How Swiss artists are joining in the climate change debate

Fifteen people stand with their backs to the camera, half naked, with save the climate written on their underwear. — “I hope the work has an effect on people, looking and thinking in a different way – trying to figure out what climate change means to them.” Glaciers are at the forefront of climate change in Alpine resorts like Verbier, canton Valais, where this photo was taken. The resort population expands from around 4,000 residents in summer to 40,000 visitors in winter. Olaf Breuning – Save The Climate! (Olaf Breuning, 3-d foundation) olaf breuning / 3-d foundation

Fountain on fire. — ‘And Beneath It All, Flows Liquid Fire’ by Julian Charrière. The artist uses the life force of a fountain together with fire as a reference for hell. Video loop, 2019, MASI, Lugano. (Julian Charrière) Julian Charrière, ProLitteris Zurich, VG Bild-Kunst Bonn, Germany, 2019 / Jens Ziehe

Darkened background with stone bored with holes — ‘Towards No Earthly Pole’ installation by Julian Charrière, 2019. (ProLitteris Zurich, VG Bild-Kunst Bonn, Germany, Jens Ziehe) Jens Ziehe/photographie

Artwork by Klaus Littmann — 'For Forest – The unending attraction of nature'. Swiss artist Klaus Littmann planted 300 trees in an Austrian football stadium. The installation was open to the public and attracted 200,000 visitors in 2019. The idea was taken from an original sketch by Max Peintner. (Keystone/Wolfgang Huber-lang) Keystone / Wolfgang Huber-lang

Art work by Max Peintner — Max Peintner's 'The unending attraction of nature', pencil drawing 1970/71, hand coloured by Klaus Littmann 2018. (Max Peintner/Keystone) Keystone / Max Peintner

Images from «Everything is up in the air, thus our vertigo» by Yann Mingard — 'Everything is up in the air, thus our vertigo'. An exhibition by Yann Mingard, whose latest work offers an insight to the world’s ecological drift. (Yann Mingard / Musée de l'Elysée) Yann Mingard

Polar bear print — “The print of this polar bear is original size, printed on four sheets of paper, as there is no printing machine that could print the original size. There is no size scaling involved, optically or digitally. It’s literally as if the animal rested on the paper” writes Michael Günzburger. (Michael Günzburger, Polar Bear, 2017, Lithography on Paper, 220 x 150 cm, 4 sheets, each 110 x 75 cm) Michael Günzburger

Polar bear on Svalbard — “This picture was taken two weeks before the polar bear was found dead from natural causes, close to a place called Texas Bar on Svalbard. The photo was taken from a Helicopter by the veterinary doctor on the team of the Norwegian Polar Bear research group." (Photo: Morten Tryland / Michael Günburger) Morten Tryland

Art print of a plastic bottle — Étienne Krähenbühl made prints that recorded his family’s daily use of plastic related to food consumption. Using food packaging and plastic grocery bags, the artist made 730 prints over one year. (Étienne Krähenbühl) Étienne Krähenbühl

A sculpture made from plastic gloves — VORTEX is a temporary totem made with the 5000 gloves used by Etienne Krähenbühl to produce the prints that outline the plastic food wrappings used by the artist and his wife over a year - 730 prints in one year. Étienne Krähenbühl

Glaciers draped with cloth, two people walk along the steps. — 'Agony of the Glacier'. It is estimated that the Rhone Glacier loses between six and eight metres in thickness each year. (Laurence Piaget-Dubuis) Laurence Piaget-Dubuis

Glaciers draped with cloth. — 'Agony of the Glacier'. Piaget writes: “When a living being dies and his death approaches, their body temperature drops and their body cools down. The health of the Earth's climate is also based on temperatures. Its disruption has an impact on the disappearance and appearance of ecosystems.” (Laurence Piaget-Dubuis) Laurence Piaget

Swiss glaciers are slowly retreating as average temperatures in the small Alpine nation rise faster than in the rest of the world. Here is a selection of works by Swiss artists trying to come to terms with the global climate crisis.

This content was published on December 7, 2019 - 11:00

Born in England, I've lived in Switzerland since 1994. I trained as a graphic designer in Zurich between 1997 – 2002. More recently I have moved on to work as photo editor and joined the team at swissinfo.ch in March 2017.

Switzerland’s identity, so closely tied to its climate, is changing as the country slowly warms. Whereas in the past, it was mostly scientists and journalists who told these tales, artists are now stepping into the mainstream debate.

The Swiss art scene wasn’t late in getting involved in discussions about the climate. Back in the 1980s, fashion photographer and artist Michel ComteExternal link was a key figure in the “climate change art” movement.

Fast forward to 2019. ProHelvetia, the country’s arts council, has teamed up with the Swiss Polar Institute to launch a pilot project, known as PolARTSExternal link, that brings together artists and scientists.

So, are political institutions more willing to hand out grants for art projects if they focus on climate change? We asked Philippe Bischof, director of the Swiss arts council Pro Helvetia.

“There are examples of councils or organisations (like the Arts Council England in collaboration with Julie’s BicycleExternal link) which are focusing explicitly on ecological projects and even prioritise ecological projects in the grant-making process or in their awards-policy,” he explained.

“It is too early for us at Pro Helvetia to say how exactly this will be defined, but we are exploring what policies to develop. One option would be to reward projects that reflect ecological issues as long as they are convincing in their quality whilst also having a low ecological footprint (e.g. if artists take the train instead of the plane).”

These are the major ongoing climate-related art programmes in Switzerland

SMArtExternal link: their programme, which receives federal and private sponsorship, aims to take climate-focused art out of the galleries and into schools to educate the next generation. Chosen artists participate in three-month residencies in cantons Ticino, Uri or Graubünden.

ALT. +1000External link: is a photo festival in Switzerland for the “promotion of the culture and heritage of mountain regions”, whose headquarters are based in Le Locle.

3-D FoundationExternal link: The non-profit organization is dedicated to creating contemporary art to promote environmentalism, education, and culture.

All the artworks shown are courtesy of the artists.

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