ART newsletter winter 2022
Welcome to the first edition of the Art Rights Truth newsletter!
Welcome to the first edition of the Art Rights Truth (ART) newsletter! Read on to hear about our events and newest blog posts. Stay up to date with the latest developments through our Instagram page, where we will be posting regular content about our research and activities.
Art Rights Truth project launched
On 13 September, a public event was held to launch Art Rights Truth. ART is an interdisciplinary research project funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council and led by the Centre for Applied Human Rights and Yorkshire Sculpture Park. Over the next three years and through a mixed methods approach that includes interviews, ethnography and commissioning artwork in York, Canada, Colombia and beyond, ART aims to answer the question: can the arts save human rights?
Project lead Professor Paul Gready introduced the project, explaining how the idea for the project was developed and its main research aims. The hypothesis is that in an increasingly hostile context for human rights, the arts can help support the development of new ways to conceptualise and engage with human rights. Paul’s introduction was followed by a presentation from ART Co-Investigator and Colombia Truth Commissioner Alejandro Castejillo-Cuéllar. Alejandro unfortunately couldn’t join us in person, but he was able to connect from Colombia to talk about his work on developing sonic and sensorial art as part of Colombia’s Truth Commission. Finally, Anishinaabe curator, artist and educator (and treasured member of the ART Advisory Board!) Wanda Nanibushspoke with project Co-Investigator Ana Bilbao about Indigenous art and decolonising the museum, with a particular focus on Canada. With around 100 guests, the event was well attended and made for engaging discussion during the Q&A session and at the drinks reception afterwards.
Image credit: Jessica Warren
RE:Imagine film screening
In 2021, Mexican feminist art collective Las Iluministas and UK-based Pink-Collar Gallery teamed up to launch the RE:Imagine project, inviting artists from Mexico and the UK to create art which changed the narrative on gender-based violence and femicide. This project was supported in part by the Arctivism project, which feeds into ART.
Femicide is a global problem. In fact, it is the leading cause of death for women between the ages of 19 and 44 in the world. When a woman's life is taken, much more is taken from her - her name, her history, her interests, her identity, her hopes and her dreams. This happens not only at the moment she is killed, but afterwards too: women are re-victimised in the media and in society in general, and continue to be blamed for their own murders, while aggressors enjoy either very low sentences or total impunity (in Mexico for example, between 90-97% of femicide cases end in impunity). Las Iluministas and Pink Collar commissioned ten pieces of public art from feminist artists in the UK and Mexico that would change these perceptions, and tell the truth about femicide.
On 31 October, the first public screening of the short films that showcase these commissions was held, followed by a Q&A with Michaela Wetherell of Pink Collar Gallery and Tallulah Lines of Las Iluministas. The event was introduced and chaired by Dr Kyveli Lignou-Tsamantani. The short films are being released weekly between 8 November - 6 December on YouTube.
Image credit: Emilie Flower
Blogs
Through the ART blog series, the ART team along with guest authors share their perspectives on pressing issues at the intersection of visual arts and human rights. We kick the series off with reflections from the team on Documenta Fifteen.
A criticism levelled at Documenta 15 by some arts professionals is that there isn’t enough art. In her blog, Helen Pheby argues that that depends on how we conceptualise art, and how we see its role in society.
Ana Bilbao asks what we can learn from an artwork beyond it being good or bad or resulting in positive or negative behaviour, arguing that art can help us engage with human rights in novel ways and offer us a pathway to work and think together.
Emilie Flower responds to criticisms that Documenta Fifteen focused too heavily on ‘NGO art’, arguing that this dismissive accusation merits further enquiry, to understand how Indonesian curators ruangrupa embrace collectivity in their work.
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