Artivism

Giving to the Poor, a stencil by American street artist Above addressing the issue of homelessness. Lisbon, Portugal, 2008.

Artivism is a portmanteau word combining "art" and "activism".

Artivism developed in recent years while the antiwar and anti-globalization protests emerged and proliferated. In many cases artivists attempt to push political agendas by the means of art, but a focus on raising social, environmental and technical awareness is also common. Besides using traditional mediums like film and music to raise awareness or push for change, an artivist can also be involved in culture jamming, subvertising, street art, spoken word, protesting and activism.[1][2][3]

Artivist Eve Ensler has stated:

... This passion has all the ingredients of activism, but is charged with the wild creations of art. Artivism — where edges are pushed, imagination is freed, and a new language emerges altogether." Bruce Lyons has written: "... artivism ... promotes the essential understanding that ... [humans] ... can, through courageous creative expression, experience the unifying power of love when courage harnesses itself to the task of art + social responsibility.[1][2][3]
You Cut Art, You Cut Culture by Artica Concepts
Bomb-hugger by Banksy
Work by John Fekner at Madison Avenue, New York City, USA
Greece Next Economic Model by Bleeps.gr in Athens, Greece

By 2008 the term made its way into academic writing, with Chela Sandoval and Guisela Latorre published a piece on Chicano/a artivism and M. K. Asante used the term in reference to Black artists.[4][5]

There is a chapter on artivism in the book It's Bigger Than Hip Hop by M. K. Asante. Asante writes of the artivist:

The artivist (artist + activist) uses her artistic talents to fight and struggle against injustice and oppression—by any medium necessary. The artivist merges commitment to freedom and justice with the pen, the lens, the brush, the voice, the body, and the imagination. The artivist knows that to make an observation is to have an obligation.

Artivists

Collectives and organizations

See also

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Artivism.
  1. 1 2 Politics, Power and Passion, The New York Times, December 2, 2011. Please see the fifth segment by Eve Ensler.
  2. 1 2 Jeanmarie Simpson -- Artivist in the Modern Landscape (Part 1), Dylan Brody, The Huffington Post, 2011.10.03
  3. 1 2 Jeanmarie Simpson -- Artivist in the Modern Landscape (Part 2), Dylan Brody, The Huffington Post, 2011.10.05
  4. ↑ Chela Sandoval and Guisela Latorre, ""Chicana/o Artivism: Judy Baca's Digital Work with Youth of Color," in Learning Race and Ethnicity, MIT Press, 2007.
  5. ↑ M.K. Asante, Jr. It's Bigger Than Hip Hop, St. Martin's Press, 2009.
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