The 10th Anniversary of the Egyptian Revolution / 20th Anniversary of the World Social Forum / EU Project Kick-off
January 24–25, 2021, 2pm
Register on Eventbrite to participate in the plenary discussions. Live stream on AR’s Youtube/Facebook/Instagram/Twitter and all partner channels.
Art. Dissident Politics. Activism. Human rights.
#RiskandRebellion is a symposium about what it takes to face a world in crisis. Artists at Risk (AR) stands at the intersection of the arts and human rights. Likewise, the crises of our time are intersectional, entangling manifold societal and economic conflicts, ecological emergency and forced migration. Can the diverse and fragmented resistance movements of the 2020s re-align across borders and differences to face these existential risks?
#RiskandRebellion presents interventions from around the globe streamed and re-streamed through multiple channels dedicated to:
-The 10th anniversary of the Egyptian Revolution - with a concert by the “Voice of Tahrir Square” Ramy Essam
-The 20th anniversary of the World Social Forum (WSF)
-Artists, ecologists and activists putting their lives at risk.
On January 24, the eve of these anniversaries, AR is kicking off a new Creative Europe project, streamed and re-streamed across the networks of the Artists at Risk (AR) - A European Network of Safe Havens (AR-ENSH) Partner Institutions:
Artists at Risk (AR)
Art Veda, Tunis
CCCB, Barcelona
Stalker, Rome
ZKM | Karlsruhe
The programme presents key artistic figures of the Egyptian Revolution such as Ramy Essam “The voice of Tahrir Square” and Ganzeer; prominent figures from the World Social Forum include Carminda Mac Lorin (co-organiser of Montreal WSF), Boaventura de Sousa Santos, Alaa Talbi and Teivo Teivainen; and further theoretical contributions by figures such as Rodrigo Nunes to frame the debate on rebellious movements, including:
–The Tunisian Revolution - with interviews by Ahmed Khanfir, Art Veda
–The Indignados/15-M - Marta Vallejo Herrando, Xavier Artigas
–Occupy Wall Street - Marisa Holmes, Noah Fisher, et al.
–Bolotnaya Square - Kirill Medvedev, Masha Alyokhina (Pussy Riot)
–Black resistance movements - Benjamin Abras, Nástio Mosquito, et al.
–LGBTQ+ movements - Grammo Suspect - Rainbow Ambassador Kenya
–Extinction Rebellion / The ZAD / Indigenous - Clare Farrell, JJordan and Isa, Abras, Ricardo Aleixo et al.
…all the way to the largest ever movement, the Indian Farmers protest - filmmaker Qaushiq “Q” Mukherjee
…and the Belarusian uprisings of our time - Masha Shakuro.
We are honoured to welcome Sara Whyatt (former director of PEN International), Ole Reitov (founder of Freemuse), Hossam Fazulla (a.o. BBC), Kianoush Ramezani (United Sketches) and others to our panel on human rights.
Aside from Artveda (above), Stalker (AR-Rome) engages with the Egyptian community in Rome, ZKM | (AR) Karlsruhe’s Philipp Ziegler and team present Conflict Zones co-curated by Bruno Latour; and the CCCB presents “Vocabulary for the Future.” Next to going live with Angela Aldebs (Damascus), Saddam Jumaily and Kholod Hawash (Iraq), we expect a critical intervention from Issa Touma (Aleppo), who documented the bloody Syrian uprising. Voices from prospective AR-Safe Haven Residencies include AR-GeoAir Tbilisi, AR-London and AR-India.
Musical contributions include The Lazours and Taibi Magar launching a new album from NYC. Finally, Steven Forti presents the famed Tenco Club’s new Grup Yorum Prize—dedicated to the Turkish musicians—first awarded to Ramy Essam who will play the culminating full-length hard-rock concert for a mondial Arab and international audience, on the eve of the anniversary of the revolution.
January 25 will be met with actions on the ground—from undisclosed plans by Extinction Rebellion, to the streets of Cairo.
DIY and share your plans!
While celebrating and bringing together widely dispersed movements, this mondial symposium speaks to all artist-activists at high risk: apply for AR-Safe Haven Residencies via our Public Call. Share and re-stream #RiskandRebellion through your handles and networks!
