Mozart on Strike: Culture in Support of Climate Action

Today, November 29th, is the first Friday for "Fridays For Future," an initiative created by Museums For Future, a global movement of museum workers, cultural heritage professionals and others who support climate action. Learn more!

My attention was brought to this initiative when I noticed that my colleagues at the Mozarthaus (Mozart's only surviving apartment in Vienna) shared their support with a "Mozart On Strike" statement featuring a photo of the museum's silhouette of the composer.

Climate change is already affecting historical places and preservation practice. And not only in regards to cultural resource management in coastal areas, but anywhere and everywhere as our weather increases in its severity worldwide. We must address the issue as a global family across all sectors, including our own.

After all, the nature of preservation is activism. Whether your opposition is a developer who cares more about a parking lot than a 75-year-old recording studio, a politician who doesn't believe allocating funds for arts education and history and heritage is necessary, a city council who refuses to invest in a local museum because they don't understand the economic benefits of destination tourism for their own community, the irreversible erosion of time or the catastrophic damage of climate change, activism is a necessary vehicle for preservation success and a responsibility we must embrace.

Sherry