Feedforward: Curating in a Climate Crisis 2
- 3 days ago
- 2 min read
On the 19th of March 2026, Looking Forward convened the second iteration of its Feedforward series Curating in a Climate Crisis, bringing together curators and researchers to address the role of curatorial work within the climate and ecological emergency.
This Feedforward session, hosted at Gasworks in London, and convened by Francesca Fantoni, Assistant Curator at Looking Forward, brought together curators from major UK institutions. Participants contributed expertise across diverse interdisciplinary contexts, including digital art and generative AI, regenerative material design and low-carbon materials, food systems and agroecology, and environmental policy.
The session focused on the challenges of embedding long-term, research-led and care-driven approaches within institutional structures often shaped by commercial priorities and short-term metrics. Participants discussed the curator’s role as a mediator between artists and systems, highlighting the invisible labour required to sustain ethical and ecological working practices.
Key themes included the tension between ecological values and institutional demands, the need for new ways of measuring impact and the shift from exhibition-making towards long-term stewardship of materials and relationships.
The session was structured as a closed, peer-to-peer exchange, prioritising open conversation over formal presentation. Contributions focused on lived professional experience, unresolved questions and shared challenges.
With thanks to the participants:
Anna Bates: Curator of Product and Furniture (1900 - Now) at the V&A; lead for Make Good: Rethinking Material Futures.
Madeleine Collie: Curator at Stanley Picker Gallery and founder of Food Art Research Network.
Laura Herman: Curator of Digital Art at the V&A and co-founder of Utrecht University’s Inclusive AI Lab.
Janice Li: Head of Curatorial Programme at Future Observatory, Design Museum.
The Feedforward series is a platform for research, dialogue, exchange and networking. These sessions bring together curators, practitioners and thinkers to discuss critical topics and explore opportunities for collaboration. Past sessions have examined creative wellbeing practices in London institutions, the legacy of slavery, socio-political dynamics in Tijuana, and cultural practices that bridge Morocco and Europe.
