Art for Radical Ecologies (manifesto)

Art for Radical Ecologies is a platform impulsed by Institute of Radical Imagination to bring together art workers and eco-ac- tivists discussing the role art can play in the creation of new radical ecologies at the intersection of environmental and social justice and with the goal of collectively writing a mani- festo. The Venice Climate Camp (September 2022), together with Sale Dock, was the right context for IRI to call for the first assembly. We wanted to launch the platform at this camp promoted by Rise Up For Climate Justice and Fridays For Future to free up art from the capture of institutional circuits. Participants to the platform share the belief that the fight for climate justice is, necessarily, a fight against and beyond extrac- tive capitalism and its greenwashing strategies.[manifesto 1, 2] The gathering included moments of discussion around the use of art as a method of inquiry in the climate crisis; the pro- duction of activist art forms that look at the performativity of direct action; art as a ground for radical imagination in design- ing new ecologies and reshaping interspecies relationships; art as an archive of movement practices.[3] A second phase moving towards the collective writing of the Art for Radical Ecologies Manifesto came with IRI join- ing the World Congress for Climate Justice (WCCJ) in Milan (October 2023).