Environmental Politics and the Arts

Australia’s cultural imaginary is inextricably tied to our natural environment, with figurations of fire, waterways, rocks and trees. In the contemporary political landscape, however, the Arts and the environment are increasingly pitted in competition with one another for both funding and our attention. In light of this, the ACD-Engine aims to devote a critical data lens to the highly politicised relationship between environment, climate, ecology disaster and the arts.

In many respects the ecology of Australia has been defined as the interaction between topography and elemental mutation, for which data in geography, environmental science, resource and disaster management become utilised to map responses to climate and develop social resilience. At the same time, the Arts continue to approach questions of climate, ecology and disaster in ways that are not yet fully understood and appreciated. Where does cultural data contribute to the mapping of environmental change in Australia? And how can we map patterns of action, reaction, resistance and resilience as they manifest through arts and cultural practice?

Suggested Readings:

Kaya Barry and Jondi Keane, Creative Measures of the Anthropocene: Art, Mobilities, and Participatory Geographies (Palgrave Macmillan, 2019)

Christine Eriksen and Susan Ballard, Alliances in the Anthropocene: Fires, Plants, and People (Palgrave, 2020)

‘How art can impact climate change.’ Arts Hub (2020)