CLIMATE:Lab #5 Looking for Soup

In October 2022, activists sprayed Van Gogh’s sunflowers with tinned soup to protest against the climate crisis and call for a world without oil. They risked prison to raise awareness and have reimagined art to remind us of the obvious: why should we protect painted flowers while allowing the destruction of the living world? This short paper explores what museums can learn from activism to drive sustainable transformation.

It explores how collections and aesthetic experiences can be used to stimulate investigative thinking, learn about the climate crisis and translate knowledge into impactful local climate action. Why not use the arts to foster new forms of civic creativity, utilise pedagogical tools to teach transformational skills, and collaboratively develop place-based networks to promote climate action?

An activist museum would foster collaboration between visitors, public administration actors and civil society and help develop concrete climate change mitigation and adaptation projects. Museums can offer more than just cool shelters for future heatwaves – they can help bridge the gap between scientific knowledge and political education, motivate civic engagement and turn “oil on canvas” into collective climate action.

Entry free. Further information.