Weather Morning: 9°c Sunny spells Afternoon: 10°c Sunny spells

News

Royal Academy to run climate change exhibition

Louise Jury, Chief Arts Correspondent
2 Jul 2009


The Royal Academy is to present Britain's first art exhibition dedicated to climate change.

The privately-run institution is joining forces with Cape Farewell, a body that has been sending artists to investigate the issue in the Arctic for the last eight years, to create Earth: Art of a changing world.

It will include work documenting the devastation of the planet as well as artistic responses to physical changes such as rising sea levels.

One work being shown in Britain for the first time was inspired by the mother of the French artist Sophie Calle who had always wanted to visit the Arctic but died before she could.

Calle took her mother's pearl necklace and diamond ring to the snowy wastes and documented burying them in a glacier and wondering where the melting ice flows would take them.

Other artists in the show will include Cornelia Parker with a sculpture from the charred remains of a Florida forest destroyed by fire.

Ian McEwan and the poet Limn Sissay will add literary responses to the green challenge.

Kathleen Soriano, exhibitions director, said all art institutions had been slow to make exhibitions a part of the debate on key public issues. But she said: “It won't preach and won't admonish. We want visitors to come away with a strong sense of having experienced beauty, but with a deeper message.”

The exhibition is the second in a series of contemporary shows sponsored by GlaxoSmithKline at the Royal Academy. It will run from 3 December to 31 January with admission charge.

Tickets £7 (concessions available) – please visit: www.royalacademy.org.uk/earth

Click on the images below to see a larger versions


Antti Laitinen, It's My Island I


Emma Wieslander, Derwentwater I


Mona Hatoum, Hot Spot


Edward Burtynsky, Super Pit


Mariele Neudecker, 400 Thousand Generations

Reader views (1)

 Add your view

You should see the climate refugee camp project of German artist Hermann Josef Hack,
www.hermann-josef-hack.de. He erects about 600 mini-tents in public spaces to raise awareness for the pligh of climate migrants. The next intervention will take place in London this summer.

Find more info in the internet when you google his name.

- Harold Trumpley, Cologne, Germany, 05/08/2009 21:53
Report abuse


Add your comment

 

Terms and conditions Make text area bigger You have  characters left.

We welcome your opinions. This is a public forum. Libellous and abusive comments are not allowed. Please read our House Rules.

For information about privacy and cookies please read our Privacy Policy.


 

 

  • Riot axeman terror at McDonald's Axe man A rioter who terrorised diners with an axe at McDonald's has been jailed for five years and three months - one of the toughest sentences for...
  • Payout of £600,000 for witness put at risk by Met and CPS Scotland Yard A teenage court witness was given a £600,000 payout by the Crown Prosecution Service and Metropolitan Police after he was put at risk, it...
  • MPs to visit Falklands for military inspection HMS Dauntless MPs are to visit the Falklands amid heightened tension between Britain and Argentina
  • Make 'death trap' junctions safer for cyclists, demands university mourning three Ellie Carey A university that saw two students and a member of staff killed cycling in London last year has accused Boris Johnson of failing to act...
  • David Cameron launches new crackdown on binge drinking Supermarket alcohol display David Cameron will today vow to take on the "scandal" of public drunkenness and alcohol abuse that costs the NHS £2.7 billion a year
  • Unemployment rate hits 16-year high Job Centre unemployment The UK's unemployment rate increased to a 16-year high today after another rise in the jobless total. The figure jumped by 48,000 in the...
  • Bank to reveal inflation forecast Mervyn King The Bank of England is to give a clearer insight into how deep it expects the current downturn in the economy to sink
  • RAF airman shot in Afghanistan was 'shining star' Tomlin An RAF airman who died after being shot while on patrol in Afghanistan was a "true hero and shining star", his family said
  • Google TV challenges Apple and Sky Google TV Google and Sony have joined forces in a bid to bring the internet to millions of televisions.
  • We're the Cockney rhyming gang: Poetry coaching given to Tower Hamlets pupils Bonner Primary School Hundreds of schoolchildren who had never been inside a theatre have been coached to write and perform their own poetry on stage
  •  

    Don't Miss
    • London Gateway

      Supersize superport: London Gateway

      London Gateway, the £1.5bn container port under construction on the Thames at Thurrock, will have capacity to unload six of the world's largest ships at one time and have as much impact on the capital as a new airport or half a dozen Westfield shopping centres
    • Chris Powell interview

      Chris Powell: racist abuse between players was accepted in my day

      Exclusive: After high-profile allegations this season, Charlton's manager is pleased the issue is now being addressed but says the authorities still have plenty of work to do