climate crisis

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Climate for Change: An Exhibition by Atlantika Collective at MICA's Pinkard Gallery

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All 8 members of @Atlantika Collective are creating artwork, writing or curating in relation to the climate crisis and the environmental challenges we currently face. And now, the fourth in an ongoing series of group exhibitions explores this theme, which may be the single most important challenge that humankind faces. Titled Climate for Change, the latest exhibit evolves further to respond to the new location, the Pinkard Gallery at the Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA) in Baltimore. It features new or recent work by Gabriela Bulišová, Todd Forsgren, Billy Friebele, Mark Isaac, Katie Kehoe, Yam Chew Oh, and Sue Wrbican, and it is on view through March 3, 2024.

Atlantika members use photography, video, sculpture, and painting to approach the climate emergency from a variety of disparate vantage points. Member and curator Maria Alejandra Sáenz grouped the show according to broad themes, including artwork related to water, our forests, and other ecological subjects. These focal points assist the viewer in drawing connections between the work of the disparate artists. According to Sáenz's written statement, Climate for Change "illustrates the current environmental emergency and complex symptoms of climate change. As the ecological planetary crisis unfolds, the works in this exhibition advocate for immediate action. They act as beacons that bring light to the possibilities of transforming our relationship with the natural world."

Images by Yam Chew Oh were captured during installation of the exhibition.


The opening reception will take place on January 25, 2024 from 5:00 to 7:00 pm. You can find more details about the event here: https://www.mica.edu/events-exhibitions/events-calendar/details/atlantika-collective-climate-for-change-opening-reception/2024-01-25/. That will be followed closely by a joint artist talk by Atlantika members on January 29th at noon in Falvey Hall in MICA's Brown Center. Several Atlantika members will appear live and others will join by video from around the US and Europe. The artists will provide background on Atlantika Collective, discuss their goals and intentions in addressing climate change, present their work, and take questions. 

In addition, the artists plan a panel discussion together with local environmental activists to focus on their goal of moving beyond "raising awareness" and contributing to a groundswell of action aimed at reversing the environmental damage we are currently witnessing. The details of this event will be announced in the near future. All events are free and open to the public.

The Members of Atlantika are extremely thankful to Yam Chew Oh, whose hard work was critical in bringing about the exhibition, to curator Maria Alejandra Sáenz, to Megan Irwin for her outstanding graphic designs, to Andrea Dixon and the entire exhibitions team at MICA, and to the MICA professors, environmental activists, and other individuals involved in organizing the related events. 

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Podcast on "The Landscape of our Memory"

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Atlantika Collective members Gabriela Bulisova and Mark Isaac are pleased to share a podcast hosted by the Johannesburg Holocaust and Genocide Centre in which they are interviewed about their latest project, the Landscape of Our Memory. You can access the podcast here.

The artists would like to thank the Johannesburg Centre and the four academic leaders who interviewed us, including Andrea Pető, Central European University; Tali Nates, Executive Director and Founder of the Johannesburg Holocaust & Genocide Centre; Steven Carr, Professor of Communication and Director of the Institute for Holocaust and Genocide Studies at Purdue University in Fort Wayne; and Bjorn Krondorfer, Director of the Martin-Springer Institute and Endowed Professor of Religious Studies at Northern Arizona University. A special thanks is due to Bjorn whose work they have admired for a long time and who recommended them for the podcast.

The Landscape of our Memory is a long-term artistic project that addresses the “dispersed Holocaust” or “Holocaust by Bullets” by commemorating the more than 2 million individuals who were killed in or near their hometowns rather than in concentration camps. Inspired by the work of academics studying the Environmental History of the Holocaust (a relatively new sub-field of Holocaust studies), Gabriela and Mark also explore the links between genocide and ecocide and call attention to the environmental crises we currently face, including climate change. You can find more information, including initial imagery from this “work in progress,” here. 

Although this is a difficult topic, the artists consider it an important and necessary one to address, and they plan to continue working in Poland and neighboring countries in the months and years to come. They welcome your comments and suggestions as they move forward.

