The Green Palette project creates tools for ecologically more sustainable production and exhibition practices in the contemporary art sector.
A group of Finnish visual arts organisations has launched a project, which creates tools for ecologically more sustainable production and exhibition practices in the contemporary art sector. The Green Palette (Vihreä paletti) will launch a digital platform containing tools tailored to the needs of contemporary art professionals to assess and reduce their environmental impact.
The accessible and practical platform aims to increase the understanding of the environmental impacts of the contemporary art sector. The project will develop new, more sustainable models for artwork production, workspaces, exhibition installation, and dismantling, as well as travel and logistics. The project will aim to lower the threshold for engaging in eco-activities at all levels. Also, the needs and aspirations of art practitioners themselves to promote environmental issues will be heard.
The two-year project has received support from the Ministry of Education and Culture in Finland for the renewal of the cultural and creative sectors. The funding is part of the Next Generation EU programme.
“The Green Palette is one tool on the road to a more ecologically, socially and economically sustainable transformation of the contemporary art field in Finland. Many contemporary art organisations already consider the environmental load in many ways in their activities. Sharing this knowledge and providing practical tools will benefit the whole sector, especially small contemporary art operators with limited resources,” says Raija Koli, director of Frame, which is coordinating the joint project.
More than 1 200 art exhibitions are organised in Finland every year, and Finnish art is also exported for exhibition and sale abroad. Although art and culture are not the biggest emitters, the way in which contemporary art is produced, presented, or transported in a sustainable way is of great importance.
“It is also important to remember that art is a small sector in terms of emissions, but a key sector in changing society and culture to a more sustainable direction.”
Collaborators and partners
The project involves a number of key operators in contemporary art and art education in Finland: Frame Contemporary Art Finland, The Mustarinda Association, Kunsthalle Helsinki, the Artists’ Association of Finland, the Academy of Fine Arts of the Uniarts Helsinki and the Arts Academy of Turku University of Applied Sciences. Other expert partners include the EMMA – Espoo Museum of Modern Art, HIAP – Helsinki International Artist Programme, IHME Helsinki, the Finnish National Gallery, Finnish Museums Association, Pro Artibus Foundation and the Finnish Artists’ Studio Foundation.
The project is coordinated by Saara Korpela, who is currently also working as an eco-coordinator for IHME Helsinki and ANTI Contemporary Art Festival.
Image: Iris Suomi.