Art & Political Activism
Online course by Node Center with Daniela Labra
Duration: Jan 13 – Feb 10, 2021
Fee: 172€
Max seats: 30
Enroll before: Jan 9, 2021
Dedication: 3 hrs/week
*December Special: 15% off all our courses. Discount code: BYE2020
When does art become activism? How can art have socio-political impact? From video to protest, from urban interventions to digital media, activist art can bring possibilities for subverting power structures, engaging communities and mobilising political change.
This course will review the many strategies and formats that artistic projects have used to deal with socio-politics, from both inside and outside the cultural institution. We will explore activist art actions from different regions of the world that address diverse issues such as: women’s reproductive rights, protection of local communities, defense of ecosystems, immigration, urban violence, anti-racist struggle, LGBTQI+ visibility, and others.
Accompanied by rich visual material and recommended readings, this course is for curators, writers, artists and anyone interested in gaining a deeper understanding of the relations between art, politics and activism in contemporary visual art production.
Daniela Labra is an art curator, critic and researcher. She holds a PhD in Art History and Critique at Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ). Her thesis ‘International Legitimization of Brazilian Art from 1940-2010’ was nominated best PhD thesis in Arts and Humanities. She is a professor at Parque Lage Visual Arts School and at the University of Rio de Janeiro, (UERJ) as well as post-doc grantee at UFRJ. Labra was an art critic for the newspaper O Globo (2014-2016) and collaborates with Revista Select. She integrates the platform Insurgencias.net dedicated to Latin American artists with critical practices. Selected curatorial projects include ‘Daniel Senise: Antes da Palavra’ at Fundação Iberê Camargo, Porto Alegre, 2019; ‘Frestas Triennial 2017: Between Post-Truths and Events’ in São Paulo; ‘Festival Performance Arte Brasil’ at MAM Rio, Rio de Janeiro 2011; ‘Performance Presente Futuro’ at Oi Futuro, Rio de Janeiro 2008-2010. She lives in Rio de Janeiro and Berlin.
Program
Week 1. Introduction
Introduction to the program and course overview.
This is a one hour only welcome session. The lecturer will introduce the program and participants will introduce themselves. No prior preparation is necessary.
Week 2
Activist art or artistic activism?
The place of the artist in times of civic and historical narratives crisis
Art and life practices beyond art institutions
Week 3
Historical anti-arts movements
The rise of counter-hegemonic narratives in 20th Century
Socially engaged artistic proposals and ethics of representation
Week 4
Art activism and strategies of community care
Artistic activism to awaken social consciousness
Curating artistic narratives of political liberation and freedom
Week 5
Artistic activisms and the critique of art commodification
Constructing local and global networks of care and resistance
Art, political action and the formation of new communities.
© Pierre Le Vaillant