Project Description
Art & Environment Festival
A First Edition Bringing Contemporary Art and Environmental Challenges Together
From 26 May to 6 June 2026, Art of Change 21 organised the first edition of the Art & Environment Festival, a new event dedicated to the role of art and artists in addressing environmental challenges.
Taking place across several iconic venues in Greater Paris, including Lafayette Anticipations, Palais de Tokyo and galleries participating in Paris Gallery Weekend, the Festival brought together artists, cultural professionals, environmental experts and circular economy stakeholders around a shared ambition: to make art a driving force for environmental and cultural change.
Through a programme combining international discussions, artist support, art trails, exhibitions and site visits, this first edition highlighted, across six major events in Greater Paris, the initiatives and practices helping to reshape the art sector.
Programme
- 26 May 2026 – International Art & Environment Forum – Lafayette Anticipations
- 29–31 May 2026 – Paris Gallery Weekend: Zoom Environnement Gallery Trail – Paris
- 1 June 2026 – 4th Art Écoconception Prize Ceremony – Palais de Tokyo (Tokyo Art Club)
- 2–3 June 2026 – Art Écoconception Prize Training and Mentoring Sessions – Palais de Tokyo
- 4–5 June 2026 – Circular Visits – Greater Paris
Associated Events
- 30 May 2026 – In partnership with POUSH: Opening of Demeure, an exhibition at the Pantin Cemetery in Paris, presented by POUSH
- 6 June 2026 – With artist Fabien Léaustic: Discussion and inauguration of Hello World during Nuit Blanche, at the Town Hall of Paris’s 3rd arrondissement
Highlights of the First Edition
An International Art & Environment Forum at Lafayette Anticipations
On 26 May, the Forum brought together leading figures from the fields of art, culture and the environment, including artists, representatives of major cultural institutions and international experts. This half-day event was dedicated to emerging practices and new perspectives on how the art sector can respond to environmental challenges.
Speakers included Thijs Biersteker (artist), Meriem Bouamrane (Senior Advisor for Nature and Biodiversity, UNESCO), Mohamed Bourouissa (artist), Alexandre Capelli (Deputy Environmental Director, LVMH), Gaëlle Choisne (artist), Guillaume Désanges (President, Palais de Tokyo), Sara Favriau (artist), Lilian Fraiji (Founder, LABVERDE), John Gerrard (artist), Camille Kirk (Director of Sustainability, The J. Paul Getty Trust), Marion Laval-Jeantet – Art Orienté Objet (artist), Fanny Legros (Founder, Sursaut), Cliodhna Murphy (Director of Sustainability, Hauser & Wirth, Board Member of Gallery Climate Coalition), Garance Primat (Collection Garance Primat), Clémence Raunet (Head of Sustainability and Corporate Social Responsibility, Paris Musées), Xavier Rey (Director of the Musée National d’Art Moderne, Centre Pompidou), Samuel Rubin (Co-founder, Entertainment + Culture Pavilion), and many others.
Zoom Environnement: A New Gallery Trail at Paris Gallery Weekend
In partnership with the Comité Professionnel des Galeries d’Art (CPGA), Art of Change 21 developed the first environmentally focused gallery trail at Paris Gallery Weekend, entitled Zoom Environnement. Bringing together 12 Parisian galleries, the trail explored the connections between contemporary art and the living world, as well as evolving approaches to the production and presentation of artworks, with the ambition of embedding environmental considerations more deeply within the contemporary gallery sector.
Participating galleries included Cassandra Bird, Galerie Christophe, Gaillard Galerie, Cipango Galleria, Continua In Situ – Fabienne Leclerc, Galerie Lelong, Mendes Wood DM, Galerie PERSON, Galerie RX&SLAG, Galerie Ségolène Brossette, Le Studio (22,48 m²), Traits Libres Gallery, Mor Charpentier and others.
For more details, visit the Paris Gallery Weekend Zoom page.
The 4th Edition of the Art Écoconception Prize at Palais de Tokyo
Since 2023, the Art Écoconception Prize, organised by Art of Change 21 in partnership with Palais de Tokyo, has supported 12 contemporary artists each year in making their artistic practices more environmentally sustainable. The programme offers several days of training and mentoring with experts in environmental issues, carbon assessment and ecodesign applied to the art sector, alongside environmentally engaged artists. Each laureate also receives a €1,000 grant.
The Prize is supported by the French Ministry of Culture and ADEME, with patronage from Maison Ruinart and Fondation LAccolade.
Discover the 2026 Art Écoconception Prize
Circular Visits
Organised across several circular economy sites in Greater Paris, these visits introduced participants to practical solutions for reuse, material recovery and responsible production, encouraging exchanges between the art world and circular economy stakeholders.
Participating venues included Lemon Tri (Cartier Circulaire, Pantin), Matériaux Urbains (Cartier Circulaire, Pantin), Atelier Dahinden (Paris) and La Réserve des Arts (Montreuil).
Artistic Events at the Heart of the Festival
The Festival also partnered with two major events on the Parisian art calendar:
- The exhibition Demeure, presented by POUSH at the Pantin Cemetery in Paris, brought together fifteen artists in a dialogue between contemporary art, memory and the cycles of life. A first of its kind in France, the exhibition transformed a cemetery into a space for artistic exploration. Unfolding across three seasons to reflect the rhythms of the living world, the exhibition invited visitors on a contemplative journey through artworks engaging with the site. Participating artists included Gaëlle Choisne, Alice Anderson and Laurent Grasso, among others. The exhibition was curated by Patrice Chazottes and Inès Massonie.
- Fabien Léaustic’s installation Hello World, presented during Nuit Blanche 2026, was a light installation that reinterpreted one of the most iconic expressions in computer programming. The work explored the tensions between technological innovation and the climate emergency, highlighting the gap between narratives of progress and scientific warnings. It also drew attention to the persistent lack of public response to IPCC reports and questioned the environmental consequences of digital technologies, particularly the rapid expansion of artificial intelligence. Hello World was co-produced as part of Nuit Blanche 2026, with the support of the City of Paris and Le Cube Garges. Find out more.
A First Edition Opening Up New Perspectives
With this first edition, Art of Change 21 laid the foundations for a new gathering at the intersection of contemporary art and environmental action, mobilising its network of artists, cultural institutions and partners committed to the environment. The Festival reflects the organisation’s ambition: to foster new narratives, encourage more sustainable artistic practices and strengthen the role of art in driving environmental change across society.
Partners
The Festival’s institutional partners were the French Ministry of Culture and ADEME, with LVMH as Main Partner, and Collection Garance Primat, Ruinart and Land & Monkeys as patrons.
Project partners included Lafayette Anticipations, Palais de Tokyo (partner of the Art Écoconception Prize), POUSH and CPGA, with Projets Média and Say Who as media partners.
The Art Écoconception Prize was supported by the French Ministry of Culture and ADEME, with patronage from Ruinart and Fondation LAccolade.
Information and Contact
Festival enquiries: info@artofchange21.com
Press contact: Agence Dezarts