becoming greener, that you name a point person to be our liaison, and that you will tell us about your green-er journey.

The BGA is co-chaired by Susan Sampliner, Company Manager of the Broadway company of WICKED, and Charlie Deull, Executive Vice President at Clark Transfer. Rebekah Sale is the BGA’s full-time Coordinator.

Go to the Broadway Green Alliance

Powered by WPeMatico

Australia: Artist collective for ‘planetary healing’ opens exhibition

Culture Futures, , , , , ,

This post comes to you from Culture|Futures

On 6 February, an art exhibition entitled ‘Oh My Gaia’ was opened as part of the St Kilda Festival in Melbourne, Australia. The aim of the exhibition is to deliver “a non-linear approach to community education, sustainability and healing through the transformative power of art.”

oh-my-gaia_artpiece

The art exhibition is produced by the an artist collective called The Planetary Healing Artists Association of Australia Inc. It is a forum for artists including visual artists, performers, writers, healers, and other creatives in the community who share ideas for a sustainable future in a creative way. The main purpose, they write on their home page, is to support an environmentally sustainable planet. The overall concept of the ‘Oh My Gaia’ art exhibition is to create “community cohesiveness for the benefit of connecting all people and life on the planet.”

At 2:30pm every first Sunday of the month, the forum holds open meetings in St Kilda West, Melbourne.

» For exhibition and festival info, see: www.stkildafestival.com.au

» Home page: www.planetaryhealingartists.blogspot.com.au/

———-

Culture|Futures is an international collaboration of organizations and individuals who are concerned with shaping and delivering a proactive cultural agenda to support the necessary transition towards an Ecological Age by 2050.

The Cultural sector that we refer to is an interdisciplinary, inter-sectoral, inter-genre collaboration, which encompasses policy-making, intercultural dialogue/cultural relations, creative cities/cultural planning, creative industries and research and development. It is those decision-makers and practitioners who can reach people in a direct way, through diverse messages and mediums.

Affecting the thinking and behaviour of people and communities is about the dissemination of stories which will profoundly impact cultural values, beliefs and thereby actions. The stories can open people’s eyes to a way of thinking that has not been considered before, challenge a preconceived notion of the past, or a vision of the future that had not been envisioned as possible. As a sector which is viewed as imbued with creativity and cultural values, rather than purely financial motivations, the cultural sector’s stories maintain the trust of people and society.

Go toThis post comes to you from Culture|Futures

Powered by WPeMatico

USA: Art exhibition about climate change, coal and superfunds

Culture Futures, , , ,

This post comes to you from Culture|Futures

In the new exhibition ‘Altered State’, which runs at the Holter Museum in Helena, Montana, until 13 April 2014, the popular American painter Monte Dolack takes a look at controversial topics such as climate change, coal, superfund sites, and the effects of extractive companies moving into Montana’s wild spaces.

returnOfLakeMissoula_590

Monte Dolack is a well-known and popular artist in Montana, and with this new exhibition, he still tries to speak to a wider audience, he told Darby Minow Smith from Grist magazine, though he is touching on a much more controversial topic than anything else he has produced over the 40 years he has been working as a visual artist.

“Some artists might fill a room with coal. It might be really cool but a lot of people might miss the message. You have to be pretty well informed about art to understand that vocabulary,” he told Minow Smith. The following is an excerpt of Darby Minow Smith’s review of the exhibition in Montana:

“Unlike the broad whimsy found in some of Dolack’s past work, most of the pieces in Altered State are simple and subtle. An antelope watches a coal train zip along the plains. In ‘Oil and Water’, a family of geese swims through the reflection of a refinery.

In a less subtle move, Dolack incorporated the fruits of Montana’s extractive industries into the collection. He used copper as a canvas; the frames are rubbed with coal. One frame of bright, jagged coal pieces nearly overwhelms the painting inside: a meandering Smith River. ‘Marriage of Convenience’ is a sculpture of a man and a woman made out of coal — Dolack’s commentary on our dependance on the dirty fuel.”

Darby Minow Smith in Grist, 3 Feb 2014

MonteDolack_SuspensionOfBel

Dolack plans to continue to touch on coal and climate change in future works, but he wants to incorporate more animals and explore an international angle.

“This work was about my own history, family, and culture,” he said. “But [regional and global issues] touch each other.” The coal on those trains is heading from Montana to China, after all.

