Nature & Culture

Our actions

What the program has produced since November 2022: a traveling exhibition, two editions of MuseumWeek dedicated to the living, and a series of events at UNESCO.

The first initiative

“Red Coral Reign”: an oil-painted coral reef, red and mauve corals on a deep blue marine background.
Nikolina Kovalenko, “Red Coral Reign” — oil on canvas, 137 × 203 cm, 2020

"Reconciliation with the Living"

A traveling digital art exhibition bringing together artists working with the living and biodiversity. Opened at UNESCO headquarters in November 2022, on the occasion of the University of the Earth, it then traveled through Europe and the Middle East. It also names a movement that already existed: #Artists4theLiving.

Presentation Works Artists
ParisUNESCO Headquarters
November 2022
FlorenceAria Art Gallery
April 2023
LisbonArroz Estúdios
June 2023
DubaiArts DAO Fest
April 2024

MuseumWeek on the theme of the living

Two editions of the international museum week have brought the subject to the general public. Each day has its hashtag: participating institutions use it to publish, and the theme circulates across their combined audiences.

MuseumWeek 2023

#EnvironmentMW #OceansMW #SunMW #FoodMW

MuseumWeek 2024

#BiodiversityMW #NatureSelfieMW #UrbanNatureMW #WaterMW #CoexistMW

MuseumWeek events

At UNESCO

UNESCO has supported the program since its launch. Two major events were held there, beyond the exhibition opening.

November 26, 2022

“NFT & Environment”

A roundtable on the real footprint of blockchain, where four sector players unraveled what constitutes the measured impact of what NFTs can bring to the environmental cause.

The fact sheet and the recording

November 2023

42nd General Conference

A space dedicated to committed digital art on the theme of biodiversity, and the presentation of a series of three “Nature & Culture” videos co-produced with the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum and UNESCO. Added to this are expert interviews and a roundtable on cultural funding.

Documentation in progress
What remains to be documented

The appointments of the 42nd General Conference — the digital art space, the video series with the Guggenheim, the roundtable “Towards Strengthening Global Reflection and Dialogue on Cultural Financing” on November 17, 2023 at the Partners' Hub, and the interviews with the World Heritage Centre and the Communication and Culture sectors — are not yet recorded in our event log. Sources to be found.

The interviews of MuseumWeek Magazine

Eleven articles published throughout the program: artists, institution directors, and two overviews. Three of the interviewed artists exhibit in “Reconciliation with the Living” — their interview links to their profile.

In English, on museumweek2h1r4.substack.com.

  1. February 10, 2025

    Engaging the public with plants and seeds

    Susan Raikes, director of Wakehurst — botanical research and public engagement

  2. February 14, 2024

    Nikolina Kovalenko: Weaving Nature into Artistic Narratives

    Nikolina Kovalenko, artist — painting and video on coral bleaching. Artist page →

  3. January 26, 2024

    Museums and the Climate Crisis, a Hot Topic

    Nick Merriman, director of the Horniman Museum and Gardens — what museums can do in the face of the climate crisis

  4. January 15, 2024

    Nature and Culture Interwoven: Emma Talbot's Tapestry of Personal Narratives and Natural Elements

    Emma Talbot, British artist — silk paintings, installations, and animations

  5. December 19, 2023

    Anne Marie Price: Crafting a Sustainable Legacy in Mosaic Artistry

    Anne Marie Price, mosaic artist — ancient techniques and oceanic debris

  6. December 11, 2023

    Data Humanism: The Data That Shapes Our Lives. Interview With Giorgia Lupi

    Giorgia Lupi, information designer — making abstract data tangible

  7. November 27, 2023

    Sculpting New Life Forms Through Technological Artistry: the Art of Paweł Grzelak

    Paweł Grzelak, digital artist — the “Specimens” series, inspired by the deep sea. Artist page →

  8. November 20, 2023

    Story of the Artist Who Perfectly Bridges the Inert and the Living Through the Art of Code: Zancan

    Michaël Zancan, generative artist — from brush to code. Artist page →

  9. November 6, 2023

    The Many Shades of Nature in Victoria Obolensky's Art

    Victoria Obolensky, painter — seascapes, skies, and clouds

  10. May 17, 2023

    Greener Culture: How Museums and Galleries Are Embracing Sustainability

    Overview — eco-designed buildings, exhibitions, and practices of institutions worldwide

  11. June 12, 2020

    Aviv Grinberg: Turning Recycled Materials Into Art That Speaks of Society and Sustainability

    Aviv Grinberg, multidisciplinary artist — installations in recycled materials. Prior to the program, on the same subject

MuseumWeek Magazine

All appointments

Program events, in reverse chronological order.

Our role

Before the program

Benjamin Benita and Yann Arthus-Bertrand in the Verdeau passage, during the Quartier Art Drouot route.
© Luc Bouttier — Quartier Art Drouot, October 3, 2019

“Nature as Seen by Artists,” October 2019

Three years before the program launch, MuseumWeek partnered with the twenty-second edition of Quartier Art Drouot, on the same theme. Eighteen galleries in the 9th arrondissement each exhibited a work alongside a photograph by Yann Arthus-Bertrand, linked to the GoodPlanet Foundation which he chairs.

On the evening of the opening, MuseumWeek sits on the jury: the prize goes to “He never speaks,” presented by Gallery AB.

Event sheet