Working Group: Exhibition Ecologies

In recent years, interest in the interface between art and ecology has grown significantly both within exhibition research and the environmental humanities. Nevertheless, a consolidated field of research that systematically links ecological perspectives with the analysis of exhibition practices and contexts is still lacking.

Against this background, the Exhibition Ecologies working group was founded in 2024. Its aim is to analyse exhibitions from an ecological, infrastructural, epistemic and aesthetic perspective and to establish an international network of researchers. The working group views exhibitions as cultural formats in which economic, technological, political and historical conditions and contexts are condensed - and which at the same time react to current ecological crises or are themselves part of these developments.

The overarching aim is to explore the critical potential of ecological narratives in curatorial and artistic contexts. At the same time, exhibition contexts will be contrasted with appropriations by greenwashing and scrutinised for their supposed political potential. Particular attention will be paid to the interactions between ecological issues and increasingly smart digital technologies, for example with regard to resource consumption, media infrastructures and the role of digital imagery in exhibitions.