Can the artworld strike for climate? Three possible answers

As I write, in January 2026, the planetary climate and environmental crisis seems to have faded from public discourse. While the crisis itself accelerates the past two years have seen a rising backlash against environmental policies, climate science and climate movements and organizations. The 2025 Climate Change Conference in Brazil failed to generate any cohesive plan or bring serious commitments from the participating countries to phase out fossil fuels.11.‘COP30: landmark outcomes emerge from negotiations despite unprecedented geopolitical tensions’, COP30, 23 November 2025, cop30.br. The European Union is progressively watering down its European Green Deal policy plan, quietly abandoning goals set in 2019. And the second Trump administration has recently announced that the US will leave the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

The waning support for the climate cause is accompanied by the increased criminalization and persecution of climate activists. More and more, governments employ silencing tactics, including anti-protest laws, extending the policing of climate movements and protests, issuing fines and pursuing court cases. Sentences issued by courts for participating in non-violent civil disobedience are more severe (including incarceration), and in some countries climate movements are now officially labelled criminal organizations.22.Nina Alizadeh Marandi, ‘As Europe heats up, silencing climate activists is emerging as a troubling trend’, euobserver, 18 July 2024, euobserver.com/. The mainstream media eagerly entrench this discourse, often maligning climate activists and portraying them as ‘extremists’ and ‘eco-terrorists’.33.Zia Weise, ‘Europe’s climate activists face ‘repressive tide’, Politico, August 30 2023, politico.eu

It was in this context that I organized the discussion panel ‘Can the Artworld Strike for Climate?’ as part of Climate Forum II in September 2024. The goal was simple: to ask members of the global climate movement how art institutions can support their struggle at such a difficult moment – what are their needs, expectations and demands – and if or how they could understand and imagine art institutions organizing a climate strike. While those participating in different contemporary art worlds know that there are multiple, skilful strategies for representing and discursively evoking climate, the focus of the panel was on direct action. What emerged from the discussion was three possible answers.

The first was given even before the panel itself, from indigenous climate activists. While planning the panel with the curators of the Climate Forum series, it was clear that we wanted indigenous voices in the discussion. I reached out to two indigenous–led climate movements and organizations with an invitation, explaining the basis for the panel as well as our motivations and goals. The first response was silence. Then, after some time a respectful, but firm and telling rejection. I was told that they did not consider a panel organized by a confederation of European museums, arts organizations and universities an appropriate space from which to speak about their struggle for climate, environment, the planet, and their rights. Neither did they feel that there was much art institutions can do to support their cause, or that they can do to support art institutions in their pursuit of a climate strike. The implied advice was clear: artists, cultural workers, academics, researchers, educators, writers, critics and others – discuss and figure this out among yourselves.

The second take was very different. It came from Kinga Parafniuk – a member of the Polish chapter of the youth–led Fridays For Future movement,44.See msk.earth. who agreed to participate in the panel. Before the event, she discussed the panel questions with her organization with a view to presenting a shared collective position, rather than an individual perspective. Kinga and her colleagues are young local organizers often working beyond urban centres in northern Poland. They face opposition to climate activism on a daily basis and experience directly the consequences of the political shifts away from the climate cause. Their position was much more sympathetic towards the art system. Kinga claimed that Friday For Futures already considers the artworld an ally in the climate struggle, with many connections and cooperations between activist and artistic circles. For them, every gesture, action, project and programme matters – whether it's through representation, discourse, education or simply platforming climate-conscious voices. She emphasised that in climate organising, as in any other form of activism, there is space for different levels and modes of engagement – from organizing workshops to forming a human chain in order to block a street. If art institutions want to act for climate, they need to find a suitable way of doing it – even if that means sticking to climate–themed exhibitions, public and education programmes or festivals and events. It would be better, she said, if these are co-organized in cooperation with local climate movements and organizations – not only because they can bring in expertise and experience, but because they need public voices of support when they are routinely demonized and maligned. Still, what is crucial is for the artworld to stay with the struggle and not abandon the question of climate as a topic and a cause, especially when popular, political and media support is waning.