» Monte Dolack’s home page and online gallery: www.dolack.com

Grist – 3 February 2014:
The full Monte: Beloved Montana artist makes bold statement on climate and coal
By Darby Minow Smith

The photo on top of this article is a poster reproduced from an acrylic painting portraying downtown Missoula, Montana as if Glacial Lake Missoula had returned in the present day. It can be purchased at Monte Dolack Gallery: www.dolack.com

———-

Culture|Futures is an international collaboration of organizations and individuals who are concerned with shaping and delivering a proactive cultural agenda to support the necessary transition towards an Ecological Age by 2050.

The Cultural sector that we refer to is an interdisciplinary, inter-sectoral, inter-genre collaboration, which encompasses policy-making, intercultural dialogue/cultural relations, creative cities/cultural planning, creative industries and research and development. It is those decision-makers and practitioners who can reach people in a direct way, through diverse messages and mediums.

Affecting the thinking and behaviour of people and communities is about the dissemination of stories which will profoundly impact cultural values, beliefs and thereby actions. The stories can open people’s eyes to a way of thinking that has not been considered before, challenge a preconceived notion of the past, or a vision of the future that had not been envisioned as possible. As a sector which is viewed as imbued with creativity and cultural values, rather than purely financial motivations, the cultural sector’s stories maintain the trust of people and society.

Go toThis post comes to you from Culture|Futures

Powered by WPeMatico

Announcing the BGA Green Lighting Guide by James Bedell

Broadway Green Alliance,

This post comes to you from the Broadway Green Alliance

Announcing the BGA Green Lighting Guide

When it comes to theatrical lighting, the gear is changing at an incredible rate. It feels like just a few years ago it would be impossible to consider LEDs for anything more than special effects. Yet today, multiple manufacturers have created LED profile and wash fixtures that are capable of stunning stage washes, pin spotting, and even beautiful warm front light. The days of energy efficient fixtures not being able to do the job of stage lighting are drawing to a close.

When it comes to moving toward a sustainable future, it’s hard to imagine a community more supportive that theatrical professionals. Whether it’s the green captains of Broadway shows, or scenic designers putting in the extra effort to make sure their set is built from found materials, across our community out of both ethos and necessity, we are conserving resources every day.

One of the biggest lessons the BGA has learned from it’s partnership with the NRDC is the concept that there is no green, only greener than the day before. It’s in that spirit that the Broadway Green Alliance decided to launch the greener lighting guide. Which of course, begs the question:

What is the Greener Lighting Guide?

Essentially the guide is a database. The Broadway Green Alliance believes that the road to greener choices starts with better information. The truth is not everyone in a position to make spending decisions can walk the floor at LDI. When the grant money comes into a regional theater, or when the dean decides it’s time to spend money on the theater department, the Broadway Green Alliance believes it’s that point of purchase that can make a tremendous impact on what gear is used in these institutions for years to come.

A database in and of itself isn’t useful unless it’s organized in a way that makes sense. The Broadway Green Alliance’s goal with the design of the website was that it could work for both lighting people (lighting designers, master electricians and programmers) and non-lighting people, (artistic directors, company managers, technical directors) alike. So the instruments in the guide are organized by what type of light they produce.

When you click on one of the categories, you’ll find a typical or “standard” instrument, then a list of greener alternatives comes below. If that’s as far as you want to go, you can simply call your local dealer and ask to arrange a review of these instruments in your theater. If you want to know more, click on any listed instrument for detailed stats and links. All data is self-reported by the manufacturers, this is the fastest way to keep the database updated as manufacturers update their offerings. The Broadway Green Alliance couldn’t be more grateful to our launch partners, Chauvet, Robert Juliat, and GLP for helping us to populate the initial database. The Broadway Green Alliance will adding new data every week, and will be sure to announce updates on the BGA blog. In the meantime, the BGA hopes you’ll browse around and tell us what you think of the guide. The Broadway Green Alliance wants to make this guide as valuable as possible for the theater community.

———-

The Broadway Green Alliance was founded in 2008 in collaboration with the Natural Resources Defense Council. The Broadway Green Alliance (BGA) is an ad hoc committee of The Broadway League and a fiscal program of Broadway Cares/Equity Fights Aids. Along with Julie’s Bicycle in the UK, the BGA is a founding member of the International Green Theatre Alliance. The BGA has reached tens of thousands of fans through Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and other media.

