Anna Higgins, Two Suns (Bright and Crystal Palace), (detail)

Talk

Where to now? Artists and climate change

Online Discussion

Tuesday 12 July 2022 6.30 - 7.30pm

Online

Online event

£8 (£5 concession)

Friends of the RA book first

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Summer Exhibition 2022

Go to the exhibition

Join our panel of artists and campaigners as they discuss what role the future generation of artists have in tackling the issue of global warming and climate change.

Please note: this is an online event but capacity is limited

With climate change one of the major concerns of our time and a recognition that much more needs to be done, expectation seems to be that the environmentally conscious ‘next generation’ will address this crisis. Artists have been at the forefront of addressing the social and political issues of the moment, so how does this impact on the work and practice of the rising generation of artists? From subject to sustainable practices, what choices do the next generation of artists have in how they approach their practice? Do environmental concerns affect creativity and careers and how can the art sector encourage a more sustainable approach for the future?

In this online event, join artists Anna Higgins and Saroj Patel, Heath Lowndes (Gallery Climate Coalition), and Emily Steer (Elephant Magazine) as they discuss what role the next generation of artists could have in this challenge, and their responsibility to influence change through their work.

Anna Higgins’ image-based practice incorporates found archival and contemporary material that is abstracted and re-contextualized through methods of collage, painting and film photography to form new perspectives and poetic interpretations. Her recent solo exhibitions have included ReadingRoom, Melbourne and Mackintosh Lane, London, and was the 2021 Artist in Residence at the Australian Archeological Institute, Athens. Higgins is currently a student of the post-graduate program at the RA.

Saroj Patel creates intricately detailed, tactile sculptures which invite playful audience interaction. Working with a range of materials rooted in Indian traditions as well as found items such as bicycle wheels, she explores connections between people, animals and the environment. Recent exhibitions include ‘Observational Realities’ (2022) at Clifford Chance, London, which was part of her 2020 win of the Clifford Chance Sculpture Prize. She graduated from Central St Martins, London, with an MA in Fine Art in 2019.

Heath Lowndes is Managing Director of Gallery Climate Coalition, an international charity and membership organisation set up to provide sector-specific resources and guidelines on environmental sustainability. Heath is also a co-founder of PACT (Partners on Arts and Climate Targets), a global collective established to set standards and align targets amongst organisations working at the intersection of culture and climate action.

Emily Steer is the editor of Elephant, a magazine for modern life which explores how politics, the internet and creativity collectively shape our world. Elephant was the first magazine to join the Gallery Climate Coalition. Emily previously worked as online curator at Art Wednesday, and she has contributed to titles including Munchies, i-D, AnOther, Time Out and the Telegraph

There will be an opportunity for audience questions at the end of the event.

If you are unable to join at the time of the streaming, a recording of the event will be available to ticket holders in the weeks following.

The event will be accompanied by speech-to-text transcription courtesy of Stagetext.

£8 (£5 concession)

Friends of the RA book first

Join now