ART COVERS POLITICS
CURATED BY TOMÁŠ RAFA
Kolorowa Niepodległa, Warsaw, Poland, November 2011Photo: Tomas Rafa
Demonstration for free elections in Russia, Berlin, Germany, February 2, 2012Photo: Marina Naprushkina
Occupy Wall Street, New York, USA, October 2011Photo: Peter Snadik
Anti-G20, Toronto, CanadaPhoto: Eduardo Lima
Occupy Wall Street - Zuccotti Park, New York, USA, October, 2011Photo: Patricia
Slovak spring, Bratislava, Slovakia, March 9, 2012Photo: Tomas Rafa
Demonstration in front of the Portuguese Parliament, Lisbon, Portugal, October 2011Photo: Luís Ramos
Protest against capitalism, London, England, October 2011Photo: Andrzej Szołomicki
Occupy Venezia, Venice, Italy, November 2011Photo: Sandra Teitge
Demonstration in front of the Portuguese Parliament, Lisbon, Portugal, October 2011Photo: Luís Ramos
Protest of Solidarność in front of the parliament, Poland, March 30, 2012Photo: Tomas Rafa
Occupy Wall Street, New York, USA, October 2011Photo: Peter Snadik
Demonstration "Democracia real ya!", Brussels, Belgium, October 2011Photo: Rafał Żurek
International day against racism, Berlin-Kreuzberg, March 21, 2012Photo: Cicek Bacik
Occupy Wall Street, New York, USA, October 2011Photo: Peter Snadik
Demonstration in front of the Portuguese Parliament, Lisbon, Portugal, October 2011Photo: Luís Ramos
Always hungry, 2011Photo: Manolis Anastasakos
Occupy Berlin, Berlin, Germany, November 2011Photo: Sandra Teitge
Between Palestine and Israel, January 2012Photo: Karol Kaczorowski
Social march in Chisinau by Comunist Party, Moldova, March 15, 2012Photo: Tatiana Fiodorova
The front page of the 7th Berlin Biennale website shows the project Art Covers Politics, which presents images submitted by artists and others who are willing to react on and report immediately about political events. Active since September 1, 2011, the project continues throughout the Biennale.
With all the turmoil and struggles happening today—demonstrations, protests, Occupy movements, etc.—the political fight goes on. Nevertheless the mainstream media selects which events to cover and in this way decide what is regarded as political. We can only observe the hectic activity of this media-machine, reduced to passive bystanders and viewers of political spectacle. Artists, with their subtle use of images and social intuition, could be good observers of reality who define what is political by covering these events themselves, showing us an alternative to the media’s logic.
by Artur Żmijewski
Many people behind social media are already doing it. But we’d like to use this tool within art. That’s why we sent out the call for people to react to and document political events, and to engage in direct political action without it being labeled non-art or activism. Especially artists can be engaged observers, who use their skills to empower communities they are linked to. No tricky art, no mystery, just pure message, pure information, and easy direct action: art-journalism. In this way the Berlin Biennale website turns from a marketing tool into an advocacy tool.
Chelsea Renee DeVere
06.10.2011 at 21:17
Saturday Oct 1 marked the launch of Occupy Los Angeles in solidarity with the broader movement which is being dubbed “Occupy Together.”
“We can no longer afford to let corporate greed and corrupt politics set the policies of our nation.”(occupywallstreet.com)
savitri d
28.10.2011 at 03:48
these are the words of the declaration of the occupation of nyc http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IgEdrh617qs&feature=youtu.be
Sarah Iremonger
04.12.2011 at 15:31
I thought Occupy Cork/Ireland should be included in the debate “1% get bailout while 99% pay” !
Venia Karolidou
17.12.2011 at 00:30
I already have recorded indignant citizens in Athens-GR, as well as different demonstrations that take place quite often in the city
Christian Costa
27.12.2011 at 03:25
The Florence pictures show the demostration against racism called on 17.12.2011 as a reaction to the murder of two Senegalese traders. Here some more info about it:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-16166243
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-16175877
Spazi Docili [Docile Spaces]
http://www.spazidocili.org
http://www.facebook.com/SpaziDocili
BOBBY MONTENEGRO
19.02.2012 at 06:13
Protest gegen Nichtbezalung ununterbrochen von januar 2012 in Zamora Spanien
http://t.co/FHrUoJvZ
Sajan Mani
18.04.2012 at 09:19
great! rather than Occupy,Protest etc can i post other political images like propaganda war on street ,street art by political parties ,election etc ?
tomas rafa
30.06.2012 at 21:24
Thank you everyone for contribution!!!