첥Ƶ’s is exploring how contemporary art can contribute to discussions on climate action through a new program focused on ecology and sustainable exhibition practices.
Funded by the Sustainability Innovation Fund at 첥Ƶ, the program – called Shifting – includes two initiatives: a series of public programs focused on ecology and resilience; and, the creation of a living document that will guide the gallery’s planning, materials, transportation and waste methods.
Clara Halpern, the gallery's assistant curator, says Shifting was inspired by a desire to address climate change anxiety – including her own – by leaning into sources of hope.
Building on the gallery’s relationships with working artists, curators and writers, the first part of the initiative will feature events exploring practical pathways to climate action in the cultural sector. Alongside the launch of this new program, the exhibitions Worlds Away by Anne Duk Hee Jordan and Winter Wheat by D’Andrea Bowie, are currently on view at the gallery and offer perspectives on ecology.
Another key component will be a series of public dialogues organized by the gallery. The first event, on will feature a discussion moderated by Halpern with Kirsty Robertson, Canada Research Chair (Tier 1) in Museums, Art and Sustainability and director of the Centre for Sustainable Curating at Western University, and conservator Kim Kraczon, whose work focuses on reducing the environmental impact of materials and methods used in conservation, art production and exhibition-making.
Insights from these events will inform the second part of Shifting: the development of a living document focused on guiding the gallery’s operations with sustainable best practices.
In recent years, Halpern notes, resources supporting responsible approaches in the arts sector have emerged from Canadian organizations such as the Centre for Sustainable Practice in the Arts and the Centre for Sustainable Curating, as well as international groups like the Gallery Climate Coalition.
While the Goldfarb Gallery already works to mitigate the environmental impact of its activities – for example, by minimizing waste and reusing or recirculating exhibition-installation materials when possible – it has not yet developed dedicated sustainability resources.
“I wanted to create the gallery’s guidance resource document because in the field of contemporary art it can be challenging, midway through a project and under time constraints, to research different options for more sustainable choices,” says Halpern. “The idea of the document is to have resources and information close at hand at each stage of developing a project.”
Working with Rute Collaborative, a Vancouver-based consultancy that supports museums and cultural organizations working on ecological sustainability, the gallery has been advancing work on the document, structuring it around the various stages of exhibition development and project planning. The project has also benefited from dialogue with specialists on sustainability at York, in particular Associate Professor Ian Garrett who teaches ecological design for performance and is the director of the Centre for Sustainable Practice in the Arts.
Discussions coming out of the speaker series will also inform guiding principles in the document, alongside insights from partners, artists, students and faculty at 첥Ƶ.
Once finalized later this year, Halpern will begin using and sharing the document while continuing to refine the information within as new research, practices and materials emerge. She hopes in doing so, it will evolve into a resource that inspires others, beyond the Joan and Martin Goldfarb Gallery.
“In reckoning with the scale of the climate change crisis, it can be difficult to envision our potential to make meaningful change,” says Halpern. “The hope for this project is to not get stuck in feeling powerless, and instead make shifts and create pathways to climate action and integrating more sustainable choices in the work we do.”
Featured image: Installation view at The Goldfarb Gallery of ’AԻǷɾ'Re-member. Photo Credit: Hao Nguyen.