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The Path Toward "A Tree for the Forest"

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The installation of A Tree for the Forest, the new exhibition by Atlantika Collective members Gabriela Bulisova and Mark Isaac, has now begun at the Municipal Gallery at Ibrahim’s Khan in Pafos, Cyprus. It was an occasion for exhilaration, nervousness, hard work and considerable coffee consumption. It was also a moment to fully acknowledge the creative vision of curator Yiannis Sakellis, whose strategy for hanging the exhibition proved to be an excellent one. 

In this exhibition, the artists focus on the role of trees in the climate crisis. The work is simultaneously despairing and hopeful. It zeroes in on the tragic loss of forested areas to wildfires in recent years, but it also takes careful note of the new scientific discovery that trees communicate extensively with each other in underground networks, sending nutrients and warning of danger. “Mother trees” also provide essential support for younger trees in their vicinity. This discovery offers the promise that we can better protect our forests, which have the potential to substantially reduce greenhouse gasses in the atmosphere. 

The main photographs by both artists are wide panoramas. Gabriela’s works are all more than 4.5 meters in length (that’s almost 15 feet stateside), and one reaches to 4.7 meters, or almost 15.5 feet. This easily surpasses the widest print that either artist has ever made. And the artists are interested in inquiring of other photographers who may see this post whether they have ever printed this wide, or know of someone who has? Mark’s works are not shabby in the length department either, reaching beyond 2.5 meters despite their origins on cell phones. 

Curator Yiannis Sakellis devised an ingenious method of hanging the works that involves panels of board joined together in one long strip. The long scrolls are then clipped to the panels and hoisted onto the walls of the gallery. A total of three large works were hung today, with the rest of the 10 images slated for hanging tomorrow. 

The exhibition also includes a multi-channel video installation, titled Mother Trees, that will be presented in a novel manner. Several video monitors will be placed flat on a table and will be viewed from above. The video includes images of trees that were captured in Prague and Paphos. It also includes original music and found sounds of communication, including sounds that were recorded as part of the Conet Project. The Conet Project is a famous set of recordings of shortwave radio broadcasts that contain instructions to espionage operatives around the world. 

Finally, the exhibition will include an installation of objects found at the scene of wildfires in the vicinity of Paphos, including Tala, Lemona, and Psathi. The found objects include almonds, olives, pomegranates and tree branches that were burned in the fires. It also includes tree sap that oozed out of trees when they were exposed to high temperatures.

In their statement to accompany the exhibition, the artists note that Cyprus is a hotspot in the accelerating climate crisis. It is among the parts of the world that are increasing most rapidly in temperature, and it experienced the worst wildfire in its history this year. 

They also explain that the title of the exhibition, A Tree for the Forest, is intended to emphasize the agency of each individual in responding to the crisis. In fact, the artists call on each person who encounters the exhibition to think of one additional action they can take to mitigate the climate crisis. “We can all stand tall, like a mother tree, connected to those around us, providing essential support for healthy forests and a healthy planet,” Bulisova and Isaac wrote. 

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Art on the "Wood Wide Web"

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Atlantika Collective Members Gabriela Bulisova and Mark Isaac are currently in Paphos, Cyprus as part of the Episkeptes artist residency program at Kimonos Arts Center. Their project focuses on the ecological threats facing trees and forests, including the climate crisis and the growing number of wildfires around the world. But it also has a hopeful side.

The duo is creating new images devoted to expressing the recent scientific discovery that trees communicate with each other through a “wood wide web” of underground fungal networks. The research of scientist Suzanne Simard makes clear that trees use “wood wide webs” of fungus to send alarms about danger and to share carbon, water and other nutrients. “Mother trees” also act as central hubs to support younger, smaller trees in their vicinity. Now that we better understand that trees are highly cooperative, we can prevent tragic practices like clearcutting that destroy the forest and prevent it from being restored quickly.

The artists are creating panoramic photographs of the tree canopy that strongly suggest the manner in which roots and fungal networks mingle and communicate. Here are some details from these images, in which trees reach out to each other, vibrating with energy, singing, dancing and cavorting. These teaser images are not in the show, which includes sweeping panoramas printed two and a half meters in width, but they give you a sense of the direction of the work.

The new exhibit opens Saturday, December 18th at 7:30 pm at the Municipal Gallery at Ibrahim’s Khan in Pafos, Cyprus. It is possible because of the strong support of the Kimonos Art Center and curator Yiannis Sakellis.