When looking at the definitions of art and activism separately, it’s difficult to see how they can cohesively fit together. However, it’s more direct than you might think. Activism works to bring about change within the political or social landscape—and a not-so-common platform for activism is art.
This works for one reason. To make an impactful change, people have to be compelled, and more specifically emotionally compelled to act; art’s purpose is to emotionally stimulate.
Though it might be viewed as an analytical field, the political and social landscape is incredibly emotional; topics such as religion and culture always are intertwined in pressing issues. Thus, so is art—and not just the art you would typically see within a gallery. Conversely, artistic activism is often found on billboards or social media and is especially well suited to our reliance on technology.
You can even find events relating to activism within art. Panels, workshops, and more are widely available, even more so now that many events are being moved to an online workspace. Artistic activism is notably accessible, even to those who claim they aren’t “political people”—because how many people do you know who don’t read books, listen to music, or scroll through endless graphics on Instagram? Through these different channels, artistic activism has a way of popping up.
Even with all this, art is not a stand-alone platform for activism; it often merely acts as a catalyst.
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