How Can Art Spark Environmental Action? Reflections from a Workshop on Environmental Artivism in Kuala Lumpur

On 13–14 May 2025, my collaborators and I hosted a two-day workshop at the British Council Malaysia, bringing together environmental artists, activists, and researchers to explore a central question: How can art spark environmental action? In this piece, we're reflecting on the work we've done and what we're looking forward to in this collaboration between Malaysian and UK artists, activists, and researchers.

Through interactive sessions and activities, participants examined how art can influence everything from policy to personal behaviour. The event culminated in a public forum, Artivism: Imagining Futures of the Anthropocene, with contributions from panellists Shaq Koyok, Catriona Maddocks, Jillian Ooi, and Eliana Tan, which opened up the conversation to wider local and global perspectives on art’s role in the climate crisis.

The workshop is part of a broader research collaboration between the University of York (Felicia Liu, Christopher Lyon), LSE (Thomas Smith), and Universiti Malaya (Helena Varkkey), investigating how artivism—the fusion of art and activism—can serve as a powerful tool for climate communication, education, and resistance.

Bridging Worlds Through Art

We’re pleased to have hosted artists practising a range of art forms, from painting, sketches, printmaking, sculptures, to music, poetry, and performing arts. Despite coming from diverse artistic, academic, professional, and personal backgrounds, participants found common ground in one key idea: art serves as a powerful bridge in environmental action. It connects across silos—between disciplines, sectors, and geographies.

Art can bridge regions, linking East and West Malaysia, creating dialogue across Southeast Asia, and even fostering understanding between the so-called Global North and South. By sharing lived experiences and stories of environmental change, art makes distant issues feel immediate and personal.

It also plays a crucial role in amplifying Indigenous voices and worldviews, which are too often marginalised in mainstream environmental policy debates. Art offers a platform for these perspectives to be seen, heard, and felt.

Moreover, art humanises environmental science. By translating scientific knowledge into emotionally relatable and contextually sensitive forms, it makes environmental messages more relatable to both policymakers and communities to drive action.

Art also bridges between NGOs and grassroots movements by creating a shared space to communicate urgent, progressive messages that might otherwise be lost in more conventional advocacy.

Empowering and Equitable Models of Collaboration

Building bridges between art, science, and activism requires more than goodwill—it calls for equity and empowerment. Participants stressed the importance of shared values, clear goals, and ongoing communication, alongside a conscious effort to address power imbalances—social, institutional, and financial—to ensure mutual benefit.

Collaboration should create inclusive spaces where marginalised voices are genuinely heard, not just represented. It also means being open to new, flexible ways of working—beyond traditional formats.

Crucially, art shouldn’t be treated as a mere communication, educational, or activism tool. Artists are co-creators of knowledge, offering vital perspectives on environmental challenges and solutions.

‘Scholartivism’ - Imagining—and Building—Better Futures

Our conversations expanded the idea of artivism into scholartivism—where science and research play a supporting role in artistic and activist work. Participants shared a strong enthusiasm for collaboration, recognising that working together can generate deeper, broader impact than acting alone.

Southeast Asia, with its rich creative cultures and varied political contexts, offers unique insights into how art can help people both imagine and mobilise towards alternative futures. As governments worldwide tighten controls on speech and climate action, the lessons from Malaysia resonate far beyond the region.

Looking ahead, participants called for stronger networks and a shared framework to guide ethical, impactful collaboration. To take this forward, we’ll host a follow-up workshop in York, UK on 20 June 2025, connecting UK and Malaysian artists, activists, and researchers to build on this momentum. If you’d like to join us at the York workshop, or simply learn more about our work, please register your interest via this link.

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