From Black Power to Migrants’ Power
BY Robin Cembalest POSTED 01/22/13
As ’60s activist art enters museums, a new generation is creating an iconography of protest for today
When the revolution began in Cairo's Tahrir Square,
music played a big role in galvanizing young people and
giving them a voice. So it's not surprising that music
continues to play an important role in Egyptian politics
as the presidential candidates began their campaigns.
Post revolution Tunisia is all too familiar with protest – usually through demonstrations - but one group of activists are using the power of street art to get their message across. Calling themselves “Fanni Raghman Anni” (Arabic for “My Art in Spite of Myself”), the group simply scouts the streets of Tunisia bringing theater and drama to random passers-by.
The link between early trauma and ill health later was untilled soil in the world of medicine. But the possibility of a connection captured the interest of the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention. And it was the beginning of a 25-year odyssey for Vincent Felitti when he teamed up with researchers to study the health of 17,000 members of a preventive care program at Kaiser Permanente, a private insurer.
The Nanny Van is a public art initiative run by REV- and the National Domestic Workers Alliance. This project aims at shorting distances, gaps and obstacles between domestic workers and the proper information of their rights. Therefore, Nanny Van is a smartphone app every person can download in order to access information about the legal conditions and state any kind of questions or claims.
Sara Hendren is an Enabler. Hendren's writing, research, and "knowledge-building" propels conversations of ability and disability in such a way that activates a creative dialogue as well as provides a scholarly basis for cultural critique.
A year after the revolution, Egypt is still in conflict, still grasping for a catalyst to solidify its society and bring unity and peace to the people. Violence, poverty and unemployement are still rampant, and the voiceless still seek a voice.
As was the case in 2011, Hip Hop has reemerged as a voice for the Egyptian youth for 2012, with new challenges and frustrations countering their struggle for freedom and equality.
When award-winning architect David Rockwell started spending time in playgrounds with his young children, he was disturbed by the lack of imagination and variation in the way kids interact with standardized playground equipment. He spent five years developing the Imagination Playground, seeking private-public partnerships to see it realized.
In a conceptually odd but undeniably memorable PSA campaign, the Mexico City Metro has installed a “penis seat” in one of its subway cars, featuring a molded likeness of a man’s torso and penis, to get male riders thinking about the sexual harassment that women endure every day.
The seat is labeled “For men only.”
In order to raise awareness about the global issue of arranged child marriages, 21-year-old YouTube star Coby Persin decided to push the envelope by asking a 12-year-old 'bride' to pose with a 65-year-old 'groom' in the middle of Times Square. Child marriage is not only legal in 91 countries around the world, but even continues to be legal in the United States - with some having a cut off as low as 12 years of age.
The flashmob ‘’I will dance despite everything’’ was organized in Tunis's old medina on December 2012 by “Art Solution", a Tunisian group aiming to promote street art as a form of resistance.
Elisa and Lily chose to create StyleLikeU as an alternative to this disempowering status quo. In 2009, the duo picked up a home video camera and launched their "Closet" series, documenting diverse individuals who were challenging fashion industry norms in their style.
At noon today, a group of artists and activists including members of the Gulf Ultra Luxury Faction (known as G.U.L.F.) unfurled a large parachute in the atrium of the Guggenheim Museum, demanding to meet with a member of the institution’s board of trustees to discuss the labor conditions at its Abu Dhabi site.
The minaret of the Jara Mosque in Gabes towers over its surroundings. Formed of golden brick, it jolts up from the flat, sand-colored cityscape around it, all the better to broadcast the call to prayer across the coastal city.
On the afternoon of September 11th, nearly a hundred people hugged each other to feel the beauty of the hug on the Paris Square in front of the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, under the leadership of the Chinese artist Gao Brothers. At the beginning of the event, the Germans have not yet adapted to the behavior of embracing strangers, but encouraged by Gao brothers, people have opened their arms and gave the strangers around them a warm hug.
East West Market in Vancouver, British Columbia have made it clear that they are very concerned about the effect that single use plastic items have on the environment.
Racist adverts promoting hatred against Muslims are currently being run on buses in San Francisco - but someone has started covering them up with anti-hatred messages from Marvel's première Muslim superhero, Ms. Marvel.
Last week, Tunisia's tallest minaret went under the brush of the country's hottest muralist. On the Jara Mosque in his hometown of Gabes, 31-year-old eL Seed painted a verse from the Quran preaching tolerance, a message meant for Salafist Islamists who protested "provocative" pieces at an art exhibition earlier this summer.
It’s the radiant baby, the barking dog and the dancing man; the badges and the t-shirts; the unmissable mural spelling out CRACK IS WACK. Keith Haring’s career was short but spectacular, and he leaves behind a lasting legacy. From his chalk drawings in city-wide subway stations, to his collaborations with the superstars of his day, Haring’s life was founded on a belief in the power of people to change the world.
Bernie Sanders supporters know how to bring the party! And they did it big time for the Democratic Debate in New York this week, with help from The Illuminator & the NYC Light Brigade. They installed an interactive video game featuring Bernie jumping over obstacles and WINNING!