Museums in climate change: fields of action and perspectives
Lecture by Tanja Kimmel and Sina Herrmann as part of the lecture series Lectures For Futures.
The climate crisis has long since reached museums and the cultural landscape – whether through thematic exhibitions on problems and solutions, serving as a platform for activism, as victims of extreme weather events, or as contributors to emissions. Museums and their staff can, want to, and must contribute to solving the climate crisis. The lecture highlights how contributions and skills can be shaped within this complex tension field and presents projects by students that were developed as part of the seminar "Climate Action, Now! Museums in (Climate) Change" for the MA program in Expanded Museum Studies at the University of Applied Arts Vienna, in cooperation with the KunstHausWien – Museum Hundertwasser, during the winter semester of 2024/25.
Tanja Kimmel worked as a textile conservator at the Kunsthistorisches Museum Vienna from 2004 to 2015 and was conservatorially responsible for the new central depot of the KHM across collections. Since March 2015, she has been the head of the Textile Department at the Institute for Conservation and Restoration at the University of Applied Arts Vienna. Since 2019, she has been researching sustainability and climate accounting in museums as part of her doctoral thesis.
Sina Herrmann studied art history and cultural management in Düsseldorf. After her academic traineeship at the Museum Sinclair-Haus in Bad Homburg, she furthered her education in transformation and sustainability management. Since January 2022, she has been the project manager for climate protection and sustainability at the German Museums Association.