Climarte is a new art gallery in Melbourne that presents as the world’s first Climate Emergency focussed art gallery as they advocate for immediate, effective and creative action to restore a climate capable of sustaining all life.
You can find Climarte at 120 Bridge Road, Richmond. The gallery intends to be a space to grieve climate change, as well as be inspired by the wonder of the environment, which one would hope seeds a desire to protect it. In addition to a calendar of exhibitions the art gallery will host events that platform critical discourse between art, science and civil society.
Their inaugural exhibition, titled HEAR celebrated First People’s knowledge and care for Country with artworks from Professor Brian Martin, Kent Morris, Deanne Gilson, James Tylor and Peter Waples-Crowe. As the gallery says the show ‘calls for all people to listen to and care for Country. It calls on all of us, as an immediate priority, to HEAR the voices of Traditional Owners.’
FIRE, their second show, is opening on 9 February and will run until 19 March 2022. As you might guess the artists sharing their work have either experienced or make work about fire. The gallery promises this show will draw the connection between fire as ‘a huge consequence of the change in climate with global warming.’ Participating artists include Katherine Boland, John Gollings, Jody Graham, Fiona Lee and Louise Morgan, and Creative Producer, Jo Lane.
Climarte is governed by a Committee and operated by a management team of climate-concerned arts professionals, academics and activists. Of the group, Deborah Hart is leading the Climarte gallery. Interestingly, the writer and arts-focussed activist’s father Richard Koerner was an engineer for power stations, but now he lobbies for their closure. In keeping with this care for the environment outside of the gallery Hart also participates in performance group ClimActs who use spectacle and satire to highlight the urgency of the climate and biodiversity crisis.
To stay in the loop with Climarte, their exhibitions and programming, follow the unique initiative on Instagram here.