MAGICAL REALISM: Complexity, Diversity and Nature's Contribution to Humanity
The Magical Realism exhibition selected by Arte Laguna in Venice among 120 very best contemporary artists in the world of 2021 attracts attention to the biodiversity crisis. Driven by the fact that 69% of species populations have been lost since 1970 according to WWF, it focuses on making the importance and fragility of nature, particularly of tropical ecosystems visible and tangible, and how human cultures and the natural environment co-evolve, influencing and shaping each other.
National
Italy
Venice, Italy (2021) and Feltre, Italy (2022)
It addresses urban-rural linkages
It refers to other types of transformations (soft investment)
No
No
Yes
2022-12-20
As individual(s) in partnership with organisation(s)
First name: Stanislav Last name: Shmelev Gender: Male Please describe the type of organization(s) you work in partnership with: Environment Europe Foundation is a sustainability think tank. Nationality: United Kingdom Function: Executive Director Address (country of permanent residence for individuals or address of the organisation)<br/>Street and number: Environment Europe Foundation Stichting Fluwelen Burgwal 58, The Hague Humanity Hub Town: the Hague Postal code: 2511CJ Country: Netherlands Direct Tel:+44 7729 733366 E-mail:director@environmenteurope.org Website:https://environmenteurope.eu/art
Ecosystems are in danger: the world has lost around 68% of the world’s biodiversity since 1970 according to WWF. Ecosystems are playing a crucial role in stabilising our climatic conditions, provide us with water we drink, food we eat, fibers we use in clothing and furniture and biochemicals used in medicine. At the same time ecosystems generate oxygen and absorb carbon emissions. Ecosystems are pollinating the plants on which our livelihood entirely depends, purify water and process organic waste. Ecosystems provide inspiration for artists and are held sacred by communities in many countries. At the same time we, humans, and our economies are destroying them. The coronavirus pandemic the world experienced in 2020-2021 is a clear indicator of how deeply we have encroached upon our ecosystems.
This application focuses on several environmental art initiatives by Dr Stanislav Edward Shmelev, including ‘Ecosystems’ at Oxford University in 2018 ‘Magical Realism’ at Arte Laguna Prize in Venice in 2021, ‘Magical Realism’ at Villa San Liberale in 2022 and accompanying ‘Ecosystems: Complexity, Diversity and Nature’s Contribution to Humanity’ album, presentations and panel discussions lead by Dr Stanislav at the Club of Rome in 2018, UNFCCC COP23 in Bonn in 2017, UNFCCC COP23 in Katowice in 2018 and UN HABITAT World Urban Forum 2020. Ecosystems exhibition has been a large solo show with 32 artworks. Prof. Stanislav was selected among the worlds's 120 very best contemporary artists in the world at the Arte Laguna Prize Exhibition in Venice 2021. The Land of Venice brought together 18 artists selected from 120 leading contemporary artists from all around the world in 2022.
nature
ecosystems
biodiversity
art
environment
One of the key objectives in terms of sustainability of the environmental artwork 'Magical Realism' chosen among the 120 very best contemporary artworks in the world at Arte Laguna Prize is to draw the attention of the audience to the biodiversity crisis and call for intensification of efforts to save and restore the world's biodiversity. This is done through the exploration of the ecosystems of Colombia, one of the most diverse countries using the language of art. The project is exemplary because artwork has been selected by Arte Laguna Prize to be one of the world's very best contemporary artworks and the photography album, 'Ecosystems: Complexity, Diversity and Nature's Contribution to Humanity' by the artist, Dr Stanislav, also exhibited alongside the artworks, has received warm response and letters of support from HH Pope HH Pope Francis, HRH Prince Charles, HE President Minister Macron of France, HE Prime Minister Rutte of the Netherlands, HE Prime Minister Modi of India, famous filmmaker and BBC presenter Sir David Attenborough, former Director General of IUCN, former EC Commissioner for the Environment, professors from Spain, Brazil, UK and a Nobel Prize-winning climate scientist. The album presents the complex picture of what ecosystems do for us through a series of chapters devoted to water cycles, carbon sequestration, pollination etc, reaches the hearts of the audience and explains why we should care.
In terms of aesthetics and quality of experience, the art by Dr Stanislav Shmelev is offering a meditative exploration of the world's ecosystems. Through creating photographic images that reach the hearts of the audience, creating positive emotions, sooth and calm, engaging the audience through aesthetics, deep exploration of colour. The best way to characterise the aesthetics is perhaps to share the quotes from the visitors to Dr Stanislav's exhibitions: 'New and amazing, fantastic, quite unusual and very moving' (Ruth Seton), 'Very atmospheric' (Mark and Janet Casson), 'Stunning photography' (Adrienne Lingard). The famous art critic Prof. Martin Kemp wrote that these images 'Ask of hard and subtle looking, not least at systems of fragile beauty'. Sir David Attenborough commenting on the 'Ecosystems' album wrote 'I have no doubt it could be turned into a BBC documentary'. The project is absolutely exemplary because after being selected among 120 very best contemporary artists in the world in 2021, and further selected to just 18 artists for the Land of Venice exbibition, the artist has been invited to organise a solo show at Arsenale di Venezia in Venice. This opportunity could become a new milestone in aesthetic dialogue on environmental issues bringing up to 30 large works by Dr Stanislav Edward Shmelev from various points of his career, including 'Magical Realism', 'Arcadia' and 'Ecosystems' images.
