Diverse Voices
Featured Bastardized Electoral System: The Conceptual Ceramics Perspective View Digital Media
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Jonathan Ebute Okewu
The yearning for just and improved political systems in Africa to deliver the dividend of democracy to its populace is clamoured for every now and then. A faulty process that breeds wrong leadership is prevalent. This affects everybody including the artists. This conceptual ceramic venture portrays in artistic fashion some of the elements of bastardization that characterize electioneering process in Africa and how this has contributed to ill-fated leadership styles. Clay is the motto used for conveying this thought and bringing to representativeness. It is a malleable material that yields to manipulation and forming. Clay gives the ceramic artist the “voice” to be able to contribute to issues of national debate and by extension, bring about redress. A process that has been coined in context of this study as “construction and deconstruction of clay forms” has been employed in generating the interrogative ceramic art work. The art work presents a tactile clay version of rot inherent in Africa voting systems. Issues of under-age voting, ghost voters and ballot manipulation have been portrayed via this medium. This work is a pointer that all is not well with the system of elections in Africa. By this work, also, it is a reminder that credible leaders can only emerge from a credible process and not a bastardized process currently ravaging the continent.
Mycelium - Racialized Migrants’ Resistance to Systemic Discrimination and the Promotion of Cultural Connection and Knowledge: Building Solidarity and Cultivating Collective Resistance through Photovoice
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Jennifer Ma, Minju Kim
This study focuses on how racialized migrants build communities and cultivate collective well-being, using the Photovoice methodology as an anti-racist and decolonial practice. Particularly, this study focuses on the ways in which communities resist systems of oppression while promoting cultural identity and knowledge, which is fundamental in supporting the well-being of racialized migrants. This study repositions racialized migrants as productive disrupters of mainstream narratives, using participatory action research as a tool that can effectively intervene into hegemonic understandings and scholarly traditions. Three themes emerged from the images and stories created: 1) the importance of informal networks and collective action for belonging and resisting systemic discrimination, 2) food, stories, and art as conduits for physical and emotional connection within and between communities, and 3) the need for systemic changes to address language barriers, unemployment, limited access to services, and physical and mental well-being. The findings suggest that organizations that work with migrants should increase opportunities for cultivating social connections with each other in order to engage in collective healing and action. The women underscored the importance of these relationships as newcomers. Additionally, community building and well-being occur through engagement with food, stories, and art as the women expressed creating deep connections within their communities and other communities through sharing their culture. Lastly, there is a need for systemic changes to address barriers that prevented them from leading healthy lives, including the recognition of credentials, translation services, tailored employment services for women, and increasing access to services and mental health support.
We're Bad Company: Friendship and Creativity as Sustenance in Uncertain Times
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Younghee Park, Jeremy Neideck, M'ck Mc Keague, Nathan Stoneham
This paper explores how a transcultural arts collective sustains its practice through non-hierarchical collaboration and prioritising relationships. Company Bad creates performance work bringing together artists from Australia, Korea, and beyond. Rather than focusing on commercial success, the collective's small-scale and organic way of working nurtures well-being and care for one another. By cycling through creative roles and sharing tasks, the group supports each individual's strengths while cultivating understanding between diverse cultural backgrounds. Company Bad's practice enacts a vision of community life valuing diversity, responsive processes, and care over capitalist priorities like productivity and control. Through long-term partnerships crossing borders, the collective activates new works of cultural exchange and storytelling. Their work addresses social agendas by bringing people together in friendship through shared creative adventures. By sustaining this practice through trust and collaboration Company Bad demonstrates how the arts can thrive by living beyond mere survival and flourishing through human connection.
