The Green Arts Collective: art to educate, evoke, and catalyse change
Emily Hanna
“Art changes people and people change the world.”
This quote from John Butler is at the heart of Green Arts Collective, who believe in the ability of art to educate, art to evoke, and art to catalyse change. One of the most recent standout pieces that the collective have promoted is an immersive piece by Anna Leckey called ‘That Sinking Feeling’ which was created with the intention to shock, to provoke a response from even the most complacent regarding the climate issues impacting our lives. The piece toured Belfast as part of COP26, drawing attention to the rising effects of global warming.
I met with Teresa Hill, who divides her time between her role as Green Arts Collective Co-ordinator and her work at the Queen’s University Centre for Sustainability, Equality and Climate Action, to discuss what has been going on with the Green Arts Collective.
Teresa told me that “the main ethos of the Green Arts collective is that we believe creativity and culture can – and should – lead the way for a greener Northern Ireland. If you want to do something, you’re part of it.” The collective’s inclusivity is what has helped it to build such a strong network of like-minded individuals. Since being founded in 2019, the collective has found a hub of around fifty artists, including art enthusiasts and art practitioners alike, who are connected by a shared goal of sustainability.
Speaking on sustainability in theatre specifically, Teresa spoke of the Theatre Greenbook, a document detailing what should be done to be as sustainable as possible in theatre. “Once one person has done it, it is easier for everyone else to do it” she says, as some of the biggest theatres in the UK have signed up for sustainability by following the Theatre Greenbook. “It’s also about sustainable buildings and sustainable productions”.
Teresa is also working with Green Arts Collective to gain ‘green accreditation’ for venues such as the Lyric Theatre, an accreditation to say that the venue operates as sustainably as possible. “The Playhouse in Derry/Londonderry have just been awarded a National Lottery Grant and are in the process of recruiting a climate action officer,” Teresa tells me. This role will be the first of its kind in Northern Ireland and will hopefully set a standard for other theatre companies in the hopes of reducing waste in theatres and productions.
The climate battle isn’t one that can be won by just one group, but it is heartening to see the Green Arts Collective creating an opportunity for artists to come together and do their part, leading the charge for climate sustainability through what they do and how they do it. Due to the pandemic, a lot of the work the collective partakes in has been online, which has the positive outcome of allowing the collective to extend over all of Northern Ireland.
The ethos of the Green Arts Collective is that we believe creativity and culture can and should lead the way for sustainability in Northern Ireland. If this speaks to you, Green Arts Collective have a Facebook page and newsletter, which you can subscribe to for a round-up of everything the collective has been working on.
Emily Hanna is a Culture reporter at The Scoop and an English student at Queen’s University Belfast.