ABSTRACT
In March 2003, Senator Barbara Boxer of California brought a series of photographs to the US Senate floor. The photographs, from the book Arctic National Wildlife Refuge: Seasons of Life and Land by photographer Subhankar Banerjee, depicted the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Banerjee had taken the photographs over the course of two years, travelling 4,000 miles by kayak and snowmobile, on foot and on raft, with Iñupiat guide Robert Thompson. Art can be a powerful tool in the fight for climate justice. Unlike newspaper articles, presentations, research reports, and lectures, art conveys ideas by creating an experience, rather than a specific message to be heard or read and then assimilated. Art-making and art-viewing are available to everyone. Though certain forms of art are limited to privileged environments, art can—and does—originate from and exist in democratic spaces. Art can be a critical way for marginalized communities to participate in the climate change conversation.
