Sustainable yet forgotten. Rediscovering the contribution of the Belgian art networks to the second wave of environmentalism

Sustainable yet forgotten is an art theoretical and archival investigation that discovers the art practices and international networking of Belgian sustainable environmental art during the sixties until early eighties. In this period the second wave of environmentalism peaked. Contrasting the 19th century first wave, this movement saw nature not as the mystic antipode of manmade, rational, culture but as an important actor that influences and enforces our life in system-like environments. Multidisciplinary studies called for nature to be incorporated respectfully to create situations in which all involved benefit equally.
Sustainable environmental art pictures these systems and exposes the danger that occurs when the milieu is neglected in a globalizing world. Answering the question: What is the contribution of Belgian sustainable environmental art to the second wave of environmentalism, and how were their practises embedded in international art networks? provides new insights in how art was created, presented and positioned in the Western World.

I will use network theories, new materialism and commonism to create an up-to-date framework to re-evaluate sustainable environmental art. Thereafter, this framework will be used in archival research to investigate and contextualize the most prominent Belgian examples. Lastly, to review their relevance to the (art) world, these practices will be mapped in globalizing art networks of the aforementioned time period.