In terms of inclusion, the projects have been free to attend: the Arte Laguna Prize exhibition at Arsenale di Venezia has been open to all interested parties and lasted for several months from October 2021 to December 2021. The Villa San Liberale exhibition was opened with a large public lecture where artists, including Dr Stanislav Edward Shmelev, were presenting their work, providing the context, commenting on the artistic practice and the methods. The images from this public lecture are attached to this application. Proving an opportunity for the audience to interact with the artist is exemplary as it allows to hear first-hand the narrative that the artist had in mind and tries to convey, the details of the artistic searches, the geography of travel, the philosophy of colour and techniques, the reflections on the chosen medium, contextualisation within the world of art and further examination of the environmental dimensions. The open discussion where the audience is freely invited to ask any questions is encouraging interest and dialogue. The artist-led exhibition tour definitely added to the experience.
The citizens benefiting from the project included various stakeholder groups: the fellow artists taking part in the exhibition alongside Dr Stanislav Edward, the artistic judges who included curators and museum directors, the staff at Arte Laguna Prize, the members of the audience both at Arsenale di Venezia including tourists in Venice and the local residents of Feltre who came to the opening of the Land of Venice, the online audience of the portal https://artelaguna.world/artist/shmelev-stanislav/ that came from all over the world could watch the opening ceremony of the Arte Laguna Prize exhibition. The involvement of these stakeholder groups: made the exhibition possible, provided the audience to engage with the artist and disseminate the ideas further, online audience benefited from the opportunity to witness the art without leaving their homes, thereby reducing environmental impact of travel.
Many different stakeholders came together to make the aforementioned exhibitions happen. First and the foremost, the Arte Laguna Prize, a non-profit foundation that exists since 2006 and represents an international contemporary art competition open to multiple art forms: visual, performing, multimedia etc. Next, the members of the artistic committee that is composed of the museum directors, curators, critics, journalists that made the actual selection. Then, the support team that greeted the visitors at Arsenale di Venezia, managed to hang all the artworks, organised the opening evening and supported the exhibition through the website. During the second exhibition within the Land of Venice, the owner of the Villa San Liberale has been very actively engaged opening the doors of the Villa to visitors from the surrounding communities, organizing the opening event, which included artist presentations and curatorial talks as well as the artist-led tours.
My artistic practice is inherently interdisciplinary. One the one hand, I am engaging with the immediate artistic methods of environmental photography inspired by the contemporary masters like Edward Burtinsky, David Maisel, Sebastiao Salgado, Daniel Beltra, Michael Kenna as well as the practical methods of photographic representation of reality using a mix of lens-based tools: digital photography for the Ecosystems project, medium format film photography for the Magical Realism project coupled with digital editing. On the other, my art is based on the underpinning philosophy of ecological economics and sustainability, expressed in my own books that emerged as a result of decades of research and teaching. Such examples could be my books: Shmelev (2012) 'Ecological Economics: Sustainability in Practice', Shmelev (2017) 'Green Economy Reader: Lectures in Ecological Economics and Sustainability', Shmelev (2019) 'Sustainable Cities Reimagined: Multidimensional Assessment and Smart Solutions'. The fields of conservation, ecosystem services, nature protection has all been reflected in the design and implementation of the project as is manifested in my album 'Ecosystems: Complexity, Diversity and Nature's Contribution to Humanity'. The unique synthesis of the disciplines involved resulted in environmental art that has been selected one of the best in the world.
The results, outcomes and impacts achieved by the project included: the Arte Laguna Prize exhibition at Arsenale di Venezia that took place between October and December 2021 and Land of Venice exhibition at Villa San Liberale, Feltre, Italy taking place between April 2022 and December 2022. The engagement with the art in the form of exhibition, artist talk, panel discussion, artist-led exhibition tour, direct engagement with decision makers affected a vast number of stakeholders. These stakeholders included but were not limited to: the audience at the Arte Laguna Prize and Land of Venice exhibitions, the participants of the artist talk and the artist-lead tour, the audience at the UN World Urban Forum and the UNFCCC Conference of Parties on Climate Change in Bonn and Katowice, the members of the Club of Rome, Members of the European Parliament representing Sweden, Finland and Germany as well as President of France, Prime Minister of the Netherlands, Prime Minister of India, Sir David Attenborough, former head of IUCN, former EU Commissioner for the Environment, professors from Sri Lanka, Brazil, Colombia, Spain, UK and other countries.
