ArtSpace RoundUp #1: The Art & Space of Public Opinion
Dream Arts & Design Agency is pleased to introduce the first in a series of events planned in collaboration with Goethe Institut to hold through 2012. ArtSpace RoundUp is a set of presentations and discursive events surrounding artistic practice and spatial realities that shape and envelope them. In exploring the meeting point between art and space, Artspace Roundup brings together architects, artists, curators, producers, cultural programmers, critics, and ‘consumers’ of artistic ‘products’ into different spaces in Lagos where each roundtable discussion will be preceded by artistic presentations on set themes.
Historical precedents to ArtSpace RoundUp #1
Events that have happened in the months leading to the year 2012 have been replete with keen contests for key spaces found critical to the expression of public opinion. From the series of revolutions that rocked North Africa and the middle East, to the ‘Occupy’ protests against economic and social inequality in Europe and North America, the expressions of public opinion have been typified by contests for ‘protest space’ between protesters and agents of state.
The Nigerian Hammattan.
Several events have served to put this type of scenario in new perspective, in Nigeria, protesters against fuel price increase and waste in the public sector took their agitations beyond social media spaces in January, to convert available public spaces into public spheres for aggregating and propagating public opinion, access to these spaces had to be contested with agents of state in a manner akin to the ‘Arab Spring’ and ‘Occupy’ events and the Lagos protests in particular featured a wide variety of artistic expressions by well known practitioners whose creative oeuvres are well known to have tackled similar issues in the past and regular citizens who improvised in different ways to have their voices heard.
The fight for Cyber-space.
Also in January, attempts to combat the piracy of intellectual property on the internet through a proposed legislative act in the United States, largely sponsored by organizations and groups representative of traditional models of media content creation and distribution met with stiff protests against the proposed Protect IP Act (PIPA) which reached a head on January 18 with the ‘black out’ of some websites, most noticeably the English Wikipedia sites. Alongside Wikipedia, opponents to PIPA include Mozilla Corporation, Facebook, Electronic Frontier Foundation, Yahoo!, eBay, American Express, Reddit, Google, Reporters Without Borders and Human Rights Watch citing mainly concerns over possible damage to freedom of speech, innovation, and integrity of the internet. The January 18 internet protests have led to a postponement of deliberations on the bill. At heart, the emergence of the PIPA act and subsequent protests against it amount to another contest for the right to a space for public opinion, this time around, a digital space where artistic output get exchanged at dizzying speeds.
Graffiti- urban menace or legitimate street art.
In a different, yet related context, artists in Cape Town, South Africa battled last year to stop the passage of a proposed graffiti by-law that sought to criminalize all forms of public art and according to the online petition circulated; “violates our personal right to freedom of expression on private property.” The violation referred to here is the requirement included in the by-law (which has now been passed), that state permission be obtained besides the permission of a property owner before murals can be put up. Cape Town being a popular tourist destination with graffiti and street art being a strong component of its cultural heritage, the significance of this contest for continued access to the public space for artistic self expression can only be well appreciated against the back drop of graffiti’s roots in ancient history, dating back well before the 16th century, its tendency to give voice to contemporary social and political misgivings and its adoption as a vehicle for artistic expression within the larger context of popular culture. Violators are now being fined as much as R1,500 and interestingly, organizations like the Visual Artists’ Network of South Africa have been drafted to help speed track application processes for their members.
The Art & Space of Public Opinion
It is in view of these happenings that the first edition of ArtSpace RoundUp is themed: “The Art & Space of Public Opinion.” On Saturday the 25th of February, we shall be deliberating on the role of the artist in the calibration and expression of public opinion and the control of / negotiation for public spheres for its expression. There will be artistic presentations, a roundtable discussion and interactive engagement. The event holds at Goethe Institut, 4th Floor, City Hall, 30 Catholic Mission Street, Lagos from 11am – 2pm.
The series of six bi-monthly artistic presentations and roundtable discussions is developed and coordinated by the Dream Arts & Design Agency (DADA) with the partnership and support of Goethe Institut Lagos.
