Eco-Visionaries

Confronting a planet in a state of emergency

23 November 2019 — 23 February 2020

This exhibition is now closed

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Discover how architects, artists and designers are responding today to some of the most urgent ecological issues of our times.

From climate change to species extinction and resource depletion, the damaging effects of modern life are more tangible than ever. Eco-Visionaries examines humankind’s impact on the planet and presents innovative approaches that reframe our relationship with nature. Through film, installation, architectural models and photography, the works in this exhibition interrogate how architecture, art and design are reacting to a rapidly changing world, beyond mainstream notions of sustainability.

In the 1950s, scientists started raising serious concerns about the damaging effects of modern life on the environment. Since then, architects, designers and artists have joined the urgent effort to draw attention to the planet’s fragile and endangered ecosystem. 

This timely exhibition brings together international practitioners including Olafur Eliasson Hon RA, Ant Farm, Alexandra Daisy Ginsberg, Andrés Jaque, Tue Greenfort, Unknown Fields, Rimini Protokoll, Virgil Abloh and WORKac, amongst others. Their provocative responses are a wake-up call, urging us to acknowledge and become conscious of our impact on our environment.

Eco-Visionaries is a project initiated by Fundação EDP/MAAT (Lisbon, Portugal), Bildmuseet (Umeå, Sweden), HeK (Basel, Switzerland) and LABoral (Gijón, Spain), in collaboration with the Royal Academy of Arts (London, UK) and Matadero Madrid (Madrid, Spain).

Please note that this exhibition contains a video with occasional scenes of violence that some visitors may find distressing. If you have any questions please ask a member of staff.

23 November 2019 — 23 February 2020

Daily 10am – 6pm
Friday 10am – 10pm
The RA will be closed to the public on 24, 25 and 26 December.

£12 (without donation £10). Concessions available. Under-16s go free with a fee-paying adult. Free for Friends of the RA with no booking required.

The Gabrielle Jungels-Winkler Galleries, Burlington Gardens, Royal Academy of Arts