Periodic Reporting for period 4 - ARTIVISM (Art and Activism : Creativity and Performance as Subversive Forms of Political Expression in Super-Diverse Cities)
Reporting period: 2021-03-01 to 2022-08-31
Super-diversity, creativity and political expression
Artistic expression offers an original way to voice political criticism and 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 explored new artistic forms of political expression in multicultural cities, in times of crisis and/or under oppressive conditions. Her international research team focused 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 8 urban settings on 3 continents: 1. Europe: Italian and French towns with a strong tradition of Carnival parades (Nice, Viareggio) and carnivalesque style figures in political demonstrations (Genoa, Marseille); 2. Africa: gateway cities in Cameroon with creative and satirical comic art (Douala, Yaoundé); 3. North America: Latino immigrant cities in California (Los Angeles, San Francisco) with powerful mural paintings. Building on urban studies, migration studies, and the anthropology of art and performance, Professor Salzbrunn’s team researched how social actors engage artistically to trigger social, economic and political change. In each field, art is used in activism; in parallel, art has become increasingly more activist as political contexts have grown more repressive. After a phase of resignation following the victory of populist political leaders in Italy and 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 infrastructure in Genoa and Marseille, or the war in Cameroon, have become symbols of decay and failed state policies. Activists and artists have organized independent carnivals, carnivalesque events and reinvented traditional feasts in these cities as satire and critiques of corruption, gentrification and anti-immigration politics. In a context of growing repression of democratic political opposition movements, artivistic means of expression have become even more important elements of political processes than 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.
Artistic expression offers an original way to voice political criticism and 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 explored new artistic forms of political expression in multicultural cities, in times of crisis and/or under oppressive conditions. Her international research team focused 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 8 urban settings on 3 continents: 1. Europe: Italian and French towns with a strong tradition of Carnival parades (Nice, Viareggio) and carnivalesque style figures in political demonstrations (Genoa, Marseille); 2. Africa: gateway cities in Cameroon with creative and satirical comic art (Douala, Yaoundé); 3. North America: Latino immigrant cities in California (Los Angeles, San Francisco) with powerful mural paintings. Building on urban studies, migration studies, and the anthropology of art and performance, Professor Salzbrunn’s team researched how social actors engage artistically to trigger social, economic and political change. In each field, art is used in activism; in parallel, art has become increasingly more activist as political contexts have grown more repressive. After a phase of resignation following the victory of populist political leaders in Italy and 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 infrastructure in Genoa and Marseille, or the war in Cameroon, have become symbols of decay and failed state policies. Activists and artists have organized independent carnivals, carnivalesque events and reinvented traditional feasts in these cities as satire and critiques of corruption, gentrification and anti-immigration politics. In a context of growing repression of democratic political opposition movements, artivistic means of expression have become even more important elements of political processes than 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.
Professor Salzbrunn’s team conducted intensive ethnographic fieldwork in sites where artists and activists had formed alliances under conditions of political, social, economic or environmental precarity. As the COVID-19 pandemic and global travel restrictions closed many borders for researchers in 2020-2021, the team concentrated on digital ethnography and explored new local field-sites with similar political and artivistic dynamics (carnival and carnivalesque events in Cologne; environmentalists’ and feminists’ artivist actions and struggles in the Lake Geneva region). The researchers followed relevant groups online and participated in interactive artivist events and debates.
Data protection measures and ethical concerns have been widely applied. These measures, combined with the construction of a website with an interactive blog, presentations at international conferences and in public media, contributed immensely to the understanding, acceptance and enthusiastic welcome of the project.
Long-term fieldwork, frequent follow-up field visits and the method of field-crossing developed by Prof. Salzbrunn (2011, 2021) allowed to establish and consolidate trusted relationships with participants living under precarious conditions.
The overall struggle for recognition and empowerment has emerged as a crucial 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. Feminist, anti-fascist, anti-authoritarian, anti-colonial and environmental struggles shared common ground in several field sites but differed in the choice of artistic expression and the degree of political risk and engagement.
In Genoa, carnivalesque fashion shows and carnivalesque parades were performed to raise awareness against growing inequalities, discrimination and gentrification. Similarly, artists and activists in Cameroon’s major cities Yaounde and Douala use performances, fashion shows, street art and comics to subvert the political and cultural ideology of the authoritarian regime. Social pressure and auto-censorship of artists work hand in hand with political repression.
In Los Angeles, conflicts around territory, the interpretation of history and symbolic references were expressed through mural art.
More than a century old carnival traditions researched in Nice, Viareggio and Cologne, turned out to be complex and subtle means of expression, for official political representatives as well as for artivists and engaged minority groups.
In all fields, the project highlighted the articulation of intersectional dynamics in art and activism and revealed that gender, race, ethnicity, class, sexual orientation and age all have an important impact on artivism but are interlinked and expressed in very different ways depending on the cultural, social, economic and political contexts and the freedom of expression in each site.
