QAGOMA Talks: Beyond Eco Anxiety — A response
QAGOMA — Water/Beyond Eco-Anxiety (source):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UKhkqosReMQ
Periodically the Gallery of Modern Art in Brisbane hosts discussion nights, typically centred around big ideas and concepts that are presently within the societal consciousness, presented in panel fashion. The panel is hosted by Paul Barclay of ABC Radio National, who is joined by four panellists from backgrounds pertinent to the topic discussed. The most recent of such panels was ‘Beyond Eco-Anxiety’ (hosted on the 20th of February 2020), a discussion on what Eco-Anxiety is, and how to move beyond it. The panel consisted of:
- Jamie Graham — Aboriginal Activist and Ecologist in Training
- Thomas King — CEO of think tank Food Frontier
- Kate McBride — Grazier and Healthy River Ambassador
- Varsha Yajman — Activist and member of Australian Youth Climate Coalition
While the event was to focus around discussion on Eco-Anxiety, this soon fell by the wayside as the subject of practical management and problem solving was brought up, with Kate McBride and Jamie Graham leading conversation.
During this time, the topic of indigenous land management techniques came up, in particular cultural burnings, and sustainable harvesting practices. Jamie Graham weighed in on cultural burnings, attesting to their importance but also acknowledging that they weren’t the ultimate solution:
“I’ve noticed on social media and even in mainstream media, were talks about cultural burning’ — ‘It’s important to note cultural burning is not the silver bullet to this problem’ (but also) ‘ you can’t take bits and pieces of our culture, you need to acknowledge all the things and bits and pieces that come with it’ (as these) ‘practices have been fine-tuned over a millennia”
Kate McBride expressed willingness on their part, and on the part of farmers, to change practices to be more sustainable in nature, and for them to learn more on indigenous land management techniques, with respect. They noted:
“I think a lot of farmers our days are ready to start having those kinds of conversations” (about sustainable practices and climate change)
As well as acknowledging the responsibility farmers have stating:
“I think our farmers have an important role to play to look after the environment”
While the other panelists stressed the importance of accepting responsibility, and holding accountable responsible parties, Thomas King threw bones of contention in, taking an almost contrarian stance on how to take action, with language that at worst felt like blatant product placement and attempts to seed brand recognition, and at best, half-hearted counter-points, with much of their talking points focusing on consumer responsibility, and diffusing collective responsibility, repeating numerous times throughout the discussion:
“Pointing fingers and placing blame just causes more division and more polarization”
It is worth noting that a 2017 study from the Climate Accountability Institute found that 100 companies are responsible for 71% of global emissions.
Furthermore, when the subject of activism arose, Thomas King was quick to distance themselves with — :
“I wouldn’t self-describe as an activist,’ — ‘though I certainly started that way when I was much younger”
- but were quick to layout their activists credentials, namely that in the realm of consumer information surrounding palm oil. Throughout much of the panel they followed a similar pattern, teetering on some invisible precipice, somewhere between green minded and your typical business man, producing a generally unappealing brokering culminating in a toothless brand of woke capitalism.
As the event began drawing to a close, Varsha Yajman, as the youngest panelist was asked their thoughts on the generational aspect that has been at the center of much of the discourse surrounding climate change. After sharing an anecdote on what they had noticed among peers and family they stated:
“I think it just comes down to if you care about it or not”
They spoke heavily on involving oneself with activism, and using that as an opportunity to force policy change, but acknowledged that it was ‘demotivating’ seeing no action being taken from the Federal Government, especially after School Strike 4 Climate turned out 350, 000 attendees.
Ultimately, the topic of Eco-Anxiety was never to be revisited, nor the topic of how to move beyond that feeling of despair. The final question offered to the panel was what they do to keep moving forward in spite of the threat of climate change, and the panelists responded with a general chorus of taking action and doing what one can, summed up perfectly by Jamie Graham with:
“Find your group of people, then do something together and enact some form of change”
The event closed with a spoken word performance from Lisa Sipaia Baker, a Pacific Climate Warrior who, as well as acknowledging that sovereignty of Australia’s indigenous was never ceded, told the story of her home and its dubious honour of being potentially the first country to be completely submerged from rising sea levels. They touched on class and wealth inequality, and how those conditions would be exasperated by climate change, and closed with a call to action to ‘dismantle the fossil fuel industry.
While the topic of Eco-Anxiety was not as pertinent as the event name would imply, and often times the conversation lacked the optics to adequately address particular facets of climate change, such as the need to radically and drastically change how we function in terms of society and in terms of production (as laid out in this UN report), events like these are important. By hosting these talks free for the public, GOMA helps promote genuine discourse and discussion on these matters. During the aftermath of the event, it’s almost impossible not to miss the buzz of discussion among the audience as they filed out, many picking apart what they had just heard, and offering their own critiques and analyses of the situation. And while climate change is still a pressing issue, it’s hard not to imagine many of the audience going home thinking about the steps they can take to not only lower their carbon footprint, but what collective action they can take to force action and change from a government, and system, who refuse to lift a finger in the face of climate change. And while it doesn’t tell us how to move beyond Eco-Anxiety, it might help empower people to take action against the root of the issue, and in that sense, this event can be considered a success.
Written by Christopher James Bingham
