University of Hertfordshire Arts (UHArts) is delighted to host a group exhibition of works by artists Ackroyd & Harvey, Adam Chodzko, Emma Critchley, Ellie Harrison, Tom James, Katie Paterson, Michael Pinsky and Thomson & Craighead to reconsider the prevalent and far-reaching threat of climate change.

We all know that climate change is a reality – we witness extreme weather conditions and acknowledge the scientific data – yet communicating its impact effectively to instigate behavioural change and decision-making is one of the most serious challenges of our time.

This exhibition takes its name and impetus from Rob Nixon’s seminal book ‘Slow Violence and the Environmentalism of the Poor’ (2013) and proposes fresh examinations of climate change through this lens. Nixon proposes we reject the idea of ‘violence’ as explosive, immediate or sensational - features usually associated with climate change - and instead suggests the ‘violence’ of the phenomenon can be localised, durational, unrecognised, even invisible.

Working across film, photography, print and installation, the contributing artists challenge us to rethink the prevailing iconography and headlines. Rejecting melting ice caps and desertification, their visual interpretations introduce alternative narratives and questions, at times bringing them unnervingly close to home.

The Slow Violence exhibition, symposium and other events have been developed collaboratively by UHArts and the Contemporary Arts Practice Group, School of Creative Arts, University of Hertfordshire.

https://research.gold.ac.uk/id/eprint/27980