From 8 November (today) a powerful new public artwork by Jenny Holzer, HURT EARTH, will illuminate Scottish landmarks to draw attention to the climate crisis and coincide with COP26, the 26th annual United Nations summit on climate change.
Launched at the Tate Modern in London from 29 to 31 October, Holzer’s light projections bathed the building’s iconic chimney in a collection of aching, inspiring and expert testimony from more than 40 activists, leaders and many others addressing the climate crisis. This formed part of a weekend of free events and activities at Tate Modern to raise awareness and inspire action. The artwork will now travel to Scotland to light Castle Rock, below Edinburgh Castle (in collaboration with Historic Environment Scotland), while a version of the artwork will be projected on the outside of the SEC Armadillo; the official Blue Zone of COP26 in Glasgow on 8 November which will be visible from across the Clyde from 7-9pm, followed by the iconic ‘People Make Glasgow’ Met Tower in the heart of the city centre from 9 to 11 November, succeeded by a series of pop-up locations in Edinburgh from 12 to 14 November.
IF WE CHOOSE
TO ACT TOGETHER THERE ARE NO LIMITS
TO WHAT WE CAN ACCOMPLISH
Greta Thunberg
Jenny Holzer is known for work that deploys text to invite public debate and highlight social and political justice. Recent projects include YOU VOTE, a series of public artworks displayed in swing states across the US to encourage voting in the 2020 presidential and congressional elections. Through this latest project, HURT EARTH, Holzer asks the public to make their voices heard and take action in the global fight against climate change, when our planet is at a crucial tipping point.
Countless people are starving and displaced from preventable climate disasters. Here is tremendous destabilizing cruelty. ~ Jenny Holzer
Co-curated and produced by Artwise Curators and Shore Art Advisory, the series is presented in collaboration with Art For Your World, a movement by WWF to engage the art world in the fight against climate change. The artwork includes excerpts of writings, testimonies, speeches and interviews from climate leaders and activists across the globe, including Climate Vulnerable Forum, Fridays for Future, Indigenous Environmental Network, Institute for Climate and Sustainable Cities, U.S. Climate Action Network, WWF and many more.
COP26 takes place in Glasgow from 31 October to 12 November 2021 and will see world leaders, government representatives, business and citizens come together for twelve days of talks about climate change.