{"id":49807,"date":"2021-10-04T12:22:18","date_gmt":"2021-10-04T10:22:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/?p=49807"},"modified":"2023-02-16T13:46:42","modified_gmt":"2023-02-16T12:46:42","slug":"hope-through-action-art-creative-activism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/story\/49807\/hope-through-action-art-creative-activism\/","title":{"rendered":"Hope through Action – using creative activism to change the world"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Since the birth of our organisation – 50 years ago this month<\/a> – creative activism has been at the heart of the Greenpeace mission, using the power of art and creativity to inspire action and share the vision of the world we want to see. <\/p>\n\n

Arguably, the first example of Greenpeace using art in our campaigning was a simple one – painting the sails of an old fishing vessel, the Phyllis Cormack<\/a>, with the Peace and Ecology Symbols, with our freshly-minted name – \u2018Greenpeace\u2019 – sandwiched in-between. <\/p>\n\n

This was the first ever Greenpeace voyage, sailing out into the North Pacific to try and halt U.S. government nuclear testing on the remote island of Amchitka<\/a>. The US detonated the bomb before the Greenpeace ship was able to reach Amchitka Island, but the voyage created such an uproar in Canada, the US, and in Europe, that the US cancelled all future nuclear tests in Alaska.<\/p>\n\n

\"Dave
Dave Birmingham raises Greenpeace sail on Phyllis Cormack sailing towards Amchitka island to prevent USA nuclear testing. September 1971.
\u00a9 Greenpeace \/ Robert Keziere<\/div><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n

Art and activism for social and environmental change<\/h3>\n\n

Over the years art, activism and creative confrontations have formed an integral part of Greenpeace\u2019s work. Artists from creative communities all over the globe have lent their skills to the cause, creating inspired ideas and artworks and co-creating images, words and action with us. <\/p>\n\n

From the musicians who donated tracks for the Breakthrough<\/a> album in 1989 to raise funds for the first Greenpeace Office in Moscow, to the designers and illustrators entering competitions to subvert Oil giants’ logos<\/a>, to volunteer artists creating artworks with dead birds and oil spills<\/a>, to the next generation of electronic music producers using Greenpeace audio recordings to create nature-inspired tracks<\/a>, our history of working with artists across many disciplines is rich and varied.<\/p>\n\n