Panel | Kunst = Macht
The influence of art on the climate crisis
Art is powerful. For centuries, it has been used to convey political messages, both by those in power and by activists. Cartoons influence elections, and presidents censor museums. But how exactly does the power of art work? In this programme, we explore how art can influence public debate and policymaking around the climate crisis.
What works, and what doesn’t? How can cultural institutions and artists collaborate, what do they need from one another, and who bears which responsibilities?
At Art = Power, artists and cultural institutions come together to explore these questions through inspiring examples. The aim is to ensure that the power of art can be harnessed not only by those in power, but by all of us.
Moderated by Dymphie Braun, the conversation will bring together the following guests:
Pinopotato is a socially engaged artist and visual strategist. She creates large-scale installations, develops creative concepts, and is dedicated to making left-wing politics sexy.
Bureau Vergezicht is a theatre company that creates investigative and immersive stories about power, climate, and responsibility, including the award-winning production De zaak Shell (The Shell Case). The company explores the role of artists in a world facing the climate crisis, encouraging citizens, multinational corporations, and policymakers to reflect and take action far beyond the theatre.
Jurry Oortwijn is Head of Marketing and a member of the Management Team at Paradiso, Amsterdam’s iconic music venue. He leads communications, contributes to the organisation’s strategic innovation, and ensures that its cultural and social impact reaches both local and global audiences.
Since its founding, Paradiso has been much more than a concert venue: it brings together music and nightlife with activism, counterculture, and open dialogue. Jurry’s work builds on this legacy, helping Paradiso remain both a stage for world-class artists and a platform for cultural and social exchange.
Warming Up Festival
This year, Warming Up Festival is not asking how you can live more sustainably. It is asking why so many people, especially young people, have tuned out of a conversation that may affect them more than anyone.
Not out of indifference, but because of mental exhaustion. Because of climate anxiety and guilt. Because of a system that places the emphasis on individual responsibility, while the biggest polluters and fossil fuel subsidies largely remain out of the spotlight. And sometimes also because a climate movement that seems to demand perfection rather than participation.
You can’t save the world alone. Fortunately, you don’t have to. Warming Up Festival therefore takes a different approach: solidarity instead of penance.
For three days, the festival brings together art, journalism, music and conversation around the question of how individual choices relate to systems that are largely beyond our control, and where we can actually make a difference as a collective. It is a festival that makes room for imperfection, for doubt and for new forms of engagement.
More information and the complete program can be found here.
About our event partners
Art = Power is a platform that explores the political influence of art and brings together artists, academics and organisations to bring about social change through art. The platform was founded by art historian Isabel Heijne. Under the motto ‘everything is art if you look closely enough’, she writes about art in various outlets, including her newsletter Lekker Kijken, on NPO Radio 1 and in 'de Volkskrant'.
More information: https://www.isabelheijne.com/k...
