Resource Hungry: Our Cultured Landscape and its Ecological Impact
January 31–February 1, 2020
From January 31 to February 1, 2020, the Verbier Art Summit presents its fourth edition of free talks, in partnership with Jessica Morgan, Nathalie de Gunzburg Director of Dia Art Foundation in New York, who states, “This is a moment to reflect on doing less, better and for longer.” In the face of a rapidly expanding cultural world, the 2020 Summit asks how to envision a way forward in finding harmony between art, ecology and resources.
The 2020 Summit speakers include artists Jennifer Allora, Dominique Gonzalez-Foerster, Joan Jonas, Lucy Raven and Stefan Kaegi; architects Adrian Lahoud and Philippe Rahm; curator Elvira Dyangani Ose; philosopher Djamila Ribeiro; art historian Dorothea von Hantelmann and El Último Grito (academic designer duo Professor Roberto Feo & Rosario Hurtado).
The interdisciplinary Summit programme offers perspectives on a resource hungry epoch, focusing on the impact of humans on the landscape across art, design, architecture and engineering. It tackles a variety of subjects ranging from the history of land art; the resources consumed by art and institutions; engineering and repercussions of other man-made forms on the environment; real and imagined landscapes as well as the future of art in the context of ecological crisis.
Talks programme
Artist Joan Jonas opens the Summit by addressing the present dangers of climate change and extinction through her research on the natural world. Ideas on collective responsibility are offered by Brazilian philosopher and social activist Djamila Ribeiro, who says “it is not sustainable for one group to dominate the production of knowledge, life, and existence.” Current curator of Sharjah Architecture Triennial, Adrian Lahoud believes it is time to “radically rethink fundamental questions about architecture and its power to create and sustain alternative modes of existence.” This notion is also addressed by Swiss architect Philippe Rahm who claims “it is now necessary to redefine the language of our discipline.” The Summit concludes with Julie’s Bicycle, a London based charity that supports climate change and environmental sustainability.
Cultural programme
In addition to the talks programme, the Summit collaborates each year with several partners to present a collateral cultural programme at various locations around Verbier, including a film programme organised by the Biennale de l’Image en Mouvement (Andrea Bellini and Andrea Lissoni); a collaboration with HEAD – Genève, Haute école d’art et de design; an installation with the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC); live performances by Verbier Festival; guided tours in the Sculpture Park organised by Verbier 3-D Foundation, among others. The Summit is also delighted to announce continued partnership with the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR), working to protect and assist refugees worldwide.
About Verbier Art Summit
With the aim to educate, provoke and inspire, the Summit welcomes those with a love for art, innovation and ecology to participate in its two-day free talks programme in Verbier, or online via its live broadcasts on 31 January and 1 February 2020. Anneliek Sijbrandij, the Summit’s Founder and Director, says, “Art changes minds. We believe in the power of bringing innovative thinkers together with influential art people. Together, an annual task force is created where new visions and initiatives are born that will make a positive change and build global solidarity.”
The Summit is a resource for wider discussion. As such, the talks programme is archived digitally and to expand the conversation into a global dialogue, the speakers contribute to the Summit publication series, published by König Books, and available online and in art bookshops worldwide.
The Verbier Art Summit is an international platform for discourse in a non-transactional context. In partnership with a yearly rotating international museum director, the non-profit Summit connects thought leaders to key figures in the art world to generate innovative ideas and drive social change. To attend the Summit or for more information, visit verbierartsummit.org/2020 or follow on social media Instagram: @verbierartsummit Twitter: @verbierartnow.
