• I think that the first thing artists have to do is to start telling the truth. You know, just like climate change five or six years ago, you just didn't really want to talk about it. You got shunned in polite company if you talked about it. Now we have the c word, right? We've got collapse. But the conversation hasn't started yet. And I think just broadly speaking, the artistic community… The best of the artistic community, has always been on the edge, right? The social edge. Pushing, complaining, challenging, resisting…

Robert R. Janes

My conversation with archaeologist and former museum director and CEO Robert (Bob) R. Janes (author of Museums and Societal Collapse : The Museum as Lifeboat) and his son, famer and educator Peter Janes (author of Fake Plants Never Die - an eclectic technical instruction manual - Essays on pre-apocalyptic adaptation) at TreeEater Farm and Nursery on Denman Island, September 16, 2024. This episode is condensation of a 90-minute conversation into ‘fifteen’. 

Suggested questions and action points

• Tell the truth through your art
• Keep fighting: push, complain, challenge, resist
• Assume responsibility by action, not just by protesting
• What can you get rid of?
• What should you bring back?
• Why are you creating art?
• Why does your museum exist?
• What solutions do you propose?
• What are your non-negotiable values?

Please see the transcript of this episode for hyperlinks of cited publications and organizations. For more information on season 6 of the conscient podcast see a conscient rethink or listen to it here.

Episode notes generated by Whisper Transcribe AI

Story Preview

Can art save us? A former museum director and his son, a regenerative farmer, confront a world on the brink, finding solace and solutions in the land and in rethinking the very purpose of our cultural institutions. It’s a story of hard truths, reluctant hope, and the power of reconnecting with nature.

Chapter Summary

00:00 The Call for Truth in Art
01:02 Building an Educational Farm
02:19 Lessons from Indigenous Cultures
04:43 Museums as Lifeboats
06:57 Navigating Hope and Hopelessness
10:21 Regenerative Practices in Agriculture
12:09 Art’s Role in Environmental Advocacy

Featured Quotes

• {03:32} You can’t separate cultural affairs from the natural environment, that they’re inextricably linked together. - Robert R. Janes
• {09:17} I make a personal effort towards hope, but I don’t feel any hope. - Peter Janes
• {11:39} It’s the message that’s important now. And that message is telling the truth. - Robert R. Janes

Behind the Story

Robert R. Janes, with nearly five decades in the museum business, reflects on his early archaeological work and a transformative experience living with Dene families near the Arctic Circle. This shaped his understanding of social ecology. His son, Peter, driven by a desire to correct educational inadequacies, established a farm focused on regenerative practices. Together, they offer a vision for a future rooted in sustainability, truth, and a reconnection with the natural world.

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END NOTES FOR ALL EPISODES

Hey conscient listeners, 

I’ve been producing the conscient podcast as a learning and unlearning journey since May 2020 on un-ceded Anishinaabe Algonquin territory (Ottawa). 

It’s my way to give back.

In parallel with the production of the conscient podcast and its francophone counterpart, balado conscient, I publish a Substack newsletter called ‘a calm presence' see https://acalmpresence.substack.com. 

Your feedback is always welcome at [email protected] and/or on social media: Facebook, Instagram, Linkedin, Threads or BlueSky.

I am grateful and accountable to the earth and the human labour that provided me with the privilege of producing this podcast, including the toxic materials and extractive processes behind the computers, recorders, transportation systems and infrastructure that made this production possible. 

Claude Schryer

Latest update on March 26, 2025