We have been taken aback by the response to London Art+Climate Week. There has been significant interest around this programme and I want to share a bit about how we got here and reflections on the five-day programme.

London Art+Climate Week was an experiment. GCC had a guiding hand, but the success and story of London Art+Climate Week is a reflection of the brilliant GCC community. This initiative was presented in collaboration with a GCC Active Member and was brought to life by the incredible community of members we have here in London. 

The gowithYamo team reached out wanting to collaborate with GCC on an in-app activation to spotlight GCC members. Thinking hard about the best formats to engage our membership across London, I had an idea for a ‘climate week’ meets ‘gallery weekend’ to align with COP30. When I began reaching out to GCC members in August, I had no expectation given that we were only three months away from delivery. But the response was overwhelming and the programme quickly grew to ultimately more than 25 participants and over 30 exhibitions and events. 

The majority of our programme drew on existing exhibitions and events. Where London Art+Climate Week succeeded most is in connecting these otherwise disparate independent events, exhibitions and activities under one umbrella to present them for what they are: a movement. 

Both within and beyond the art world, this year has been tumultuous. From the cost of living crisis to ongoing global conflicts and regressive politics, there is a palpable sense of uncertainty and unease. London Art+Climate Week was a much needed reminder of the importance of community, conversation and in-person connection. It was a reminder that climate is still something we collectively care about and desire opportunities to engage with.  In our first edition of London Art+Climate Week, each of our 11 events sold out with about 600 people in attendance.

As I visited (nearly) every exhibition and event in our programme, I was reminded of the power of the visual arts. Not just as a medium to tell affecting stories, but its ability to convene. In an age characterised by divisive and siloed digital experiences, art still gets us up and draws us in to share collective in-person experiences. This is where the real power of the arts lies and we have a responsibility to leverage this to encourage climate action. 

We are beyond grateful to everyone who participated in and attended London Art+Climate Week. We are digesting the feedback, press and response from the programme and are considering what this could look like as an annual event. We encourage any thoughts or reflections from the community to help feed into this.