Events

2021 Affective Ecologies: Reconnecting arts and environments double panel in ICAS 12.

2021 Shades of Green: Environmentally Engaged Art in East and Southeast Asia talk [online], Environmental Humanities Hub, University of Helsinki.

2020 Environmental Art in Global Context course (5 ECTS) in Art history, University of Helsinki.

“[T]his turn toward ecological urbanism is not merely a design trend, but part of a broader reimagining of what nature, the city, its citizens, and political contestation mean at a fundamental level.” (Newman 2015: 3)

This interdisciplinary research project funded by the Academy of Finland examines the varied forms of environmental art in relation to civil society formation, encouraging reconfigurations of interrelations of cityscape and nature in Asia. Given that Asian cities are at the forefront to battle pollution, global warming and environmental degradation, it is timely to explore the possible societal impact of ecological urbanism in the midst of the growing social discrepancies of intensifying urbanisation across Asia.

Inspired by recent studies on how contemporary art can enhance environmental awareness and ecological citizenship, Shades of Green examines artistic practices initiated by local and international artists and cultural practitioners along with the residents for environmental advocacy, and their possible effect both to the immediate audience and in broader societal contexts.

While locally situated and empirical case studies form a solid basis for research, this project seeks to delineate thematic and conceptual understandings of the phenomenon at large by drawing on the rising significance of environmental humanism in Asia and by building primarily on the emerging theoretical underpinnings of ethics and aesthetics of environmental art. The comparative approach builds upon studies of environmental movements and arts in Asia, and aims at comprehensive and contextualised theoretical frameworks in investigating the effects of ecological urbanism and its aesthetics locally, regionally and globally.