Report

Teaser, summary, work performed and final results

Periodic Reporting for period 2 - ARTIVISM (Art and Activism : Creativity and Performance as Subversive Forms of Political Expression in Super-Diverse Cities)

Teaser

Super-diversity, creativity and political expressionArtistic expression represents an original way to voice political criticism and to demand civil rights. But how do citizens use art in activism or activism in art to create multiple forms of resistance? Professor...

Summary

Super-diversity, creativity and political expression
Artistic expression represents an original way to voice political criticism and to demand civil rights. But how do citizens use art in activism or activism in art to create multiple forms of resistance? Professor Salzbrunn‘s project on ARTIVISM explores new artistic forms of political expression in multicultural cities, in times of crisis and/or under oppressive conditions. Prof. Salzbrunn and her team focus on a broad range of artistic tools, styles, and means of expression, such as festive events and parades, cartoons, comics and street art. Their work is based on multisensory ethnographic research, including filmmaking and drawing, in three principal urban settings on three continents: 1. Europe: Italian and French towns with a strong tradition of Carnival parades and carnivalesque style figures (masquerade, détournement) in political demonstrations; 2. Africa: gateway cities in Cameroon with creative and satirical comic art; 3. North-America: Latino immigrant cities in California (US) with powerful mural paintings. Building on urban studies, migration studies, and the anthropology of art and performance, Professor Salzbrunn and her international research team aim to understand and explain how social actors engage artistically in order to trigger social, economic and political change.
In each of the fields in France, Italy, the US and Cameroon, actors have used art in activism; in parallel, art has become more and more activist, as political contexts have grown more repressive. After a phase of resignation following the victory of populist political leaders in Italy and in the United States, indignation has led to the development of innovative, translocal artivist actions and actors, particularly in Southern Europe. Tragic events such as the collapse of public infrastructure in Genoa and of private buildings in Marseille, or the war in Cameroon, have become symbols of decay and of failed state policies. Activists and artists have organized independent carnivals and carnivalesque events in these Mediterranean cities as satire and critiques of corruption, anti-immigration and anti-refugee politics.
In a context of growing repression of democratic political opposition movements, artivistic means of expression have become even more important key elements of political processes than they were at the outset of the ARTIVISM project. Hence, ARTIVISM’s focus on new artistic forms of political expression under precarious and oppressive conditions is extremely pertinent.

Work performed

During the first half of the project, Professor Salzbrunn and her team conducted intensive fieldwork in multiple fieldsites: Genoa, Viareggio, Nice, Marseille, Yaoundé, Douala, Los Angeles. Careful preparations were made for fieldwork in the form of data protection measures, improvement of ethical consent forms, risk and privacy impact assessments, and technical solutions for data storage and audio-visual registrations. The team constructed a website to be globally visible to artivists, scientists and the general public. All these measures, in combination with the project’s presentation at international conferences and in public media, contributed profoundly to the understanding, acceptance and enthusiastic welcoming of the project.
According to Professor Salzbrunn, long-term fieldwork, follow-up field-visits and field-crossings established and consolidated trusted relationships with participants living under precarious conditions. Fieldwork revealed that the researchers’ presence in the fields has become more important than ever. Digital networks are part of this activism, but social groups are not accessible without trusted relationships.
The overall struggle for recognition and empowerment has emerged as a pertinent subject in artivistic spaces and events. The research team documented and participated in new forms of protest against increasing touristification, neo-liberal capitalism and commercialization. In Genoa, carnivalesque fashion shows organized by artivists and immigrants, displaying outmoded European design, African design and featuring cat-walking in the streets of the historical center, aim to reverse negative stigmata. Similarly, Cameroonian designers’ fashion shows in Douala aim to create awareness for the fate and resistance of West-Cameroonians who are traumatized by war. The political crisis and hidden war are at the core of protests. Cartoon art presents one form of protest under conditions of severe repression, and has become a means of ridicule, heroism and coded critique. Cameroonian superheros and heroines fight with ingenuity and magic against corruption, cultural stereotypes and dictatorship. As a deeper insight, the project revealed that social censorship works hand in hand with political repression even when there is no official censorship. In the US, the Trump government and anti-immigration politics have sparked new mural art projects which are on the way to being fully explored. In some districts of Los Angeles, mural art has become an established form of expression and has increased the sense of belonging to a neighborhood and a community, thus improving the life quality of the inhabitants. In others, symbolic references have triggered rejection and symbolic violence when they were interpreted in different political and cultural contexts. The researchers are investigating old and new conflicts in contemporary US super-diverse cities about territory, belonging, the interpretation of history, symbolic references and meanings, expressed through mural art.
Halfway through, the project has already exceeded expectations in terms of its result. In particular, they have brought to light the articulation of intersectional dynamics which will be further investigated in depth. Professor Salzbrunn’s focus on intersectionality reveals that gender, race, ethnicity, class and age all have an important impact on artivism.

Final results

The ARTIVISM team developed and combined innovative methods throughout the course of fieldwork. Field-crossing, a method first conceptualised by Professor Salzbrunn in 2012, has proven to be extremely fruitful in teamwork and has thus been intensified, as it reinforces intellectual exchange and the sharing of fieldwork experiences within the team. Multisensory ethnography and apprenticeship proved highly appropriate tools for the sharing of sensitive and bodily experiences that form the object of artistic and political expression. Graphic anthropology also revealed itself to be a fruitful approach: drawing with others opens the field and is often the starting point of art work. It is employed as a means of expression in communication, interpretation, and dissemination, in shared field activities and field-journals. The team’s intensive engagement in audio-visual anthropology throughout the first thirty months of the project has shown that despite the European emphasis on mainly visual perception, all other senses need to be activated in order to share and transmit the cultural perceptions of the other and of the other’s living conditions. The participation in and documentation of events allows us to understand how people perceive their social realities and how, why and why not they react, struggle and fight for their ideals against all odds.
During the first period of the project, Prof. Salzbrunn has produced three short-films on ARTIVISM, screened on-site during feedback and restitution sessions. The whole team presented the project at international platforms and conferences, disseminated results and participated in artistic events such as international comic festivals and carnivals. Fieldwork and field-crossing in comic and in mural art will be intensified in the second half of the project.
Professor Salzbrunn’s ARTIVISM team has constantly given emphasis to the fair sharing of benefits: researchers hold workshops, lectures, conferences and round tables in their fieldsites, employ local staff for field assistance, and give visibility and intellectual support to artists. In 2019, the team is proud to support the MBOA BD comic festival in Cameroon in partnership with the Swiss foundation Pro Helvetia. Furthermore, in collaboration with comic artists and screenwriters met in the field, the ARTIVISM team is working on a scenario for a comic in order to restitute its findings in an accessible way for a broader public.
Updates, news and insights from the ongoing work are constantly being published on the ERC ARTIVISM Blog: www.erc-artivism.ch

Website & more info

More info: http://erc-artivism.ch.