CLIMAVORE Assembly at Campidoglio, Rome 2023

Saturday, October 28th and Sunday, October 29th will see the first edition of the CLIMAVORE Assembly, a project initiated in 2015 by CLIMAVORE, a research platform working to imagine regenerative diets and new food infrastructures by connecting artistic, cultural and agricultural spaces and developing research, pedagogical programs, curatorial operations and cooking apprenticeships that make possible a transformation of the food industry’s impact on climate and the environment.

Initiated by Cooking Sections, CLIMAVORE is a research platform that questions how we eat as humans change climate and works to imagine regenerative diets and food infrastructure for new seasons born out of human impact on the environment.

The CLIMAVORE Assembly brings together farmers and growers, artists, chefs, cooperatives, hospitality businesses, researchers, cultural thinkers, environmentalists, policymakers, and live seed custodians involved in reimagining the role of museums and cultural institutions as agents of transformation of food and agricultural systems in the context of the climate crisis.

The Assembly, which at its first presentation involves dozens of grassroots organizations from Italy and the Mediterranean along with international representatives, aims to be a tool to address the role culture can play in a transition to food justice rooted in ecological infrastructures. Confirmed participants who will follow the proceedings over the two days of the assembly include Alessio Baù, C40 – Cities Climate Leadership Group; Carlo Cellamare, La Sapienza University; Nadia El-Hage, International Commission on the Future of Food and Agriculture; Charles Esche, Van Abbemuseum; Germana Fratello, Campi Aperti; Adrian Lahoud, Royal College of Art; Ulrikke Neergaard & Irene Campolmi, KØS Museum of Art in Public Spaces; Berkan Özyer, Istanbul Planning Authority; Lucia Pietroiusti & Kostas Stasinopoulos, Serpentine Galleries; Costanza Pizzo, Observatoire de la Souveraineté Alimentaire et de l’Environnement; Beatrix Ruf, Hartwig Art Foundation; Vicente Todolí, Todolí Citrus Foundation.

On Saturday, October 28th, from 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., the Museum of Civilizations will host the first of two days of presentations, lunches, discussions and workshops, connecting international figures and exploring cultural and artistic tactics for ecological actions and policies. Together, they will consider how food can be a tool to address the challenges posed by the climate crisis, as well as the cultural shifts and actions needed to support agrobiodiversity, soil health, an alternative ethical market, and living seed collection. Organizations involved will include Casa delle Agriculture from Castiglione d’Otranto, Instroom Academy from Antwerp, Sakiya from Ramallah, and Roberta Bruno from Karadrà Cooperative.

On Sunday, October 29th from 9.30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. the second day is hosted on Capitol Hill where, as a parliamentary debate, Frances Morris director emerita of the Tate Modern and Parviz Koohafkan, founder and president of the World Agricultural Heritage Foundation will also speak. The day is dedicated to strategies, actions and commitments of cultural institutions to address the climate crisis using food. The day will also share a series of case studies collected in the Becoming CLIMAVORE campaign, which rethinks the menus of restaurants, cafes and canteens of cultural and educational institutions: concrete experiments in the role of culture and institutions as facilitating agents of more sustainable food, agricultural and social futures. Launched in 2020 with the four museum institutions affiliated with the Tate – where farmed salmon was removed from menus and replaced with regenerative aquaculture products – Becoming CLIMAVORE now involves more than 20 institutions worldwide, including the Palazzo delle Esposizioni in Rome, the Serpentine Galleries in London, the Istanbul Biennial, the Victoria & Albert Museum in London, and KØS in Køge.

CLIMAVORE Assembly concludes on Sunday, October 29th, with an evening of music from the Merende program at Angelo Mai.

CLIMAVORE Assembly was born thanks to two grants from Visible, a project of Cittadellarte-Fondazione Pistoletto and Fondazione Zegna (the former in collaboration with Locales project), which enabled the platform to lay the foundations of a long-term project in Italy. It is based on the experience of the Visible Temporary Parliaments, which since 2015 have temporarily occupied city parliaments with socially engaged art projects to infuse new perspectives into democratic debates.

The research for CLIMAVORE Assembly was produced with CLIMAVORE x Jameel at the Royal College of Art in London. CLIMAVORE Assembly is promoted by Visible (Cittadellarte-Fondazione Pistoletto and Fondazione Zegna), historical partner Nicoletta Fiorucci Foundation, and in collaboration with Museo delle Civiltà in Rome, Roma Capitale, Gaia Art Foundation, Teiger Foundation, and Hartwig Art Foundation.

The event was also made possible thanks to the support of the American Academy in Rome, Real Academia de España en Roma, Deutsche Akademie Rom Villa Massimo, Circolo Scandinavo di Roma, Istituto Svizzero di Roma.