Furthermore, the project has focused on the articulation between micro-utopias in specific places and unspectacular forms of artivism researched through the event approach (Salzbrunn 2017, 2021). These local events strongly impact social relations and political transformation processes but have been less researched than strongly mediatized actions (like the Occupy movement).
Finally, the project has widely contributed to the innovative articulation of alternative research methods: graphic anthropology, multi-sensory ethnography, audio-visual methods (Salzbrunn 2020), apprenticeship, digital ethnography (Pink 2015) and field-crossing (developed by Salzbrunn 2011 and 2021), documented in several individual and collective publications as well as four short films (“Defile Maddalena La Superba”; “Messa Partigiana”; “Yannick D. Sekoué sur le Festival MBOA BD au Cameroun”; ERC ARTIVISM Final Conference Film), one medium film (“Street”) and one long documentary film (“Créer resister, exister”). The contributions to collaborative research techniques have allowed us to push forward general methodological reflections in social and cultural anthropology and qualitative sociology.
Data protection measures and ethical concerns have been widely applied. These measures, combined with the construction of a website with an interactive blog, presentations at international conferences and in public media, contributed immensely to the understanding, acceptance and enthusiastic welcome of the project.
Long-term fieldwork, frequent follow-up field visits and the method of field-crossing developed by Prof. Salzbrunn (2011, 2021) allowed to establish and consolidate trusted relationships with participants living under precarious conditions.
The overall struggle for recognition and empowerment has emerged as a crucial 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. Feminist, anti-fascist, anti-authoritarian, anti-colonial and environmental struggles shared common ground in several field sites but differed in the choice of artistic expression and the degree of political risk and engagement.
In Genoa, carnivalesque fashion shows and carnivalesque parades were performed to raise awareness against growing inequalities, discrimination and gentrification. Similarly, artists and activists in Cameroon’s major cities Yaounde and Douala use performances, fashion shows, street art and comics to subvert the political and cultural ideology of the authoritarian regime. Social pressure and auto-censorship of artists work hand in hand with political repression.
In Los Angeles, conflicts around territory, the interpretation of history and symbolic references were expressed through mural art.
More than a century old carnival traditions researched in Nice, Viareggio and Cologne, turned out to be complex and subtle means of expression, for official political representatives as well as for artivists and engaged minority groups.
In all fields, the project highlighted the articulation of intersectional dynamics in art and activism and revealed that gender, race, ethnicity, class, sexual orientation and age all have an important impact on artivism but are interlinked and expressed in very different ways depending on the cultural, social, economic and political contexts and the freedom of expression in each site.
Furthermore, the project has focused on the articulation between micro-utopias in specific places and unspectacular forms of artivism researched through the event approach (Salzbrunn 2017, 2021). These local events strongly impact social relations and political transformation processes but have been less researched than strongly mediatized actions (like the Occupy movement).
Finally, the project has widely contributed to the innovative articulation of alternative research methods: graphic anthropology, multi-sensory ethnography, audio-visual methods (Salzbrunn 2020), apprenticeship, digital ethnography (Pink 2015) and field-crossing (developed by Salzbrunn 2011 and 2021), documented in several individual and collective publications as well as four short films (“Defile Maddalena La Superba”; “Messa Partigiana”; “Yannick D. Sekoué sur le Festival MBOA BD au Cameroun”; ERC ARTIVISM Final Conference Film), one medium film (“Street”) and one long documentary film (“Créer resister, exister”). The contributions to collaborative research techniques have allowed us to push forward general methodological reflections in social and cultural anthropology and qualitative sociology.
The event-approach and field-crossing (Salzbrunn 2012, 2021 have proven to be highly fruitful as they reinforce intellectual exchange and the sharing of fieldwork experiences within the team and serve already as a model for other collaborative projects.
Professor Salzbrunn produced 6 films, screened on-site during feedback and restitution sessions. The team constantly emphasized the fair sharing of benefits in their field sites and international conferences, gave visibility and support to artists and activists. In 2019, the team supported the MBOA BD comic festival in Cameroon (with Pro Helvetia). The team is creating an ethnographic comic book on artivism in collaboration with an engaged artist from the field. A handbook on art and activism will be published in collaboration with invited scientists, artists, and activists from all field sites.
Professor Salzbrunn produced 6 films, screened on-site during feedback and restitution sessions. The team constantly emphasized the fair sharing of benefits in their field sites and international conferences, gave visibility and support to artists and activists. In 2019, the team supported the MBOA BD comic festival in Cameroon (with Pro Helvetia). The team is creating an ethnographic comic book on artivism in collaboration with an engaged artist from the field. A handbook on art and activism will be published in collaboration with invited scientists, artists, and activists from all field sites.