At the BGA, we recognize that it is impossible to be 100% “green” while continuing activity and – as there is no litmus test for green activity – we ask instead that our members commit to being greener and doing better each day. As climate change does not result from one large negative action, but rather from the cumulative effect of billions of small actions, progress comes from millions of us doing a bit better each day. To become a member of the Broadway Green Alliance we ask only that you commit to becoming greener, that you name a point person to be our liaison, and that you will tell us about your green-er journey.

The BGA is co-chaired by Susan Sampliner, Company Manager of the Broadway company of WICKED, and Charlie Deull, Executive Vice President at Clark Transfer<. Rebekah Sale is the BGA’s full-time Coordinator.

Go to the Broadway Green Alliance

Powered by WPeMatico

The World We Made

Artists and Climate Change,

This post comes from Chantal Bilodeau’s Artists and Climate Change Blog

The World We Made

Sir Jonathon Porritt – legendary British environmentalist, campaigner, commentator, writer, broadcaster, former Green Party co-chair, sustainability advisor to corporations and individuals including the Prince of Wales, and co-founder of Forum for the Future – is currently promoting his latest book, The World We Made.

Officially classified as non-fiction by its publisher, The World We Made is a most unusual book — part speculative fiction, part road map to an exciting future — that is, according to its optimistic author, clearly within our reach if only humanity can find the courage and vision to “get a move on it without further delay.”

Set in the year 2050, The World We Made is narrated by a fictional British history teacher, Alex McKay, who recounts to his students the key historical events, technological breakthroughs and lifestyle revolutions that helped transform a world which was stuck in polarized environmental debate and climate change inertia in the early part of the 21st century into a healthier, more prosperous world that is green, fair, connected, collaborative and genuinely sustainable for all nine billion of its inhabitants by the year 2050.

According to Jonathon’s blog, “this is the biggest thing I’m working on at the moment.  We simply have to change the ‘mood music’ in terms of the way people feel about sustainability.”

The World We Made is packed with futuristic photographs, info-graphics and hand-drawn sketches that help readers visualize what it would “feel like” living in a world in which 90% of our energy comes from clean sources; where IT devices compute at the speed of human thought; where nanotechnology and 3D printing transforms manufacturing; and where personal genomics allows everyone to lead longer and healthier lives.

futuristic bridge Korea

futuristic boat

“The business community has a lot to feel excited about in terms of the opportunities between now and 2050. It is going to be just the most exciting roller coaster ride you can imagine as we move away from our dependence on fossil fuel and very wasteful economies, to renewable energy, efficiency, closed-loop production systems, new materials, nanotechnology, new manufacturing systems, more efficient transportation systems, one global currency… It’s a brave new world to say the least.”

These ideas are not science fiction, according to Jonathon. All of the projections made in the book are based on the best possible forecasts and scenarios currently available.  “What I did was to take the forecast for 2050 and backcast it – if that’s the forecast for 2050 then how do we actually get there?  It was refreshing to do it that way… if you start from (today) and you look at what’s going to happen in 2015 it’s usually so depressingly small that you think, oh my god, this is never going to get moving fast enough.”

There are, inevitably, some serious shocks to the system that humanity will encounter between now and 2050 – accelerating impacts of climate change, threats to food and water security, for example.  But Jonathan believes these shocks will actually “help jolt politicians out of their current inertia.”

By taking the technical concepts of sustainable development and climate change out of the theoretical – which clearly does not resonate with most audiences – and making them engaging, tangible and human, Jonathon has found his secret weapon – the character Alex McKay – to help make climate change more “personal”.  He tells an engaging – and surprisingly believable – tale of how humanity finally woke up from its early 21st century slumber to save itself – just in the nick of time – from the brink of climate collapse.

The World We Made is essential reading for anyone thirsty for some positive news as an antidote to the relentless onslaught of negative stories and images with which we are confronted daily.  Through a humble fictional “everyman”, Sir Jonathon seduces us with a tantalizingly realistic sense of optimism and hope for the future, inspired by many of the same cleantech revolutionary ideas that are already being developed today.  If we would just allow ourselves the pleasure of focusing beyond the stalemate of today’s international climate change negotiations, we might be able to see — even believe — that humanity may already be on the path to unprecedented transformation as described by Alex McKay.  The secret is to stay focused on the positive, to keep our eyes on the prize.  The World We Made may just be what the doctor ordered. 

———-

Artists and Climate Change is a blog by playwright Chantal Bilodeau 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 Chantal Bilodeau’s Artists and Climate Change Blog

Powered by WPeMatico