Exhibition Feature: Visual Cultures for Planetary Consciousness

Visual Cultures for Planetary Consciousness Written by Leo Robba and Anthony Capon

“We have lived our lives by the assumptions that what was good for us would be good for the world. We have been wrong. We must change our lives so that it will be possible to live by the contrary assumption, what is good for the world will be good for us. And that requires that we make the effort to know the world and learn what is good for it.”

Wendell Berry, The Long-Legged House (1969)1

ONA JANZEN Two weeks self-portrait 2017, (detail) photographic print on cotton photorag 140 x 90 cm.

It is clear we have reached a turning point in human history and it’s time for us to not only rethink the way we live but to fundamentally reassess what we value and how we care for the natural world – upon which we all depend.

The emerging science of planetary health links the things we do with the health of people and the health of the planet. Its aim is to provide a framework for us to reassess current practices and courses of action to safeguard the health of current and future generations.

Many of the ideas that underpin planetary health thinking provide mechanisms for us to visualise clearer, manageable pathways for collective responses and action. As ocular-centric beings living in a digital, highly connected and image driven world, this is now more crucial than ever before.

For First Nations people, land, culture, and health are inextricably entwined, and their deep spiritual connections to land are unique. It is recognised that in Australia much can be learnt from Traditional Owners, their practices, and relationship with Ngurra (Country) about how human societies could better thrive. This connection to Country, and the deep cultural knowledge of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples can provide guideposts for the way forward.

Art and visual storytelling are embedded in our understanding of history and of human culture. Pictures and artefacts help chronicle issues, customs and cultural traces from our past and, crucially, can help make sense of the world today. Art’s ability to translate human experiences across space and time, and to form part of society’s collective memory, is fundamental to human health and wellbeing. Art allows us to picture the world in tangible ways so we can reflect and reimage who we are and to envisage solutions to the complex challenges we face.

For many of us, we are so caught up in the current system of living it is hard to find time to slow down, to look, to feel, to rethink, and to find meaningful ways to act. If we are to change our relationship to the natural world and current exploitative behaviour, we must enact culture in order to picture new perspectives, visualise new stories and offer our young people messages of hope for their future.

For the Blue Mountains as a community, and as a city of the Arts, it is clear we value creativity and the uniqueness of our particular place. The recent drought, catastrophic fires and now the great challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic reassert our interdependence with natural systems. At once, these great challenges both reaffirm the region’s fragility, and the exquisite abundance of its remarkable ecosystems.

This year, as we celebrate the 20th Anniversary of the UNESCO World Heritage Listing of the Greater Blue Mountains Area it is important as a community to come together and ask, what should we do differently and what new picture can we paint for the Blue Mountains? More than ever before, art and creativity, alongside cultural institutions like the Blue Mountains City Art Gallery have a crucial role to play in supporting creative responses that enable ‘planetary consciousness’.