brin nesryn

CREATIVE RADICAL STRUGGLE
excerpt by Katerina Komi (she/her)

“It is widely believed that artivism, as concept and practice, has existed since at least the 1990s through creative encounters and collaborations between Chicana/o artists and activists from Los Angeles and members of the Zapatista community in Chiapas, Mexico. This transnational partnership between two movements aimed to resist the omnipotence of capitalism and the neoliberal policies of the time, holding them responsible for the aggravation of social inequalities, racism against indigenous people and immigrants, systemic injustice, impoverishment of a large part and percentage of the population, and the destruction of the environment. Artivism centers diverse works of subversive nature produced by artists and activists who criticize the status quo; the development of projects that aim to empower stigmatised and over-exposed individuals; and the fact that such actions take place outside the structures of the art market and against its exploitative institutions.”