“No witchcraft, no enemy action” had produced our “stricken world
The people had done it themselves” – Rachel Carson, 1962

At the bottom of every climate protest is a singularly desperate cry for help, a clarion call for all civil society to rise in action against environmental corruption and criminal degradation of vulnerable ecologies. To face or ‘deface’ isn’t the question, the protection and guardianship of the environment for future generations is front and centre of all climate action. According to mainstream science, all life depends on it.

Tracing the history of climate activism, REVOLT featured performances, dialogue, painting, sculpture, and multi-media that explored civil society’s role and response to industrial-scale destruction of the earth’s ecosystems to re-imagine a decolonised future, with a focus on repairing and regenerating the natural world.

Through REVOLT, the artists were the activists who responded to the best available science, addressing systemic injustices and interrogating the notion of civic responsibility.

Artists
Annie Bolitho, Melissa Corbett, Olga Dziemidowicz, Mark Edwards, Kate Gorringe-Smith, Julian Meehan, Sarah Metzner, Simon Rigg, Tharshiv Suresh, Jahan Xanlü, as well as CLIMARTE  and ClimActs ‘Creativists’.

Creative Producer, Gomathi Suresh.

Exhibition Details
Where: CLIMARTE Gallery, 120 Bridge Rd, Richmond
When: 15 March – 22 April 2023

Public Events
REVOLT Discussion – 20 April 2023
Led by REVOLT’s creative producer Gomathi Suresh, an inclusive conversation with Dr Joan Staples, Honorary Principal Research Fellow, School of Global, Urban and Social Studies at RMIT University and author of Guarding Eden: Champions of Climate Action, performative climate activist and CLIMARTE Chair Deborah Hart.
For event details, click here

REVOLT Closing Performance – 22 April 2023
REVOLT’s Closing Performance, CLIMARTE was proud to be collaborate with the Towards an Australian Ecological Theatre ARC Discovery Project based in the School of Culture and Communication at the University of Melbourne. Serendipitously timed on Earth Day, led Dr Lara Stevens and featuring an ensemble of young performers, a part-scripted, part-interactive performance based on Australia’s ‘revolutionary’ ruling (2021) that leaders have a common law duty of care to protect young people’s futures from harms caused by climate change, and the former Federal Environment Minister Sussan Ley’s successful Appeal (2022) of it.
For event details, click here

REVOLT Works List pdf >

REVOLT Artist Statements pdf >

REVOLT Exhibition Statement pdf >

Climate Guardians Procession: REVOLT Video

REVOLT was honoured to exhibit artworks on paper produced by local ‘school strikers for climate’ in collaboration with the City of Yarra’s Climate Emergency Team, Melbourne Girls’ College and CLIMARTE.