Art as a Catalyst

Abstract

The socio-ecological challenges of recent times questioned the roles and responsibilities of artists and cultural practitioners. Several artists approached current issues by imagining new ways of living for a more sustainable form of future, attempting to trigger social transformation , a shift in values, changes in environmental issues, or a crucial system change. Is art truly capable of making a difference? The case studies examine the work of individual artists, artist collectives and cross-sectoral collaborations operating in Indonesia, India and Hungary, and through their work explore the potential of art as a catalyst. In a world where we are confronting a growing number of sustainability challenges, where climate change, environmental degradation, unsustainable farming practices, food scarcity, the illusion of unlimited growth, housing and human rights violations can happen, it is high time to fundamentally question prevailing systems , our economic, social, and even cultural practices. While the 1987 Bruntland Report (UN, 1987) talks about the three pillars of sustainable development-environmental, economic, and social-, in 1992 it mentions culture as its fourth pillar (UN, 1992). The question emerges then, within the context of culture, what the role of art and the artist can be in present times, going beyond the objectification of nature, to alternatively define the environment with a focus on global justice and ecological sustainability (Demos, 2016: 53-54). Since the 1960's there have been numerous attempts in both art practices and discourse to challenge the dominant-Western-conception of art which is "identified with salable objects rather than with kinds of behaviour or ways of doing that embellish and enlarge life" (Gablik, 1995: 41). Several artists approached current issues by imagining new ways of living for a more sustainable form of future. The task could not be more relevant today. We may ask, why and how should we make art? What should we address and what forms and practices should we use? How can we trigger social transformation, a shift in values, changes in environmental issues, or bring about a crucial system change? Is art truly capable of making a difference? How can art catalyze a change?