COP26FILM

Luke Fowler, Scotland, 16mm, 7 min, 2023

COP26FILM was shot in Fowler’s home city of Glasgow during the 26th UN Climate Change Conference (COP26) in 2021. Denied entry to the main “blue zone” the artist instead made daily walks around the periphery of the site recording the temporary infrastructure of the conference: security systems, cordons, and the omnipresence of police helicopters. Fowler offsets these displays of state power with a patchwork of alternative interventions that took place: mass protests, temporary squats, and the significance of the Minga Indígena, a collective of over 100 Indigenous leaders who travelled to Glasgow to claim representation and space at the conference.—Galerie Gisela Capitain

Luke Fowler (1978). 20+ films since 2001; exhibitions and screenings at venues including Whitechapel Gallery, Tate Modern, Documenta Madrid, Viennale, Courtisane Festival, Serpentine Gallery, Centre de Cultura Contemporània de Barcelona, Kunsthalle Zürich, Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, Berlinale, and Austrian Film Museum. Derek Jarman Award (2008), Radcliffe Fellow (2015–16), shortlisted for Turner Prize (2012). Lives in Glasgow, Scotland.