'We have become spectators rather than actors'; Philipp Blom tells performing artists on SPOT-Live what is at stake.

'We are on the brink of a new cultural revolution. We need to move away from our paradigm and art can play a role in this. Art can show us images of a different future, a different thought. Artists can help bring that realisation in.'

Speaking is writer and journalist Philipp Blom. In 2017, his book 'What's at stake' out, a brilliantly written and can be read in one breath about where things are going wrong in the world, with still an optimistic final chapter. It has since become a global bestseller. And rightly so.

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Blom - with Gloria Wekker and Eric De Vroedt - is curator of the revamped performing arts conference, to be held in Rotterdam on 27 May under the name SPOT-Live. What does this writer, whose work describes the ill effects of climate change, digitalisation and the free market as almost irreversible, have to offer those in the performing arts? On the phone from Vienna, the author, who publishes with authoritative media such as Guardian, Frankfurter Allgemeine and BBC, explains:

'We have become spectators, rather than actors. We no longer determine what happens when it comes to climate change. That is being determined in China, which provides 30 per cent of global CO2 emissions, and India, which is rapidly becoming a global economic power and will demand the same fossil fuel rights that we have. We can only watch that happen. For the first time in history, we are not the ones deciding what happens and how it happens.'

Patent

That sounds like the epitome of powerlessness. Philipp Blom will be the last to deny that. Yet, he argues, it is possible to turn the tide - even if not literally. 'Cold nuclear fusion has not yet been invented. So we do not yet have unlimited access to energy, but we can use our knowledge and experience here in the West to develop new, sustainable, energy-neutral technologies. We can make these available to everyone without a patent - i.e. without a profit motive. Then countries like India and China can use them to make their energy transition sustainable. But this requires a different way of thinking.'

And it is for this different way of thinking that Blom started. 'We have to get rid of the idea of economic growth and the unrestrained free market. It is precisely that energy bubble that caused all the upheavals in the 19th and 20th centuries that makes people desperate now. Pessimism can become very dangerous. When we let go of unbridled capitalism and move away from economic profit to real life improvement, we can turn the tide.'

Little Ice Age

But what about art? Blom is on a roll: 'In "The Revolt of Nature", I describe what the Little Ice Age, at the end of the 16th century to the beginning of the 18th, brought about. Average temperatures dropped several degrees, winters became cold and long, rivers and lakes froze, and summers were turbulent, with extreme storms and thunderstorms. Everywhere, harvests failed and people suffered hunger and cold. Not only farmers but also landowners became impoverished. The agrarian, feudal foundation of Europe crumbled. Agriculture was no longer decisive, the economy and survival shifted to the cities. The feudal system collapsed and markets emerged. At the same time, the printing press made more people literate and many more people gained access to knowledge previously reserved for the church alone. Science emerged, leading to the Enlightenment. New thinking about man's role in the world emerged from the climate change that was the Little Ice Age. Art played a vital role in that.'

So our adaptability in the face of a catastrophic event like climate change can also lead to positive things. He hopes to bring that awareness to the performing arts sector during SPOT-Live: "Just like then, revolutionary changes are needed now, and inevitable. Many people do not realise this because they are doing well, but they are afraid that their children will have it worse. So it is up to this generation to ensure that, in a world where economic growth is not the norm, those children will still have a better life than they do.'

Good to know

Spot-Live is the performing arts symposium and will take place on 27 May, from 10:00 to 18:00 at Theatre Rotterdam Schouwburg, Information: Spot-Live