The photo exhibition “Our Only World,” opened at the Smithsonian Institution in 1974, is conceivably the first example of a photo exhibition in which a national government consciously employed photographic eco-images to emphasize the complexity of environmentalism and to sanction specific behavioral patterns.
This essay will focus on the use of eco-images in unconventional visual environmental campaigns.
Museum exhibitions offer a unique space for creating a three-dimensional experience of the systemic interconnectedness that characterizes the Anthropocene, as well as encouraging reflection and participatory discussion. The Deutsches Museum has decided to tackle the challenges of this new age head-on and become the first museum to create a major exhibition on the Anthropocene. While curating an exhibition, we also tackle the question of how to “curate” the planet in its literal sense of taking care of it and curing it.
Michael Redclift analyzes “sustainable development” as a product of the Modernist tradition, arguing for a new vision of the world in which the authority of science and technology is questioned and more emphasis is placed on cultural diversity.
Robin Attfield presents and appraises Richard Sylvan’s trenchant critique of Deep Ecology and Warwick Fox’s illuminating reinterpretation and defence. A position intermediate between Deep Ecology and anthropocentrism is advocated, which has been called by Wayne Sumner “middle-depth environmentalism—a kind of continental shelf between the shallow and deep extremes.”
Bron Taylor examines the evolution of “green religions” in North America and beyond.
The book explores the cultural and religious significance of James Cameron’s film Avatar (2010).
A collection of essays examining the tortured environmental history of Pittsburgh, a region blessed with an abundance of natural resources as well as a history of intensive industrial development.
The article explores the possibilities of a new ethic that incorporates the phenomenon of environmental crisis and aims at changing people’s outlooks and behaviour.
