scholarly journals ART ACTIVISM: NOT JUST VISUAL APPEAL BUT A CATALYST FOR SOCIAL CHANGE

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (08) ◽  
pp. 1021-1046
Author(s):  
Jiya Gupta

As children, we are always taught to look at something in the world using the 3 Ws- What, When, and Why? So, when the researcher had the opportunity to explore the current role of art in shaping society, she delved deep into it. She questioned what art portrayed to individuals, why people were subconsciously influenced by the art around them, and when was the right time to use this creative tool to make an impact on society. She was pleasantly surprised to learn that even the primal forms of art in history had played an important role in social movements like the outbreak of feminism and political propaganda like war. She wants to explore the positive and negative sway art has over its audience. On an optimistic note, the researcher wants to explore a new model that can revolutionize the scene of social movements – art activism. Artistic Activism is a dynamic practice combining the creative power of the arts to move us emotionally with the strategic planning of activism necessary to bring about social change. The goal of activism is Effect, and the goal of art is Affect- but can these goals intertwine to create something revolutionary? On the pessimistic note, she wants to explore how role stereotypes and the inequality depicted -not only in historic but in also contemporary art- manipulates our perception of the world and contributes to those suffocating labels in society. Can the mere subject of an artistic piece encourage our behaviour towards a certain aspect in society? Through a journey exploring the bane and boon debate of arts temporal power, the researcher hopes to establish its undeniable impact on both society and its individuals.

2012 ◽  
pp. 109-115
Author(s):  
Farhanaz Rabbani

As the world sails into the second decade of the new millennium, more and more people are beginning to realize the importance of folk art, their elegance and beauty. Contemporary art is a reflection of the seeds sown by folk art in different cultures hundreds of years ago. But apart from just being traditional, folk art has a significant socio-political dimension. In this paper, folk art stands as a representation of the mass public which expresses itself as popular culture. According to Ang, the ‘populist aesthetic’ is “based on an affirmation of the continuity of cultural forms and daily life, and on a deep- rooted desire for participation, and on emotional involvement” (274). This paper will focus on the distinctive nature and role of popular folk art- the Bangladeshi Jatra and the Japanese Kabuki, which originated from the populist aesthetic of two very different cultures. Although Bangladeshi and Japanese cultures are varied, they have some common grounds on which oral or “dialogue drama” flourished as ‘performance’ among the underprivileged masses. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3329/afj.v4i0.12935 The Arts Faculty Journal Vol.4 July 2010-June 2011 pp.109-115


Author(s):  
Joseph Moreno

While much of contemporary psychotherapy practice often focuses primarily on verbal exchange between therapists and clients, it is important to recognize that verbal expression is just one mode of expression, and not necessarily the deepest or most profound. Many clients in therapy may be more comfortable in expressing themselves in other ways through the modes of music, art, dance and psychodrama. The sources of the arts in healing extend back for many thousands of years and their modern expression through the creative arts therapies are now widely utilized in the mainstream of modern psychotherapy. Traditional healing practices are still widely practiced in many indigenous cultures around the world today and an appreciation of these practices can deeply enrich our understanding of the essential role of the arts in human expression. The aim of this paper is to consider the roots of the arts therapies and really all of psychotherapy, going as far back as pre-historic evidence, followed by an overview of living indigenous healing practices in such settings as Bushman culture in Namibia, Native American Indian culture, as well as in Kenya, Bali, Malaysia, Mongolia and more.


2012 ◽  
Vol 279 (1736) ◽  
pp. 2269-2274 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel P. Bebber ◽  
Mark A. Carine ◽  
Gerrit Davidse ◽  
David J. Harris ◽  
Elspeth M. Haston ◽  
...  

Discovering biological diversity is a fundamental goal—made urgent by the alarmingly high rate of extinction. We have compiled information from more than 100 000 type specimens to quantify the role of collectors in the discovery of plant diversity. Our results show that more than half of all type specimens were collected by less than 2 per cent of collectors. This highly skewed pattern has persisted through time. We demonstrate that a number of attributes are associated with prolific plant collectors: a long career with increasing productivity and experience in several countries and plant families. These results imply that funding a small number of expert plant collectors in the right geographical locations should be an important element in any effective strategy to find undiscovered plant species and complete the inventory of the world flora.


2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 63-74
Author(s):  
Vafa Afshar ◽  
Candan Terwiel

In this our modern times, many people, although not in every geography, had to live with wars and conflicts. Peace has always been the object of purchase, even if art cannot afford to prevent the war. Violence and war have become commonplace for everyone, especially for children. Exile, immigration, refugee, human trafficking issues, which have become a problem of the world as a result of war and violence, await solutions. Institutions, states and global organisations are trying to take big economic and social measures towards these problems; however the unresolved problems of the endless wars, the issues of war continue to be the main item of the agenda. For instance, the arts of Otto Dix, Kathe Kollwitz or our current days artists Tammam Azzam and Banksy. This study emphasises the belief that the art has a unifying, healing power, and therefore Art for Peace will continue to be made. Keywords: Contemporary art, peace, war, art.


