Impact Makers: Elizabeth Markevitch

NAME

Elizabeth Markevitch

TITLE

Founder and CEO, ikonoTV, Markevitch Media GmbH

LOCATION

Berlin, Germany

ABOUT

When Art Speaks Out began in 2015 during COP21 in Paris, art and climate activism, from Elizabeth’s perspective, still lived in separate worlds. Environmental communication was mostly dominated by data and policy, while the emotional and human dimensions of the crisis were rarely visible.

To help bridge that gap, ikonoTV launched the first global open call for video artists and filmmakers addressing environmental issues, in partnership with COP21, and broadcast via its satellite and early streaming network.

At that time, the field was almost empty, with only around 60 submissions worldwide. Finding high-quality art films about the environment was a challenge. Ten years later, the tide has turned.

Art Speaks Out now receives over 2,000 submissions annually from artists in over 80 countries. Its satellite broadcasts have reached more than 1 million viewers, and the audience continues to grow through Smart TV app stores on every major platform. The programme has become a recognized platform for climate-engaged artists, amplifying their voices at COP conferences, art fairs and museum screenings, helping to shift public perception of climate change from something quite technical to a deeply emotional and human story.

Through this work, Elizabeth has helped build a global creative movement around environmental storytelling, turning isolated artistic expressions into a visible dialogue on how art shapes climate consciousness.

MOTIVATION

“I believe that art is not a luxury, it’s a language of connection. When we invite art and artists into every part of our lives, our homes, hospitals, schools, companies, churches, and cities, we reconnect with ourselves. We slow down, we feel, we remember what matters. Because when we feel connected to ourselves, we care. We care for others, for our communities, for the planet. Art restores meaning where noise has taken over. It opens a space inside us, the same space where empathy, imagination, and action begin.

That’s why I’m still obsessed with making art as popular as music. Not as entertainment, but as nourishment. Not as a product, but as a presence, a way of seeing and being that can change how we live, heal, and coexist. Through ikono, I want to make that presence accessible everywhere, turning screens into sanctuaries, and making art a vital part of wellbeing, culture, and climate awareness.”

IMPACT

• Created the first global open call for environmental art films during COP21 in 2015, laying the foundation for a decade-long creative movement linking art and climate awareness.

• Increased annual submissions from about 60 in 2015 to over 2,000 in 2025, representing artists in more than 80 countries.

• Reached an audience of over 1 million through satellite broadcasts and extended access worldwide via Smart TV and streaming platforms.

• Provided a recognized space for climate-engaged artists at major cultural and policy events, including COP conferences, art fairs, and museum screenings.

• Helped transform how environmental issues are communicated, bringing emotion, beauty, and storytelling into climate dialogue.

ADVICE

“If you want to create real climate impact, start by feeling, not fixing. We don’t change what we don’t love, and we can’t love what we don’t see. See the world differently. Before trying to save the planet, take time to look at it. Really look. through art, nature, and silence. Because awareness is not a strategy, it’s a state of being.

Bring beauty back into action. Facts inform, but beauty transforms. Data may tell us what’s wrong, but art helps us remember why it matters. Whatever you create, a campaign, a product, a space, make it touch the senses.

Collaborate like ecosystems do. The climate crisis isn’t a competition; it’s a call for interdependence. Work with scientists, artists, economists, and local communities. Every discipline holds a key, and together they unlock resilience.

Slow down to accelerate change. Our addiction to performance and speed is part of the problem. True impact grows slowly, like roots. Dare to be patient, consistent, and kind.

Redefine success. Don’t measure only in clicks, views, or carbon saved. Measure in empathy awakened, in perspectives shifted, in hearts opened. Because culture is climate, and care is the new currency.

In other words: be an artist, even if you’re not one. See before you act. Feel before you fix. And remember, to heal the Earth, we must first reawaken our sense of wonder.”

CONTACT

LinkedIn

Enjoy four specific “Art Speaks Out” channels on ikonoTV