3. Cultural Activism:
TRAPESE
Verson , p. 173, DIY Handbook, Trapese
Collective:
• For me, cultural activism is campaigning and
direct action that seeks to take back control of
how our webs of meaning, value systems,
beliefs, art and literature, everything, are
created and disseminated. It is an important
way to question the dominant ways of seeing
things and present alternative views of the
world.
6. Cultural Activism: 4
Principles
• Insurrectionary Imagination
• Dialogue and Interactivity
• Community, Concrete action
and Campaigning
• OUR world- a systems thinking
worldview
11. Case Study 1: Upstart
• A campaign to raise awareness
about the importance of the arts
and creativity in Ireland’s future
• POSTERS animation
• Blog/ website
• www.upstart.ie
• Facebook
• YouTube Advertisement
12. Case Study 2: Book Blocs
Book Blocs
http://demonforteaonepal.tumblr.com/post/4006607787
26. Useful Resources for
Exploring Development
Creatively
• Mayfield Arts Art Action Toolbox
• Mayfield Resource Packs
• Loesje
• Masta Creative Activism
• Comhlamh Diversity Through the Arts
resource pack
27. Creative Activism:
Interesting Websites
• Masta http://www.creativeacts.org/
• Hactivism http://knowledge.exchangedublin.ie/lectures/hacktivism.html
• Activist Handbook 2011 http://www.centreforglobaleducation
.com/sites/default/files/publications/Activist%27s%20Handbook.pdf
• Ricardo Levins Morales (Posters)
• http://www.rlmarts.com/
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guernica_%28painting%29
• http://www.aiweiwei.com/html/works.htm
• The Lab of Insurrectionary Imagination http://labofii.net/reflection/
• Journal of Aesthetics and Protest http://www.journalofaestheticsandprotest.org/
• About Joseph Beuys and social sculpture
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Beuys#The_concept_of_.22Social_Sculpture.22
• Information Activism
• Information is Beautiful
• Loesje Posters
• Good Is Infographics
28. Methods for Working
with Young People
• Through Other Eyes
http://www.throughothereyes.org.uk/
29.
30.
31. Reflect
UnLearning Connect
Reach Out Listening
Act
Learning
to Learn
Learn
32. Finally….
• A Hopi Elder speaks:
•
• "There is a river flowing now very fast. It is so great and swift that there are those who will be
afraid. They will try to hold on to the shore. They will feel they are torn apart and will suffer
greatly. "Know the river has its destination. The elders say we must let go of the shore, push
off into the middle of the river, keep our eyes open, and our heads above water. And I say, see
who is in there with you and celebrate. At this time in history, we are to take nothing personally,
Least of all ourselves. For the moment that we do, our spiritual growth and journey comes to a
halt. "The time for the lone wolf is over. Gather yourselves! Banish the word struggle from
you attitude and your vocabulary. All that we do now must be done in a sacred manner and in
celebration. "We are the ones we've been waiting for .
40. The Art of Hosting and Harvesting
Conversations That Matter
Hosting is “an emerging set
of practices for facilitating
group conversations of all
sizes, supported by
principles that: maximize
collective intelligence;
welcome and listen to
diverse viewpoints;
maximize participation and
civility; and transform conflict
into creative cooperation.”
http://artofhosting.ning.com/
Spivak 痴 work provided the insight for the structure of TOE 痴 conceptual framework of learning to unlearn, learning to listen, learning to learn and learning to reach out. Learning to unlearn is defined as learning to perceive that what we consider 組 o od and ideal � is only one perspective and this perspective is related to where we come from socially, historically and culturally. It also involves perceiving that we carry a 'cultural baggage' filled with ideas and concepts produced in our contexts and that this affects who we are and what we see and that although we are different from others in our own contexts, we share much in common with them. Thus, learning to unlearn is about making the connections between social-historical processes and encounters that have shaped our contexts and cultures and the construction of our knowledges and identities. It is also about becoming aware that all social groups contain internal differences and conflicts and that culture is a dynamic and conflictual production of meaning in a specific context. Learning to listen is defined as learning to recognise the effects and limits of our perspective, and to be receptive to new understandings of the world. It involves learning to perceive how our ability to engage with and relate to difference is affected by our cultural 'baggage � - the ideas we learn from our social groups. Hence, learning to listen is about learning to keep our perceptions constantly under scrutiny (tracing the origins and implications of our assumptions) in order to open up to different possibilities of understanding and becoming aware that our interpretations of what we hear (or see) say more about ourselves than about what is actually being said or shown. This process also involves understanding how identities are constructed in the process of interaction between self and other. This interaction between self and other occurs not only in the communities in which we belong, but also between these communities and others. Learning to learn is defined as learning to receive new perspectives, to re-arrange and expand our own and to deepen our understanding � going into the uncomfortable space of 層 h at we do not know we do not know � . It involves creating different possibilities of understanding, trying to see through other eyes by transforming our own eyes and avoiding the tendency to want to turn the other into the self or the self into the other. Therefore, learning to learn is about learning to feel comfortable about crossing the boundaries of the comfort zone within ourselves and engaging with new concepts to rearrange our 'cultural baggage': our understandings, relationships and desires. Learning to reach out is defined as learning to apply this learning to our own contexts and in our relationships with others continuing to reflect and explore new ways of being, thinking, doing, knowing and relating. It involves understanding that one needs to be open to the unpredictable outcomes of mutual uncoersive learning and perceiving that in making contact with others, one exposes oneself and exposes others to difference and newness, and this often results in mutual teaching and learning (although this learning may be different for each party involved). Learning to reach out is about learning to engage, to learn and to teach with respect and accountability in the complex and uncomfortable intercultural space where identities, power and ideas are negotiated. This process requires the understanding that conflict is a productive component of learning and that the process itself is cyclical: once one has learned to reach out in one context, one is ready to start a new cycle of unlearning, listening, learning and reaching out again at another level.