In the framework of the exhibition ECHOS II at the Alte Münze in Berlin, organized in collaboration with the Heinrich Böll Foundation and the Climate Cultures Festival, Fatim Benhamza, Aàdesokan Adedayo, Younes Ben Slimane and Hicham Houdaïfa share their views during the talk moderated by Elisabeth Piskernik.
Persistent droughts, water scarcity and more and more natural disasters – these are the effects of climate change that both Europe and (North) African countries are experiencing. Certain social groups are more affected than others, exacerbating existing inequalities, for some in life-threatening ways. It is the task of politics to develop laws and regulations that promote climate and environmentally friendly behavior and support affected groups – a balancing act between economic interests and social privileges.
In the exhibition ECHOS, five artists from Morocco, Nigeria and Tunisia deal with environmental problems in their context, their causes, the consequences and the role of humans in this globalized network and show how people in these countries experience the challenges.
In the current global context of economic and social inequalities, in the face of climate change and ever-increasing population migration, civil society is becoming more involved in the debate and committed to change. In Morocco, civil society actors are using long-forgotten knowledge to adapt to climate change.
As seismographs of society, artists expose grievances through their vision, discourse and work, develop new forms and ways of thinking, shake us up and raise our awareness.
But can civil society engagement through art and traditional know-how achieve change, a profound social, gender-just and ecological transformation – as called for by the Green New Deal – or even participate in it? What place do fiction, diverse narratives and civic engagement have in the dynamics of social change?
The talk is followed by the opening of the exhibition ECHOS II in the presence of the artists.
photo: Jan Michalko / Climate Cultures Network
Talk
ECHOS II
