COP31 Turns to Art: ‘Still Possible’ Brings the Climate Crisis to Life in Antalya

Antalya: As COP31 opens today in Antalya, the climate summit is speaking a language beyond negotiation texts and communiqués — art. The COPArt COP31 programme has turned the conference’s 1.1-million-square-metre Green Zone campus into a vast open-air gallery under the banner “Still Possible”, with more than 1,000 works and over 50 open-air installations on show.

For the first time in COP history, art extends across an entire summit campus, according to the COP31 Presidency — a deliberate attempt to make visitors feel the climate crisis, not only understand it. “Art tells what numbers cannot,” the Presidency says of the programme.

A campus turned into a gallery

The COPArt programme fills the Green Zone, the public face of COP31 at the Antalya Expo Center, where public institutions, local governments, businesses, academics, civil society, young people and artists gather from 9 to 20 November. A dedicated COPArt Stage hosts talks on water, biodiversity, the future of cities and cultural heritage.

Visitors need prior registration to enter the Green Zone, which is closed on 11 and 12 November for the Leaders Summit. COP31’s Green Zone brings sustainable living to life across twelve days of public programming.

Six Masters, Six Traces

At the heart of the Turkish programme is the exhibition “Six Masters, Six Traces”, showing works by prominent Turkish artists Fahrelnissa Zeid, Burhan Doğançay, Ömer Uluç, Devrim Erbil, Mehmet Güleryüz and Haluk Akakçe.

A second selection spans masters from Şeker Ahmet Paşa, Osman Hamdi Bey, Hoca Ali Rıza, Nazmi Ziya Güran and İbrahim Çallı to modern and contemporary artists — presented to the public for the first time.

COPArt at COP31: the international programme

The international programme brings together artists whose work confronts the crisis directly: Eva Jospin’s cardboard forests, Todd Gray’s narratives on environmental justice, Erica Daborn’s works on ecological disruption, Xavier Cortada’s climate awareness projects and Zaria Forman’s depictions of melting glaciers. Ukrainian artist Oksana Chepelyk’s “Become an Ocean”, developed through art-and-science residencies, speaks for the Black Sea and aquatic ecology.

Murat Durusoy’s video work “Post-Nature Studies V.2”, drawn from the plant life in the garden of Istanbul’s Sakıp Sabancı Museum, is displayed in the COPArt section of the Green Zone. A special selection from renowned photographer Edward Burtynsky’s “Earth in Transformation” exhibition is presented at Akra Antalya in collaboration with Borusan Holding and Borusan Contemporary, bringing together his “Erosion” project, developed in Anatolia, and the immersive multimedia work “In the Wake of Progress”, shown in Türkiye for the first time.

Film takes the message further

COP31 is also hosting a climate short film competition under the theme “Earth Is Our Common Home”, organised by the Ministry of Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change together with COP31 Türkiye. Films submitted by the 10 October deadline are being screened in Antalya during the festival week from 11 to 19 November.

A total of 14,000 euros in cash prizes and screening fees will be awarded: 5,000 euros for first prize, 3,000 for second and 2,000 for third, alongside a 1,000-euro jury special award, 500-euro screening fees for each of the six finalist films and a special award for an outstanding documentary. According to a report published on 8 November, the awards ceremony takes place on 14 November.

Culture joins the climate talks

Beyond the Green Zone, culture has a formal place at COP31. The Culture at COP31 platform coordinates more than 250 organisations across six continents, while an ICOMOS-led coalition is running a “Cultural Heritage in Climate Action” conference series in Antalya from 11 to 16 November, and the Heritage Adapts! programme presents culture-powered adaptation on 18 November.

The message running through the programme is simple: charts and targets move negotiators, but a painting of a vanishing glacier — or a film about a shared home — can move everyone else.

Key facts

• What: COPArt: Still Possible — the culture and art programme of COP31
• Where: Green Zone, Antalya Expo Center, Antalya, Türkiye
• When: 9–20 November 2026; film festival week 11–19 November; awards ceremony 14 November
• Scale: More than 1,000 works and over 50 open-air installations across a 1.1-million-square-metre campus
• Film prizes: 14,000 euros in total, including a 5,000-euro first prize

Frequently asked questions

What is COPArt?

COPArt is the culture and art programme of COP31 in Antalya, presented under the theme “Still Possible”. It turns the summit’s Green Zone campus into a large exhibition of Turkish and international art about the climate crisis.

Where can visitors see the COPArt exhibitions?

The works are displayed across the Green Zone at the Antalya Expo Center from 9 to 20 November 2026. Prior registration is required, and the Green Zone is closed to visitors on 11 and 12 November for the Leaders Summit.

What is the COP31 climate short film competition?

It is a short film competition organised by Türkiye’s Ministry of Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change and COP31 Türkiye under the theme “Earth Is Our Common Home”. Selected films screen in Antalya from 11 to 19 November, with 14,000 euros in prizes and an awards ceremony on 14 November.

Which artists are featured at COPArt?

The Turkish programme includes the “Six Masters, Six Traces” exhibition and historic masters shown publicly for the first time. The international programme features Eva Jospin, Todd Gray, Erica Daborn, Xavier Cortada, Zaria Forman and Oksana Chepelyk, alongside Edward Burtynsky’s photography at Akra Antalya.

Why is art part of a climate summit?

The COP31 Presidency says art tells what numbers cannot: exhibitions, film and photography help the public feel the climate crisis and understand what is at stake, reaching people that negotiation texts and statistics do not.