conscient podcast

e93 anthony garoufalis-auger – national cultural climate policy

Episode Summary

My conversation with climate emergency organizer Anthony Garoufalis-Auger on Dec 10, 2021, at a CPAMO panel about art and climate where Anthony talked about our need for massive culture change and how lessons from the past can inform national cultural policy.

Episode Notes

• 'The economic models and the way that policy is guided in Canada and around the world at the moment assumes that culture will not change. It assumes that we're self interested individuals, which science is now showing us that that is not the case. We're actually very collaborative and that are ancient cultures and traditional cultures around the world already knew this but we're assuming we're continuing to plan the economy under these old assumptions, that are just no longer useful and no longer actually accurate. What needs to happen now is a massive culture change and what's interesting in from the lessons world war II is that we know that this has been done in the past and very rapidly. While we sometimes fall into cynicism and think that things can't change, in the face of this particular issue, these lessons, I think are very important to learn from and I think can be applied to national cultural policy.'

I first met Anthony in my work with the Sectoral Climate Arts Leadership for the Emergency (SCALE) coordinating circle in April 2021. Since then, we have had many conversations about climate activism and art. 

Anthony is a Montreal-based climate emergency organizer and public affairs strategist. His work focuses on shifting the climate discourse in Canada from incrementalism to emergency-mode action. I had the honour of moderating the CPAMONational Cultural Policy and arts in Response to Climate Change panel with Anthony as one of the presenters on December 10, 2021 (along with Santee Smith, see episode 92 and Devon Hardy, see episode 94). Anthony shared his deep knowledge of cultural and climate policy and his passion for rapid and transformative change, notably lessons from Seth Klein’s A Good War. I’m with you in that, Anthony! 

This Anthony’s second conscient podcast episode. Our first conversation was in French, see https://www.conscient.ca/podcast/e56-garoufalis-auger-surmonter-les-injustices/ where we talked about sacrifice, injustices, strategies, activism, youth, art, culture, climate emergency and disaster. 

This is one of 6 episodes recorded during the Gathering Divergence Multi-Arts Festival & Conference Fall 2021 | Art in the Time of Healing: The Importance of IBPOC Arts in Planetary Renewalevent from December 8 to 10, 2021 in Toronto.

The others are:

• episode 90, my conversation with dance artist, choreographer, director and embodiment facilitator Shannon Litzenberger and reading her State of Emergence: Why We Need Artists Right Now essay
• episode 91, my conversation with Keith Barker, artistic director of Native Earth Performing Arts, including a reading of his new 5 minute Climate Change Theatre Action play, Apology, My at the end of this episode
• episode 92, a presentation (including audience questions) by Santee Smith, artistic director of Kaha:wi Dance Theatre from the National Cultural Policy and arts in Response to Climate Change panel
• episode 94, a presentation (including audience questions) by Devon Hardy from the National Cultural Policy and arts in Response to Climate Change panel
• episode 95, my conversation with CPAMO Executive Director Charles Smith and artistic programmer Kevin Ormsby from a keynote address including excerpts from their conversation about the Living in the Skin I am In: Experiential Learnings, Approaches and Considerations Towards Anti-Black Racism in the Arts publication

Santee Smith (see episode 92), me (from my laptop and the room), Anthony and Devon Hardy (see episode 94) at CPAMO 

National Cultural Policy and arts in Response to Climate Change

 panel, December 10, 2021