The Vancouver Art Gallery has opened "Future Geographies: Art in the Century of Climate Change," a major climate-themed exhibition featuring over 30 Canadian and international artists. The show takes an environmentally conscious approach: artworks were shipped by land only, text panels were printed on recycled cardboard from the gallery's gift shop, and a website replaces the traditional catalogue. The exhibition is divided into four thematic sections—Living Knowledge, Consumed Earth, Speculative Worlds, and Material Memory—and includes works such as Teresita Fernández's charcoal map of the world, Brian Jungen's whale skeleton made from plastic chairs, and Liz Larner's installation of discarded plastic bottles.
This exhibition matters because it represents a significant institutional effort to address climate change through art without resorting to didacticism or preaching. Curator Eva Respini, the VAG's interim co-director, emphasizes that artists are neither journalists nor scientists, yet the show effectively documents humanity's environmental impact while also exploring speculative futures. By implementing sustainable exhibition practices and featuring artists who use recycled materials and powerful visual metaphors, the VAG demonstrates how museums can align their operations with their messaging, potentially setting a precedent for other institutions grappling with how to present climate-themed art in an engaging, non-preachy manner.