The third, much less enthusiastic, came from Helen Wahlgren, co-founder of the Swedish movement Restore Wetlands and active member of the A22 network,55.See a22network.org which is one of the most active European climate movements and the umbrella organisation behind many of the notorious civil disobedience actions from the past couple years.66.See, for example, Damien Gayle, ‘Just Stop Oil activists throw soup at Van Gogh’s Sunflowers’, The Guardian, 14 October 2022, theguardian.com or Kate Connolly, ‘German climate activists stop air traffic after breaking into four airport sites’, The Guardian, 15 August 2024, theguardian.com. Helen is an experienced climate organizer and has been part of global environmental activism for many years, witnessing numerous ups and downs. In her powerful and moving contribution she presented the climate movement as part of the long history of protest, from the XIXth century workers unions and early women’s right activists, through the civil rights movement, to contemporary anti-government protests toppling politicians throughout the world. She pointed out a common element to most successful protest campaigns is disruption, and claimed that without disrupting the flow of everyday life, change is impossible. This is why for her, the current artworld’s engagement with the planetary climate and environmental crisis is inadequate – all the exhibitions, lectures, education programs and workshops are ‘nice’ but ineffective. Helen understood the proposal of a climate strike at face value – shut down museums and galleries and stop any and all cultural or artistic activities, at least for a day. Or a weekend. Or a week, preferably a month. Or even better – until the powers that be finally start working on addressing the crisis seriously. The best case scenario for Helen would be for cultural workers to exit the artworld altogether, organize and join activist groups. The only path to change, she stressed, is to disrupt hostile realities.

To recapitulate, here are the three possible answers to the titular question:

1. The artworld, particularly the mainstreamWestern artworld, is the wrong space to address climate issues, art institutions are ill equipped to understand and tackle its realities and should focus on working out its own issues and contradictions, rather than seek engagement with the activist struggle.

2. The artworld is an ally of the climate movement. Art institutions should engage with the climate question in any way possible, voice public support for climate activists, and stay in the struggle despite the current political shift.

3. The artworld, particularly the mainstream Western artworld is too complicit in anti-climate politics, to effectively address the climate question. To be truly useful, art institutions need to move away from discourse and representation, learn from the activist approach and employ real disruption tactics.

All of these perspectives heavily influenced our internal discussions within the L’Internationale confederation regarding a joint climate action, planned for 2026. We began with an ambitious proposal to organize a common climate strike: shut down institutions on a chosen day and prepare a programme of activities with local climate activist groups. Unsurprisingly, initial enthusiasm turned into uncertainty and prompted a number of questions: can we, as institutions, proclaim ‘a strike’? Who would actually proclaim it? Wouldn’t it be better coming from the bottom up? Will people working in L’Internationale institutions and organizations – artists, cultural workers, curators, educators, administrators, managers, technicians and others – be eager to join? How will our audiences react? And the authorities, ministries, funders and sponsors? What are the risks involved? Will we get support from the media? Should we close down, or rather just stop normal activities and dedicate the day to climate education platforming activists, scientists and organizers? Shall we release a statement? In whose name? Does it make sense to organize this climate action if in the end we are not able to strike, shut down or disrupt but only organize some thematic activities?

The more we dwelled on these questions, the more it seemed that the artworld and its infrastructure isn’t, in fact, able to accommodate the needs and demands of climate activists. More and more, it became apparent there was embarrassingly little we could do, especially in the face of a deepening anti–climate turn in global politics. Still, we decided to persist with the action – despite the doubts we agreed that what we can do is to platform the activist perspective and work, voice public support for the global climate movement and show that art institutions remain engaged with the climate question, despite the prevailing backlash. At the moment, every member of L’Internationale participating in the action works on building a relationship with a local climate activist group and preparing a joint programme of activities to be realized on a chosen day in 2026. These will range from performances, concerts and screenings, through lectures, tech-ins, discussions and workshops to assemblies, speeches and performative protests. On top of that the activist organizations will prepare written statements – perhaps a list of demands, reflection on the climate cause, testimonial or appeal to politicians or the public - that will be translated and circulated by L'Internationale. The confederation itself will also publish its own statement of support for climate activists, addressed to local and national governments as well as the EU. All of these texts will be read on the day of the action, and later gathered and published as an online zine, together with reports and reflections on how the action unfolded on the day in different places.

Can the artworld strike for climate? Perhaps it was the wrong question from the very beginning. But maybe, in doing something else we can begin to formulate a more appropriate and generative proposition.