Options for action in art and culture

What new images of the future do we need to create opportunities for action in the face of the changes brought about by the climate crisis? How can we work together to shape the future? The Climate Culture Tyrol initiative combines art, cultural work and climate protection and opens up spaces for negotiating societal, social, political and cultural aspects of the climate crisis. Through various formats, the supra-regional platform aims to help ensure that climate-responsible action becomes an effective practice in and through art and culture. Barbara Alt and Lisa Prazeller report on their experiences and the formats used.
The Vienna Climate Biennale took place in early summer 2024 and focused on new and multi-perspective ideas for a future worth living in order to find ways to share knowledge and find answers to the climate crisis through participation, cooperation and awareness-raising. Current positions from the fields of international contemporary art, design, architecture and science were brought together and discussed in exhibitions, in public spaces and as part of the festival program. In this event, Sithara Pathirana will present examples from the festival program and share experiences and insights.

Barbara Alt is chairwoman of the cultural association Inseminoid and active in the Theater praesent, where she has worked as a technician since 2021. Since July 2022, she has been responsible for public relations and the coordination office for climate culture at TKI – Tiroler Kulturinitiativen. She is a DJ and co-founded the Innsbruck-based feminist DJ network “EAT” at the end of 2022. Since 2024, she has been a member of the board of IG Kultur Österreich in the role of deputy chairwoman.

Lisa Prazeller is deputy managing director of Climate Alliance Tyrol and is responsible for communication and climate culture. She studied communication sciences in Bolzano and comparative literature in Innsbruck. She has been researching ways of successful climate communication for eight years – with art and culture playing a key role.

Sithara Pathirana was responsible for the program of the Vienna Climate Biennale, which includes the festival’s supporting program, the mediation and education area and the collaborations in the city. As a project and cultural manager, her focus is on cultural education, particularly in the areas of cultural participation and educational justice. Together with Claudius Schulze, Sithara Pathirana initiated the first international art biennial for nature, climate and the anthropogenic changes to the earth system called ClimateArtFest Hamburg.

An event in cooperation with the project „Co-CreART! Co-Creating Change“.

Cover picture: Songs for the Changing Seasons (Natalia Montoya, Lin May Saeed, Eva Fàbregas, Laure Prouvost, Cooking Sections) (c) Rudolf Strobl; Klima Biennale Wien