We citizens should pay attention to the artists and push back against politicians who are trying to hold us back into 19th Century fantasies about who “we” are. (Francois Crepeau, Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights of Migrants)
This learning lab explored how artists are currently navigating the everyday reality of rights, alongside and in collaboration with audiences and publics. How are rights performed and activated through the arts? How are rights enacted through the materiality of things, bodies, sound, and movement? How can art and civic activism be forged in creative collaboration with advocacy and academia? To what end? Where are the critical fault lines? Who is safeguarding the rights of those artists who are putting their bodies on the line, persistently posing and proposing tough questions in what is tumultuous and precarious times?
We aimed to round up and reflect on a week of creative exchange and public engagement. The Learning Lab took the form of an open table with a range of contributors – including artists, activists, academics and voices from the field of advocacy.
This Learning Lab was coordinated by Lizzy Willmington.
Moderator: Áine O’Brien, Counterpoints Arts