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Nature, Art, ACTIVISM 233 Sommerer’s project Interactive Plant Growing.” A Hungarian example is Slow animals, exhibited in the Szombathely Gallery.”! Environmental activism Initiated by artists in Los Angeles and Chiapas in the 1990s, its aim is to fuse art and activism toward the realization of anti-capitalist and anti-globalist goals. Activism and ecology are integrated in this subcategory of environmental activist art. Environmental arts therapy, EAT It is based on the hypothesis of biophilia which means that human beings have a deeply ingrained love of nature and that human mental development and health need to have a profound and balanced relationship with other species and with nature (Wilson 1984). Blending aspects of eco-art and eco-psychology, environmental arts therapy aims to enhance human health and well-being through (re)connection with the natural world. It employs countless methods: dramatic performances, drama paedagogy, storytelling, sculpting with natural materials, etc. Certain therapeutic methods have been elaborated to handle traumas, for instance war trauma or therapy for (climate change) refugees, etc. Contemporary indigenous art It is a branch of environmental art that reaches back to the modes of “artistic” expression in traditional cultures (aboriginal “dreamtime stories” of Australian culture, rock drawings, etc.) Often the artists are also members of indigenous communities. Examples of environmental art in Hungary Hungarian examples of artists’ ecological activism include the groups xtro realm and Artists for Climate Consciousness. The group xtro realm (https://xtrorealm.hu/) has existed since 2017 as a union of three artists: Gideon Horvath, Rita Siiveges and Anna Zilahi. The name xtro realm was inspired by French philosopher Quentin Meillassoux’s text Science Fiction and Extro-Science Fiction. They debuted with the following words: “Xtro realm have been organizing programs (reading circles, exhibitions, field exercises) for knowledge sharing and transdisciplinarity which provide access to climate change and the Anthropocene, the decisive facts of our present, based on neo-realist and ecological theories criticizing the anthropocentrism of contemporary thought.” Accordingly, the activity of the group has widespread ramifications: in addition to exhibitions (see, for example, Unstable State of Things, 2020, Glassyard Gallery, Budapest)”, they organize reading sessions (Climate imaginary reader: Interdisciplinary Voices on Ecology and the Climate Crisis) and field trips with the name /magination 7 http://www.interface.ufg.ac.at/christa-laurent/ WORKS/CONCEPTS/PlantsConcept.html 21 https://magyarmuzeumok.hu/cikk/slow-animals-szokatlanul-izgalmas-kiallitas-a-szombathelyikeptarban https://xtrorealm.hu/. The exhibited works reflected upon the irreversible consequences of the ecological crisis, which permeate all fields of life. 22 23
