Background In 2015, Ishtar Lakhani met the Center for Artistic Activism for the first time. The Open Society Foundation (OSF) had brought the Center to Cape Town, to organize a five-day workshop for organizations involved with the Sex Worker Movement in South Africa. At that time, Ishtar was working as an Advocacy Manager at the …
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Cleveland VOTES came to the Center for Artistic Activism in 2023 with a question: how could they, a civic engagement and voting advocacy organization, create a cultural strategy that would enable them to work with artists and other culture creators and together expand the ways in which Cleveland voters and communities participate in politics and …
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Activism, amongst other things, involves being willing to bring ideas to people on an unsolicited basis when they’re not necessarily asking for it? So, what happens when you bring the future to them? Stuart Candy At the latest edition of Revolutionizing Activism: The Power of Utopia, Stuart Candy (Berggruen Fellow at the University of Southern …
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At the latest edition of Revolutionizing Activism: Using Humor When Things Are Dire, Caty Borum Chattoo (Center for Media and Social Impact/ Yes, And… Laughter Lab) kicked off our discussion by underscoring the significance of humor across cultures and histories. Borum Chatoo notes: we find comedy in the most oppressive conditions over and over again, precisely …
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Hi there, Today we can’t help but think about love, and we find ourselves thinking most about a love ethic. In All About Love, bell hooks asserts that a love ethic “presupposes that everyone has the right to be free – to live fully and well”. And despite hooks’ observation that on a societal level …
This is a recording of the first edition of Revolutionizing Activism, our new online conversation series between advocates, activists, grantmakers, journalists, and artists. In our first discussion, moderated by Jeanine Abrams McLean, President of Fair Count, we discussed how we as advocates can use creativity to cultivate joyous civic engagement and overcome apathy. Featuring activist-artists …
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Anne Basting is a Center for Artistic Activism alumni, MacArthur fellow, and TED Speaker who has brought insights from her theater practice into elder care settings. Her work shows the power of artistic thinking and processes to improve people’s lives, as well as change policy and paradigms. Anne Basting at TED By incorporating art and …
This week we learned that United for a Fair Economy organizer and Center for Artistic Activism alumni and collaborator, Michael Young passed away. Michael worked with the Center for Artistic Activism on several proposals to organize for economic and racial justice in the southern United States. He was absolutely committed to equity and justice and …
Everyone deserves a safe and healthy place to call home. In Lagos, Nigeria corruption brings crime to every level of a society and causes infrastructure to languish. Dance can be attention grabbing, visceral, and powerful way to communicate ideas and emotions when political and legislative avenues are fruitless. This is why BBC World talked to …
Anne Basting (alumni of our School for Creative Activism) is a pioneer in dementia and elder Care. She “developed a radical approach that combines methods from the world of theater and improvisation with evidence-based therapies that connect people using their own creativity and imagination.” Her new book is called Creative Care: A Revolutionary Approach to …
Brooke Singer is an alum of the Center for Artistic Activism’s first program. Carbon Sponge: A Guide To Grow Carbon in Urban Soils (and Beyond) Carbon Sponge: A Guide To Grow Carbon in Urban Soils (and Beyond) is the full account of the Carbon Sponge project, including: the science of carbon sequestration, why urban carbon …
The Center for Artistic Activism Advisory Board member, L.M. Bogad has a new podcast. Check out episode three with Merith Basey, who is working with us on the Free The Vaccine for COVID-19 campaign. I’m pleased to announce the launch of my podcast, THE PLAGUE. It’s a podcast where we look, not just at the …
Center for Artistic Activism alumnus, Gjorgje Jovanovik, has helped open a new space in Skopje Macedonia. Their announcement HISTORY In 2015, the JADRO Association of the independent culture scene started an initiative for establishing a hybrid institution that is to be the first example of a working civic-public partnership. With this initiative our aim was …
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Diplomas and degrees are markers of ones rigorous study and indicate to others a measure of achievement. Unfortunately, if you want a PhD in Albania, it’s within reach. Just find the right administrator and be prepared to pay. Be careful who you approach because some may prefer sexual favors to cash. This problem makes everyone’s …
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Debbie Almontaser was part of Center for Artistic Activism workshop in 2015. We selected her because of her past accomplishments and we’re so proud of the work she’s done since! Check out this video about the 2017’s New York Bodega Strike and let your heart swell. Debbie has a new book out also, Leading While …
Center for Artistic Activism Alumnus and Board Member, Terry Marshall, has been selected for the Laundromat Project’s Create Change Program. Center for Artistic Activism pal, Aisha Shillingford, was also included. Congratulations Terry and Aisha! The cohort, comprised of 10 Fellows and 4 Artists-in-Residence, will collaborate with New York City communities to develop, deepen, and enact …
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Ummi Yakubu is a young professional in the interactive multimedia and design industry and is currently working on a mobile game that’s aimed at increasing civic responsibility.
Ibrahima Amadou Niang (@IbrahimaANiang) is the Head of the Guinea Country Office at Open Society Initiative for West Africa (OSIWA) and participated in C4AAs 2016 School for Creative Activism in New York City. The following year he performed at two major literary festivals. Originally from Senegal, Ibou works on social justice issues through his work as an NGO activist and through his writing.
Victoria Catalina brought her creative activism and graphic artist skills to C4AA’s 2016 Art Action Academy in Dublin, working to decriminalize sex work and workers, and has been working as a graphic designer and illustrator since then, often going back to sex worker rights and other activist themes in personal and commercial projects. Catalina has been designing for the Dutch sex workers union PROUD, and P&G292, a health organisation for sex workers in Amsterdam, among other collaborations.
Art Action Academy alumni Cédric Wilfrid Codo has been using media for social change, working with African youth, women and girls. “I am working on a cultural education project for girls and children in schools, on the presence of women in culture and sport (promotion and training) and finally on media that gives visibility to all this. I am convinced that the projects of the future will be projects that will bring together Anglophones and Francophones on projects in French. It will change the world.”
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