COAL + ICE Exhibition
The REACH Plaza
Mar. 17 - Apr. 23, 2022
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International
ASIA SOCIETY IN COLLABORATION WITH THE JOHN F. KENNEDY CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS PRESENTSCOAL + ICE
March 15–April 23, 2022 at the REACH at the Kennedy Center
Featuring an immersive 30,000 square foot documentary photography exhibition visualizing the climate crisis with performances, workshops, panel discussions, and educational programs.
COAL + ICE Exhibition
Photo by Margot Schulman
COAL + ICE Exhibition
Photo by Margot Schulman
COAL + ICE Exhibition
Photo by Margot Schulman
COAL + ICE Exhibition
Photo by Margot Schulman
COAL + ICE Exhibition
Photo by Margot Schulman
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Asia Society and the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts present the east coast premiere of COAL + ICE, a documentary photography exhibition that brings together the work of over 50 photographers and video artists from around the world to visualize the climate crisis—its causes and consequences—as a large-scale immersive experience.
Forty-eight projectors will illuminate an immersive 30,000-square-foot purpose-built exhibition space on the REACH Plaza. Beginning with stunning suspended photographs of the Himalayan mountains and glaciers juxtaposed against historical and contemporary portraits of coal miners, the visitor explores the relationship between coal and ice as they go deeper into the immersive space and a story of the climate crisis unfolds.
COAL + ICE will also serve as a stage for a vibrant six-week festival of new, curated events—featuring music, theater, panel discussions, art-making, and more—that engage with local, national, and international communities. See the calendar for related events.
A robust slate of education activities will be supplemented by onsite and virtual exhibition tours and specialized student and teacher resource guides. The Moonshot Studio, the Center’s learning lab for the arts, will host Celebrating the More Than Human. This suite of hands-on projects and activities, curated in collaboration with artist Caitlin Nasema Cassidy as part of the related COAL + ICE exhibition, invites visitors to reflect on their relationship with the natural world and create art that celebrates that bond. Featuring the ever-popular Mixmaster Stations alongside takeaway projects just in time for planting season, visitors can drop in for a quick experience or reserve a time at one of our project tables to dive a little deeper. Visit kennedy-center.org/moonshot for details.
In addition to activating the REACH campus, Asia Society will be working with a wide range of other organizations to present concurrent activities and climate-related programs to local audiences across all eight wards and the broader DMV region.
The COAL + ICE exhibition is co-curated by Magnum photographer Susan Meiselas and renowned exhibition designer Jeroen de Vries, and is a project of the Asia Society, led by Orville Schell, the Arthur Ross Director of the Center on U.S.-China Relations. First developed as an exhibition for Three Shadows Photography Art Center in Beijing in 2011, it has since been shown across China, in Paris during COP21, and most recently in 2018 at the Fort Mason Center for Arts and Culture in San Francisco. Find out more at CoalandIce.org.
Moonshot Studio Activities
During COAL + ICE, the REACH’s art maker space offers activities for people of all ages to take a moment to reflect on their relationship to the natural world. Activities include My More-Than-Human Story & Love Letters to the Land and Critter Collage (reservation required). Drop-in activities include Mixmaster Station featuring Madame Gandhi x Sound MANA, Say It! Poster Making for the Planet, and the More-Than-Human Book Nook (no reservation required, admission on a space-available basis).
Create your own poster to be featured in the exhibition
The Climate “Posterator” (Poster + Creator) is a globally accessible digital platform for designing original posters in response to the climate crisis. Create your own unique designs by pairing images from the COAL + ICE exhibition with text to print or share online. All posters will be featured inside the exhibition. Ten designs will be awarded a prize of $1,500 each supported by the Helen Frankenthaler Foundation. The Climate Posterator will be available until April 22, but the submission deadline for prize consideration is April 8. The climate movement needs your personal take to inspire collective action! Presented in collaboration with Amplifier.
