Coal + Ice: Homage to the Earth
On February 14 2024, the Asia Society opened its festival, Coal + Ice, with a performance by musicians and CUHF members, Abigail Washburn, Martha Redbone, and Jen Shyu.
Intended to inspire action on climate change, the month-long festival brought a series of speaker events, performances, and films to New York City’s five boroughs and was centered on a traveling exhibition featuring the work of over 50 photographers from China and around the world. The exhibition, which first premiered in Beijing in 2011, traces a photographic arc from deep within coal mines to the melting glaciers of the greater Himalaya, to illustrate the environmental and human costs of climate change alongside solutions which provide hope for a more sustainable future.
The musicians/performers deepened their preparation, in the months preceding their performance, by entering into Council with the Council for the Uncertain Human Future. Together with their colleague Carissa Stolting and CUHF founder Sarah Buie, they opened a common space of reckoning and connection as the CUHF Coal + Ice Council.