Author(s):  
V. Sheinis

The world order based on Yalta and Potsdam decisions as well as on two nuclear superpowers infighting has filed as a history. What is coming up to take its place? A correlation between power and law in international policy, national sovereignty and supranational institutions, territorial integrity of states and the right of nations to self-determination, bloc infighting atavisms, so called "double standard" and international interventions – these are critical debating points that the author develops his own approach to. The role of the U.S. in world policy, and the foreign policy choice of Russia are also examined.


2010 ◽  
Vol 112 (2) ◽  
pp. 386-406
Author(s):  
Julian Edgoose

Background/Context The central role of hope in teaching has long been acknowledged by authors such as Sonia Nieto and Larry Cuban, but hope has received little focused attention from scholars. This article seeks to compare multiple understandings of hope to examine how teachers can find hope in times of global crises that challenge the promise of a better future that is implicit in modern schooling. Purpose/Objective/Research Question/Focus of Study How can teachers find hope in hard times, when the usual promise of schools for a better future seems difficult to sustain? Research Design This article is an analytic essay. Conclusions/Recommendations This article concludes that while the long-dominant understandings of hope are inadequate for many teachers at times like these, Arendt's view of the hope that emerges in the unexpected occurrences of classroom life resonates strongly with the most rewarding and hopeful experiences of many teachers. Yet Arendt explains how the hope that teachers experience from these unpredictable and unexpected occurrences is not just a source of immediate reward, but rather contributes to political and social change. The article concludes with an account of Arendt's critique of historians’ narratives of social change and an affirmation of the impact that teachers can have as agents of change.


Author(s):  
David MacDougall

Research in the sciences, including the social sciences, is usually supposed to be conducted in a systematic way, working from research questions to the gathering of empirical data, to conclusions. But in an analogy drawn from the art of fencing, the author argues for an alternative approach in visual anthropology. Films look at the world differently from the ways we conventionally see, and these differences have optical, social, and structural origins. To overcome these differences, filmmakers may have to voluntarily ‘dislocate’ themselves in order to put themselves in a position to view their subject from a different perspective, and so uncover new knowledge. The argument is supported by a discussion of the realities of ethnographic fieldwork, the processes of filmmaking, and the role of play and improvisation in the arts and other human endeavours.


2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 16-31
Author(s):  
Annamma Joy ◽  
Russell Belk

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the meaning, in both local and international context, of the Kochi-Muziris Biennale (KMB), the first international exhibit of contemporary art in India. Kochi Biennale Foundation (KBF), which administers the KMB, identifies art as a means for transforming society, with a mission to bring global contemporary art to India and to present India’s modern art to the world. The authors further investigate the role of government sponsorship and corporate patronage in funding the KMB, and investigate how resistance through art is key to the KMB’s identity. Design/methodology/approach This study focuses primarily on published materials relating to the KMB. One of the authors attended the 2016 KMB and interviewed fellow attendees. Additionally, the authors reviewed and assessed social media postings regarding the 2016 KMB. Findings The authors argue that government sponsorship and corporate patronage are never solely about political or financial power. Rather, a generalized reciprocity among the three entities – corporations, the government and the artists – allows the KMB to flourish. For the artists involved, the KMB, co-founded by activist artists, sustains interest in and awareness of resistance. Originality/value Extant literature on biennales is sparse on ways in which these exhibits extend their impact beyond the art world. The authors examine issues such as India expanding its position on the world stage through art, and the implications of political resistance embraced by Indian artists on future directions for the KMB, that have heretofore been unaddressed.


Arts ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 19
Author(s):  
Déirdre Kelly

It seems inherent in the nature of contemporary artist’s book production to continue to question the context for the genre in contemporary art practice, notwithstanding the medium’s potential for dissemination via mass production and an unquestionable advantage of portability for distribution. Artists, curators and editors operating in this sector look to create contexts for books in a variety of imaginative ways, through exhibition, commission, installations, performance and, of course as documentation. Broadening the discussion of the idea of the book within contemporary art practice, this paper examines the presence and role of book works within the context of the art biennale, in particular the Venice Art Biennale of which the 58th iteration (2019) is entitled ‘May You Live In Interesting Times’ and curated by Ralph Rugoff, with an overview of the independent International cultural offerings and the function of the ‘Book Pavilion’. Venetian museums and institutions continue to present vibrant diverse works within the arena of large-scale exhibitions, recognising the position that the book occupies in the history of the city. This year, the appearance for the first time, of ‘Book Biennale’, opens up a new and interesting dialogue, taking the measure of how the book is being promoted and its particular function for visual communication within the arts in Venice and beyond.


2020 ◽  
pp. 026327642097277
Author(s):  
Paul Buckermann

While numerous studies have shown diverse effects of rankings, rather little is known about their production. This article contributes to a broader understanding of rankings in society, and does so by focusing on underlying worldviews. I argue that the existence of a ranking and its concrete methodology can be explained by the producer’s paradigmatic assumptions about a world-to-be-ranked. Referring to the sociology of knowledge and studies on commensuration, comparisons, quantification and valuation, I provide a general heuristic to analyze this relation between underlying worldviews and observational regimes through which order is constructed systematically. Presenting empirical results on a ranking for the most famous artists in the world, I show how the review device’s initial problem and its construction of order derive from consistent assumptions about contemporary art, its symbolic structures and its social embeddedness. These findings have implications for both research on rankings and sociology of the arts.


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