Eleventh International Conference on Climate Change: Impacts & Responses

Abstract

Museum scholars observe, and many champion, the move toward museum activism. Institutions that do not take an active stance on issues, notably climate change and energy transition, risk being irrelevant or engaged in misinformation. This dilemma is examined by assessing the impact of a 2022 group exhibition and public program, curated for Collie Art Gallery, a premier venue located in the south-west of Western Australia. Since the discovery of coal in 1893, Collie has been vital to Western Australia’s economy and energy sector. However, as Australia joins the inevitable shift away from fossil fuels there are implications for resource towns like Collie, which are required to transition to diversified economies that are not yet clearly defined. The artists reflected on landscapes around Collie as sites of flux rather than static places. Respectful of the interests of the community their research culminated in an exhibition in the Gallery, whose presence in a small, conservative town reflects its community’s support for diversification. The Gallery is amidst the living tensions of significant geopolitical change, but is this tension adequately addressed in the gallery program? This case study examines the effectiveness of the exhibition and its attendant workshops and talks in activating the gallery. We consider how individuals were moved to think differently about Collie and to reflect this thinking in conversations and creative outcomes; and weigh the challenges and implications of art museums supporting the call to ‘stay with the trouble’ by positioning themselves as sites for meaningful and radical intervention and change.