Can art and artists positively impact the environment?

Published on 08 May 2023

The City of Hobart will be holding its sixth Creative Hobart Forum this Wednesday, aiming to push boundaries and imaginations.

This year’s fully booked edition hopes to do exactly that through its theme Art and the Environment.

Can art right environmental wrongs? How can creativity protect the planet? How do we amplify the voice of the planet through creativity?

The 2023 forum is made of some Tasmania’s’ best established and emerging artists; featuring:

• Emma Robertson – Palawa Kelp Artist, Salt Water Country.

• Selena de Carvalho – Inter-disciplinary Artist, Entangled Solidarity.

• Lucienne Rickard – Visual Artist, Extinction Studies.

• Lucy Bleach – Inter-disciplinary Artist, Unpredictability As A Tenet.

• Dan Broun – Landscape Photographer, Conservationist and Film-maker, From the Florentine to Tarkine in Motion.

• Jane Rawson – Writer and Environmentalist, Nature in Literature.

• Robin Banks – Earth Arts Rights, water [shed] – Lake Pedder 50yrs on.

Artist Emma Robertson, a proud Palawa woman from the trawlwoolway people in the north-eastern part of Lutruwita, Tasmania, said the inclusion of First Nations voices in these discussions was vital.

“This year’s theme of art and environment speaks to me as an Aboriginal woman and my proud connection to country and the environment,” Ms Robertson (pictured) said.

“My first public art installation was all about raising awareness through art of the impact global warming is having on our kelp forests.”

Hobart Creative City Portfolio Chair John Kelly said the arts community was a vital sector to the City and not just in economic returns.

“It is often difficult to measure the direct impacts of art and creativity in our daily lives, but we know that it is everywhere and is vital for nourishing our spirit,” Cr Kelly said.

“These types of forums allow us to gain insights from the artists themselves into how they use their practice to create powerful messages of change and hope for our planet's future.”

Cr Kelly said art can play an important role in shaping our understanding of the world.

“Experiencing arts and culture connects us with ideas, emotions and stories, and sparks pleasure, meaning, imagination and empathy,” Cr Kelly said.

“In so doing, it builds social cohesion and connection. It can also challenge us to make change.” Ends.