Built to Last

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) distils the work of thousands of leading climate scientists and produces reports to inform government policy making around the globe. As well as outlining the impacts of climate change, their latest report, published in April 2022, includes for the first time an entire chapter devoted to the social aspects of climate mitigation.

The chapter discusses a variety of potential ways to reduce society’s demand for energy and other carbon-intensive activities. Governments convene once again, this time in Egypt in November 2022, to discuss the degree to which those steps might be enforced.

Such historic events call on us to consider our communal and individual priorities and practices. In relation to the creation and preservation of objects, artworks and books, both in physical and digital form, questions arise: what are the resources they consume? What waste do they generate? What legacy do they leave behind?

Sustainability is shown to depend on the inter-reliance of three pillars: economy, society and environment. This display shows some items from the Special Collection and Archive that touch on these three aspects of the same issue. From the materials we use and the stories we tell, to the processes we select and the people we work with, the implications and possibilities for sustainable work are wide-ranging and require creative thinking.

Presented by the team at Leeds Arts University Library.

If you wish to undertake your own research into these or any associated topics please speak to a member of the Library team for assistance.

12 May - 15 July 2022 
Blenheim Walk Library, Leeds Arts University, LS2 9AQ

This exhibition is available to view from 10am-4pm Monday to Friday by appointment only for external visitors. Please email curatorial@leeds-art.ac.uk to make an appointment. Staff and students are not required to make an appointment.

Image: Untitled by Jane Aukland, photographed by Luke Staunton.