Eco-Art and Design

The Sector
Art helps improve our relationship with the natural world. Much environmental art is ephemeral, site-specific and involves collaborations between artists, scientists, educators and community groups. Artists’ creations assist in interpreting nature and its natural processes, educate on environmental issues, facilitate the re-evaluation of humans’ relationship with nature and restore damaged ecosystems in aesthetically pleasing ways.

Sector Profile
Climate change, desertification, waste and dwindling biodiversities are often examined through artists’ practices and interdisciplinary dialogue with scientists, industrialists, governments and environmental groups.
Websites like www.greenmuseum.org have been established, creating a web-based source of information on both established and emerging artists, linking like-minded organisations around the world. The RSA’s Arts and Ecology programme supports the work of the arts in addressing environmental concerns in an international arena, locating the arts as a central player in providing creative solutions to the challenges facing society.

Issues and Trends
Concern over environmental issues such as pollution, global warming, species depletion, new technologies and diseases is increasing. Artists are responding by answering collective cultural needs and developing active and practical roles in environmental and social issues. Communication, consultation and collaboration internationally, nationally and regionally assist the reciprocation of knowledge and understanding between the artists and scientists involved. This is a growing field with more and more organisations recognising the relationship between arts and the environment. To find out what CIWEM is doing, visit www.ciwem.org/artsandenvironment.