The innovative character of the project is determined by several factors: multimodality, high international level of exposure and political engagement. Multimodality: the project included not only static exhibitions of art (Oxford University, 2018, Arte Laguna Prize, 2021; The Land of Venice, 2022) but also publication of the album, 'Ecosystems, Complexity, Diversity and Nature's Contribution to Humanity', panel discussions at international forums: UN Habitat World Urban Forum in Abu Dhabi, UNFCCC COP on Climate Change in Katowice, 50th Anniversary Conference of the Club of Rome, artist talk and artist-lead exhibition tour as well as direct interactions with dignitaries and decision makers around the world. High international level of exposure has been essential contributing factor to the innovative nature of the project because it was an independent international panel of judges that included curators, journalists, museum directors that selected the work by Dr Stanislav Edward Shmelev among 120 very best in the world at Arte Laguna Prize. The political engagement has also been a critical element of the innovative character of the project because through this engagement the Presidens and Prime ministers of France, Netherlands, India as well as Members of the European Parliament from Sweden, Finland and Germany have been reached directly with the thoughtful and artistic message on preservation of biodiversity and ecological transformation. All the three mentioned elements in conjunction determined the unique nature of our project.
The Methodology used in the project is complex and, on the one hand, stems from ecological economics based on multidimensional treatment of ecosystems and environmental problems, the preference for physical approaches to assess environmental impacts as opposed to pure monetary aggregation, the focus on sustainable development as opposed to pure unadulterated economic growth. On the other hand, the project is inspired by generations of landscape artists and environmental photographers that have come before us. The names of these artists, some of which Dr Stanislav Edward Shmelev has met personally, include Sebastiao Salgado, Yann Arthus Bertrand, Edward Burtinsky, Michael Kenna, David Maisel, Daniel Beltra, whose work Dr Stanislav has studied intensely while undertaking his MA Photography degree at Falmouth University in the UK. The work of these artists has been analysed, appreciated and contextualised to provide the foundation and inspiration for future environmental photography by the artist. The third pillar of the project's methodology is the environmental ethics, the art and sustainability nexus, and the new critical approaches emerging in the field of art criticism and environmental philosophy. All three aspects of the methodology have provided a unique and complex foundation for the art and activist work by Dr Stanislav Edward Shmelev, who has created Environment Europe Limited think tank in Oxford, UK and Environment Europe Foundation in the Hague, the Netherlands.
The projects's methodology and concept as well as the framing will be replicated at a new retrospective exhibition of Dr Stanislav Edward Shmelev's art invited by Arte Laguna Prize to be held at Arsenale di Venezia in Venice in 2023. The forthcoming exhibition will include images from the three series of works: Magical Realism, Ecosystems as well as a new series named Arcadia. The exhibition will have thirty large scale works exhibited and will be accompanied by a mini conference open to all interested parties with participation of the head of WWF International, Director General of IUCN as well as MEPs from Germany, Sweden and Finland and the art critics, journalists, business people as well as all interested members of the public. The artist, Dr Stanislav Edward Shmelev will give a talk on the development of environmental photography and his own works in the context of the biodiversity crisis and the new push for the Green New Deal in Europe.
The project addressed a huge global challenge of biodiversity loss. 69% of the species populations have been destroyed by our economic activities since 1970 according to WWF. The values people hold is a factor of great importance that influences their behaviour and their actions vis à vis the environment. The language of art is capable of affecting these values through reawakening the interest and the consciousness of the people exploring the work of art. It is is this particular means that has been chosen to inspire and ultimately affect people to reconsider their relation with the environment and influence the decisions. Multiple visitors to the exhibitions, participants of the opening nights at both shows, decision makers and dignitaries, including HH Pope Francis, HE President Macron, HM King Charles, HE Prime Minister Rutte, HE Prime Minister Modi, Sir David Attenborough, former EC Commissioner for the Environment Potocnik, former IUCN DG Julia Marton Lefievre, Nobel Prize winning Professor Mohan Munasinghe, Professor Peter May (Brazil), Professor Joan Martinez-Alier (Spain), Professor Robin Attfield (UK), Honrary Editor of Resurgence and Ecologist Satish Kumar (UK), as well as participants of the events I held at the UN HABITAT World Urban Forum in Abu Dhabi as well as UNFCCC Conference of Parties in Bonn and Katowice, The 50th Anniversary Meeting of the Club of Rome and other events and the where the message was spread all have been influenced by the approach, the images and the environmental narrative that has been presented. The 'Ecosystems' album has also been delivered to MEPs representing several European Countries: Sweden, Finland, Germany. The impacts could be indirect but the audience has definitely been positively impacted by the project.
