Short ReadIf you joined us, thank you for being part of a very special day. As one attendee reflected "It made me think about what we do and why", while another told us "it felt like we were creating a vision for humanity"!
Here's a short film (made by our partners and friends Axisweb) with interviews from some of our speakers and attendees. We were also very lucky to have Lancashire based illustrator Emmeline Pidgen live documenting the event. Here's an illustrated round up of the sessions with thoughts from writer and attendee Natalie Hughes, and which concludes with wisdom catching from Chrissie Tiller and Susanne Bosch.
Chair: Ailbhe Murphy
Contributors: Jonas Staal, Larry Achiampong, and Heather Peak Morison.
Jonas Staal stood before a hundred people to deliver a speech about the future of democracy. Explaining how he assisted in creating a model parliament for Rojava, part of the Kurdistani autonomous region of Syria, Staal said that within art were the mechanisms of emancipatory politics. Following on from Jonas, Larry Achiampong, delivered a powerful presentation that asked us to consider the effects of what we produce: ‘You don’t just get to make stuff and then walk away!’ he said. Achiampong explained that the artist has the privilege of being able to ‘move between spaces and situations without being labelled as ‘crazy’.
Chair: Dr Janet Price
Contributors: Gemma Nash and Lani Parker
The disability rights activist Lani Parker called for us to dismantle power structures by building ‘real solidarity across hierarchies’ - and to actually mean it rather than spouting its rhetoric for performance only. Parker reminded us of art’s responsibility to recognise and give up power rather than create a system of consumption, and the importance of asking 'who is the art for?', 'what is the political reaction you want?, 'who gets the recognition?'.
Chair: Susanne Bosch
Contributors: Prerana Reddy (A Blade of Grass), Brian Harnetty, Rick Lowe, Jeanne van Heeswijk, Deidre Figuerido and Amy Twigger Holroyd.
Splitting up into six groups we were led through activities in listening and discussion by either Rick Lowe, Jeanne van Heeswijk, Brian Harnetty, Prerana Reddy, Amy Twigger-Holroyd, or Deirdre Figueiredo. In these smaller gatherings we examined the erosion of our public sphere, the effects of this, and how to turn this around.
I followed Jeanne van Heeswijk out onto the social club’s playing field to sit in the sunshine and discuss the question: ‘What does it mean to become a collective at the end of time?’. The answer: we must engage within the social practice of ‘Commoning’: i) act, ii) take care of one another, iii) recognise that we are together, iv) cultivate a shared understanding that fosters collective ownership.
Susanne Bosch
10 Points of Wisdom on the Making of Public Art Work as an Act of Commoning Transcript
Chrissie Tiller, Wisdom Catcher.
Pleasures, 2019 (Chrissie Tiller)
The first look out of the window in the morning,
the old book found again,
enthusiastic faces,
snow, the change of the seasons,
the newspaper,
the dog,
dialetics,
taking showers, swimming,
old music,
comfortable shoes,
taking things in,
new music,
writing, planting,
traveling,
singing,
being friendly.
Thought
