August 6–December 17, 2021
21 audio addresses and presidential portraits from artists as leaders, released every Friday from August 6–December 17, 2021. Available at ArtistsInPresidents.com and BlackwoodGallery.ca.
Initiated by Constance Hockaday
Curated by Christine Shaw
Commissioned by The Blackwood (University of Toronto Mississauga)
Featuring: Esra’a Al Shafei, d’bi.young anitafrika, Raji Aujla, Roy Dib, Irmgard Emmelhainz, Macarena Gómez-Barris, Kevin Gotkin, Luis Jacob, Emily Johnson, Cheryl L’Hirondelle, Ramin Mazhar, Mkomose (Dr. Andrew Judge), Raqs Media Collective, Fariha Róisín, Desi Small-Rodriquez, Adrian Stimson, Melati Suryodarmo, Paulo Tavares, Françoise Vergès, Romily Alice Walden, Ravyn Wngz.
Who has the power to reimagine leadership? What would it look like if artists assumed authority over our collective future? What if we all joined in this mission?
Artists-in-Presidents: Transmissions to Power invites artists, activists, public intellectuals, and writers to radically reimagine political power and possibility. An international assembly of 21 contributors have been called upon to create audio addresses that position themselves as world leaders who speak directly to the people, describing their vision for the future and how we get there. With support from professional speech writers and photographers, each artist has also created a “Presidential Portrait,” embodying the kind of leadership they wish to bring into being, and subverting conventions of presidential portraiture. Together, they compose a rousing collection of imaginative proposals for the leadership we need in this moment of crisis and potentiality.
Inspired by Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s Depression-era radio broadcasts called the “Fireside Chats” as a framework for speaking frankly and directly to the people, Artists-in-Presidents replaces the one-man hero story that plagues our histories and governing bodies around the globe, and complicates calls for unity by asking, “What messages do we need to broadcast to our nation(s) and relations now?”
Today, human and non-human citizens of this Earth are faced with the disastrous social and environmental fallout of global capitalism and settler colonialism, with the COVID-19 pandemic only compounding the existing disparities in our community. During this period of political rupture, economic downturn, and global uncertainty, this project brings together a polyvocal chorus of visionaries from across Turtle Island, England, Bahrain, Brazil, France, Germany, Mexico, Indonesia, Afghanistan, India, and Lebanon. Artists-in-Presidents: Transmissions to Power addresses interlocking urgencies: environmental crisis; the ongoing effects of war; the alienation of people from their governing structures; the necessity of healing ongoing traumas; and international movements for Black lives, Indigenous sovereignty, LGBTQ2S rights, open Internet, and disability justice.
Artists-In-Presidents audio transmissions are free and are released weekly on Fridays via a dedicated website at ArtistsInPresidents.com, at BlackwoodGallery.ca, and as podcast feeds on Apple Podcasts, SoundCloud, and Spotify. ASL interpretations of each audio address will be available, as well as text transcriptions. Listen to the Welcome Message and first transmissions from Françoise Vergès, Mkomose (Dr. Andrew Judge), and Ravyn Wngz now!
Listeners are invited to create their own presidential addresses and share their visions for the future and new modes of leadership on social media, using the hashtag #ArtistsInPresidents.
Media contact:
Alison Cooley, The Blackwood, alison.cooley@utoronto.ca
University of Toronto Mississauga
3359 Mississauga Rd.
Mississauga, ON L5L 1C6
blackwoodgallery.ca
blackwood.gallery@utoronto.ca / T 905.828.3789
Acknowledgments
Artists-in-Presidents: Transmissions to Power is commissioned by the Blackwood Gallery, University of Toronto Mississauga. The Blackwood gratefully acknowledges the support of the Canada Council for the Arts, the Ontario Arts Council, and the University of Toronto Mississauga. Additional support is provided by the Jackman Humanities Institute program for the arts.
