Local Change, Regional Climate Collections

Local Change uses local knowledge, history and collections to make the everyday effects of man-made climate change tangible. Each year, it brings together a collaborative team including representatives from diverse regional institutions. These democratically elected groups assemble regional collections and curate programmes that communicate issues of climate adaption, change and justice specific to their local area.

No longer are the damaging effects of climate change represented as affecting only far-flung places. By emphasizing the role of often overlooked, under-utilized and under-funded local collections, the project helps to bring institutions together and re-frame the conversation locally. It helps to highlight the rapid transformation that climate change brings to all corners of UK. By advocating for the accession of new contemporary artifacts, the project also starts to assemble a unified picture of regional climate action into the future. This proactive writing of new transformative histories gives agency to local communities, at the same time highlighting the important role of diverse narratives in our collective future.

By delivering thought-provoking exhibitions in unexpected places, the project redefines the boundaries of the museum walls. With conversations around ecology, climate change and transition inseparable from personal narratives, it utilizes the powerful, enigmatic and persuasive force of local and national ‘identity’ for positive change. It is a form of local curatorial activism that rightfully treats climate breakdown as the fundamental issue of our time.

Project Team

Channel

Project Name

Local Change, Regional Climate Collections

Team Location

UK, London, West Midlands

Category

Arts, curatorial and creative practice