Art as Activism
Comunic-arte: Children´s Expression in Colombia´s Post Conflict Society
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Maritza López de la Roche
The paper presents an Aesthetic education project in Cali, Colombia, that stimulates expressive practices (drawing, dancing, drama, music and media) in schools in low-income communities. The Faculty of Arts at the local state university developed the interdisciplinary framework. After half a century of civil war and the 2017 peace agreement, a commitment to social justice involves us in the fair distribution of cultural goods, particularly learning opportunities and resources. We draw on Gregory Sholette´s ideas of the counter-public sphere (2011), and also on Argentine author Reinaldo Laddaga´s claim that 21st century arts must not be conceived as the realm of virtuous individuals who cultivate specialized talents, but rather as a field where artists and non-artists meet, cooperate and create. (Estética de la emergencia, 2006). The new generations are an imaginative and ethical force. They embody change in a society. Australian researchers Jane Kenway and Elizabeth Bullen have pointed out that new media cannot be regarded barely as “entertainment.” They represent current paths for family life, education, work, and citizen participation (2001). Through arts and media children are encouraged to discover their talents, and to enhance their emotional, intellectual and aesthetic abilities. We stimulate children´s capacities to understand their social context. Also to learn about their civil, cultural and media rights and how to exercise them.
Observing Communities and Perspectives of Visiting WoCA Projects and Its Exhibitions
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Lauren Cross
In 2013, a non-profit arts organization, WoCA Projects, was founded in Fort Worth, Texas. Since its creation, WoCA Projects has aimed to use womanist praxis to connect diverse local communities to the arts, to dispel hegemonic definitions of communities of color, and to model diversity, racial and gender equity, and inclusion within the art world. By offering high quality exhibitions, WoCA Projects also hoped to reframe the ways in which the public viewed women of color (WoC) artists. In this paper, the researcher will explore the results of a visitor research study in which viewers interpret their experiences during exhibitions by WoCA Projects. Responses of visitors to exhibitions at WoCA Projects were evaluated based on on-site and internet surveys. This research uses WoCA Projects as a case study to provide insight into how visitors respond to exhibitions featuring women of color (WoC) artists.In this way, visitor perceptions of WoCA Projects and its exhibtions may provide greater insight to how other art spaces can best meet the needs of visitors interested in exploring artworks by WoC artists.
War Art: The Official Version and Artistic Truth
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Kåre Dahl Martinse, Kaare Dahl Martinsen
British and Danish artists have interpreted their countries’ participation in the wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, Somalia and Libya. Some of their works have attracted nationwide attention not least because of the focus given to wounded or dead soldiers. This differs from the official framing of the military operations where high-tech weaponry and targeted operations have reduced death and destruction to "collateral damage." Some of these works have played a key role in the debate on the human costs of war, including how killed soldiers should be commemorated. In both countries, artists have addressed questions of political responsibility more directly and with a greater popular impact than parliamentary debates. There are a few examples of the opposite, of embedded artists mirroring the official version of the operations. This triggers the question of what an embedded artist actually sees and whether her or his work is any more authentic than paintings created far away from the war theaters. Finally, the role played by museum in raising popular awareness of what war entails will be addressed drawing upon examples from the Imperial War Museum (Britain) and the Museum of national History (Denmark).
Crafting a Political Drama
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Angie Farrow
Theatre has always been an excellent vehicle for political exchange: it thrives on dialectic and thematic tension and offers a visceral and emotional intensity that other forms cannot match. However, when the politics of the play overwhelm the flow of the narrative or the emotional appeal of the characters, the drama can lose its momentum and audience engagement. How is it possible to create a theatrical play that creates a useful balance between political discourse and compelling storytelling? How can we make the political message of the play palatable, punchy and apparently impartial? How can we create political theatre that will encourage change? Playwright Angie Farrow will consider these questions in relation to the writing of her own full-length drama, "The Politician’s Wife."
