HURT EARTH by Jenny Holzer

25 November 2021

Including the voices of more than 40 climate activists and leaders, from Sir David Attenborough to Greta Thunberg, a major project across the United Kingdom to coincide with COP26

A powerful new public artwork by Jenny Holzer, ‘HURT EARTH,’ will illuminate UK landmarks from 29 October 2021, drawing attention to the climate crisis and coinciding with COP26, the 26th annual United Nations summit on climate change.

Launching at Tate Modern in London from 29 – 31 October, starting at dusk until 10 pm GMT, Holzer’s light projections will bathe the building’s iconic chimney in a collection of aching, inspiring and expert testimony from more than 40 activists, leaders and many others addressing the climate crisis. This forms part of a weekend of free events and activities at Tate Modern to raise awareness and inspire action.

IF WE CHOOSE TO ACT TOGETHER THERE ARE NO LIMITS TO WHAT WE CAN ACCOMPLISH —Greta Thunberg

Holzer’s artwork will travel to Scotland to light Edinburgh Castle, while a version of the artwork will be projected on the SEC Armadillo in the official Blue Zone of COP26 in Glasgow on 8 November, followed by the Met Tower in Glasgow from 9 – 11 November, succeeded by a series of pop-up locations in Edinburgh from 12 – 14 November. Jenny Holzer is known for work that deploys text to invite public debate and highlight social and political justice.

Recent projects include YOU VOTE, a series of public artworks displayed in swing states across the US to encourage voting in the 2020 presidential and congressional elections. Through this latest project, HURT EARTH, Holzer asks the public to make their voices heard and take action in the global fight against climate change, when our planet is at a crucial tipping point.

Holzer states, ‘countless people are starving and displaced from preventable climate disasters. Here is tremendous destabilizing cruelty. – Follow @jennyholzerstudio on Instagram for the latest updates and join the conversation with #HurtEarth and help in the fight to save our planet. Co-curated and produced by Artwise Curators and Shore Art Advisory, the series is presented in collaboration with Art For Your World, a movement by WWF to engage the art world in the fight against climate change.

COP26 takes place in Glasgow from 31 October to 12 November 2021 and will see world leaders, government representatives, business and citizens come together for twelve days of talks about climate change.