10th February- War Of Words

10th February-

War Of Words

Today I went to the progressive media conference run by the publication I write for. This is an annual thing that has happened for 3 years now. This was partly to get involve manning the stalls and helping attendees but also to see the symposiums that took place. The below timetable shows you what was on offer. The day and sessions focus on progressive media, arts and politics. This comes in so many variation and the diversity shows you to what extent forward and alternate thinking is needed in just about every sphere.

One general challenge this event faces is the PR done and the advertising. The small editorial team means that things are done on a 'free time' basis. This is demanding as adults don't have much of that if they want to maintain a healthy social life as well. Therefore, this means that the popularity of the event will decrease due to the sole reason some people do not know it happens. I see so many people on my course discussing art and activism and media yet they did not attend. Possibly due to advertising as well as other reasons such as the Saturday placement of the event. This to me is such a shame as the people attending are already the 'converted' or conscious. We need more of those people unsure of their own current standings or input. If these individuals, especially artists, were to then attend they would connect with others that have the same outlook and are already taking part in the sphere. 

ART and ACTIVISM Symposium

Bridget Mckenzie

Art Not Oil coalition 

The above images are the notes I took during the talk and workshop. The presentations went through a number of organisations and what they are doing to use creativity in an active way to instill change. Bridget Mckenzie is part of the 'art not oil coalition' as well as a number of other organisations. She worked previously for the tate and found herself questioning the irony of the funding. She does alot of work raising awareness of everyday ecocide. This is extended into our institutions.  Her company flow reminded me of the APP in which creative thought is applied to different models of business for a more sustainable progression. 

Her open, welcoming talk encouraged the audience to realise what has been taking place throughout our institutions and cultural sector. The commodification of culture is direct;y in line with environmental disaster as big business swamps any type of independent action. Creative activism is now needed to re gain public attention to the truth. The mainstream media do not report on everyday ecocide and very rarely seem interested in environmental stories. This is detrimental as public attention and interest is very much based on who and what gets reported or focused on to be important. 

This is the sector of the arts that I want to be involved in. I want to questioning the internal workings of the galleries, funding and why there seems to be a growing divide in terms of finance. I feel it is important to point out the ironic nature of the industry and focus on internal responsibility as a way to combat this. The overall activism is vital, however, as this takes place the lifestyle of each individual must mimic this also. Pressure needs to be put on our cultural sector to divest and become public once more. The War Of Words has given me lots to reflect upon and also, put me in contact with artists who can guide me to be where I would like to be. Also, as they were slightly older I now believe that there is a field ready for me to move toward and be art of.