Why it’s time for the arts to take a stand on climate change.

"We need a big movement,
and big movements come from beauty and meaning,
not columns of statistics." Bill McKibben

The What, Why and Who of CLIMARTE:

CLIMARTE is an independent not for profit body that harnesses the creative power of the Arts to inform, engage and inspire action on climate change.

CLIMARTE aims to:

• Create an alliance of Arts practitioners and organisations that advocate for immediate, effective and creative action on climate change.
• Promote and facilitate climate and sustainability related Arts events.
• Provide a forum for the exchange of ideas and information on sustainable Arts practice at an individual and organisational level.

Why?

The arts can be a catalyst for change. Those who work, live and play in the arts represent all that is creative, imaginative and hopeful in humanity. It is time for us to engage with our communities and our leaders, our peers and our audiences. It is time to let them know that we will act, and that we expect them to act on this threat to humanity and our world. It is time to have our voices heard on climate change.

Who?

CLIMARTE was co-founded by Guy Abrahams, Fiona Armstrong and Deborah Hart.  CLIMARTE is run by a committee comprised of the co-founders together with Paula Greene and David Robinson. CLIMARTE supporters will receive updates informing them of opportunities to participate in campaigns, to promote and attend climate and sustainability related Arts events, and to provide and share useful, inspiring and motivating information. CLIMARTE Inc. is an Association incorporated under the Associations Incorporation Act 1981 (Victoria).

CLIMARTE gratefully thanks for their wonderful work in creating our CLIMARTE logo. http://www.cordialcreative.com/

Théodore Géricault, The Raft of the Medusa

We know about climate change. We have heard the scientists. We have watched and waited for our politicians to act. We have watched them argue amongst themselves and then do almost nothing. We have witnessed a failure of leadership, a failure of nerve, a failure of creativity, and a failure of morality. The Federal Government’s new Clean Energy Future package marks a welcome move in the right direction, but we need to do more, and we have no time to lose.

Throughout history the arts have played a major role in recording and reflecting the state of human society and its relationship with the natural world. Indeed, for some historical periods it is only through the arts that we have been able to learn about our past. But sometimes we have also needed the arts to be a catalyst for change, a call to action, a pricking of humanity’s collective conscience. We believe that now is one of those times.

	Ash Keating Copenhagen?

This is an invitation to join others who work, live and play in the arts in taking a stand. It is time for us to come together, as representatives of all that is creative, imaginative and hopeful in humanity. It is time for us to engage with our communities and our leaders, our peers and our audiences. It is time to let them know that we will act and that we expect them to act on this clear and present danger to humanity, and to the wondrous world we inhabit. It is time to have our voices heard on climate change.

ClIMARTE is an alliance of arts organisations and individuals who have joined together to call for immediate, effective, and creative action on climate change.

Listen to Guy Abrahams explain more about CLIMARTE in this 3CR interview.

Read our Proposal