Projects tagged "Performance"

Mandela Danced
Practitioner:
Nelson Mandela
Date:
Jan 1 1980
Mandela's notion of manhood changed over time. In the early days, he evoked the image of toughness to deal with an enemy that would not respond to reason. When it became possible to secure peace through talking, Mandela adapted. After his release his image was one of warmth and inclusiveness, embracing those who feared majority rule and even his former enemies.
"Be the first follower" dance video
Practitioner:
Shirtless guy
Date:
May 26 2000
If you've learned a lot about leadership and making a movement, then let's watch a movement happen, start to finish, in under 3 minutes, and dissect some lessons: A leader needs the guts to stand alone and look ridiculous. But what he's doing is so simple, it's almost instructional. This is key. You must be easy to follow!
Is Coachella getting political? Some of this year's art says yes
Practitioner:
Coachella
Date:
Apr 15 2016
Has the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, long a bastion of high-priced fun-in-the-sun escapism, finally sharpened its political teeth? A few of this year's art installations would say yes, as Coachella during this election year doesn't seem to be going quietly into the cultural void.
In NYC, Activism Begins With Lessons In Theater
Practitioner:
EMERGE NYC
Date:
May 31 2017
Note before the post: This article is great in highlighting a specific case of creative activism in the streets of New York City, but also gives some contextual background to how this project manifested. On a sidewalk in the Village in downtown Manhattan, an African-American woman leans on her elbows and knees, wearing only black underpants. Scrawled in black marker all over her body are the words "Ain't I a Woman?"
Hannah Gadsby's Gender Agenda
Practitioner:
netflix
Date:
Mar 5 2024
Following the backlash of Netflix's support of Dave Chappelle's "The Closer" comedy special, which featured racist transphobic "jokes", Hannah Gadsby took a deal with Netflix to create a comedy special featuring genderqueer comics. The show, titled 'Gender Agenda', was tapped in the Alexandra Palace Theatre in London and released on Netflix on March 5, 2024.
The Freedom Trail on Trial
Practitioner:
Urbano Project
Date:
Nov 20 2011
In the fall of 2011, Urbano’s teen artists and artist-in-residence Neil Horsky partnered with professional artists, educators, librarians, and historians to undertake a critical investigation of Boston’s Freedom Trail.  During the investigative process teen artists questioned the assumptions, accuracy, comprehensiveness, and impartiality of public presentations of the city’s
Cheering Girls into STEM
Practitioner:
Science Cheerleader
Date:
Jan 30 2015
Despite the pushes to motivate more young girls into STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) fields, women are still very underrepresented in almost every scientific field. Part of this motivation is because a lot of young girls would rather do something else.
A Handmaid’s Tale of Protest
Practitioner:
women's rights activists
Date:
Jun 25 2017
In state capitals and street protests, women’s rights activists have been wearing red robes and white bonnets based on “The Handmaid's Tale,” the 1985 novel that is now a series on Hulu. Silent, heads bowed, the activists in crimson robes and white bonnets have been appearing at demonstrations against gender discrimination and the infringement of reproductive and civil rights.
Colorful pianos in the summer
Practitioner:
Sing For Hope
Date:
Jun 5 2017
Sing for Hope is bringing its renowned Sing for Hope Pianos back to the streets of New York City this summer. From June 5-25, as a celebration of the work Sing for Hope does in communities year-round, 60 Sing for Hope Pianos will be placed in parks and public spaces in high traffic locations across all five boroughs in New York for anyone and everyone to play.
Bullying Jr.
Practitioner:
Burger King
Date:
Oct 17 2017
Scrawny. Short. Ugly. Fat. Weird. 30% of school kids worldwide are bullied each year and bullying is the #1 act of violence against young people in America today. The BURGER KING® brand is known for putting the crown on everyone’s head and allowing people to have it their way. Bullying is the exact opposite of that. So the BURGER KING® brand is speaking up against bullying during National Bullying Prevention Month 2017.
12 year old bride in Times Square
Practitioner:
Cody Persin
Date:
Feb 24 2016
In order to raise awareness about the global issue of arranged child marriages, 21-year-old YouTube star Coby Persin decided to push the envelope by asking a 12-year-old 'bride' to pose with a 65-year-old 'groom' in the middle of Times Square. Child marriage is not only legal in 91 countries around the world, but even continues to be legal in the United States - with some having a cut off as low as 12 years of age.
The Sacred Art of Ori
Practitioner:
Laolu Senbanjo
Date:
Apr 27 2017
The story of an artist. Laolu Senbanjo grew up surrounded by the culture and mythology of the Yoruba, an ethnic group from the southwest of Nigeria, but he never imagined how it would influence the artist he is today. After a career as a human rights attorney, Senbanjo moved to New York City to pursue art full time. “With my art, I like to tell stories, I like to start a conversation,” says Senbanjo, but life as an artist in New York was tough.
NYU Activist Group on the Streets
Practitioner:
EMERGENYC
Date:
May 17 2017
On a sidewalk in the Village in downtown Manhattan, an African-American woman leans on her elbows and knees, wearing only black underpants. Scrawled in black marker all over her body are the words "Ain't I a Woman?" Across the street, another woman lies face down, sunbathing on a large sheet of tinfoil. The sentence "White Supremacy Is Terrorism" is inked across her white skin, which is turning pink under the hot sun.
Reclaim the Streets occupy Camden High Street
Practitioner:
Reclaim the Streets
Date:
May 14 1995
A collective resistance movement dedicated to reasserting communal ownership of common spaces, Reclaim the Streets staged its first action on Camden High Street in 1995, when activists closed the road to vehicle traffic to make way for a street party. Combining the tactics of non-violent direct action with 90's UK rave culture, organizers kept the location secret until the last moment to preempt police interception.
Cegos | Ciegos | Blind
Practitioner:
Marcelo Denny, Marcos Bulhoes, Desvio Coletivo
Date:
Jan 12 2013
A troupe of approximately thirty women and men of various ages, sizes, ethnicities and performance backgrounds marched through the performance art space of SESC-Vila Mariana in Sao Paulo and then through the streets of downtown Sao Paulo, silent, blind folded, dressed in business attire, and covered completely with a gray mud. The performances walked slowly in unison at turtle's pace.
Pothole Party!
Practitioner:
Contemporary Art Center
Date:
Jul 1 2012
“Potholes!” That’s what Nikola Pisarev, a co-founder of the Contemporary Art Center (CAC) in North Macedoniona responded with when asked what sort of impact creative activism can have. Nikola went on to explain what he meant, describing a series of actions that they had staged in small towns and municipalities across the nation. As is the case in many countries, Macedonia is plagued with official corruption.
Malcolm X Street
Practitioner:
Group X
Date:
May 7 1991
At a time when the city of Portland was considering stripping Martin Luther King Jr.'s name off a local street, a covert organization calling itself Group X changed the name of another downtown street to Malcolm X Street in a clandestine overnight action.
"Citizen K"/“Občan K”: Idendity Swap
Practitioner:
Ztohoven
Date:
Jun 1 2010
On 17 June 2007, a horrific vision was offered to the viewers of the Czech morning program Panorama: instead of idyllic hills, the image of a mushroom cloud was broadcast by a weather camera installed in the Krkonoše mountains, which caused a brief moment of panic in a country that is regularly agitated by debates on nuclear power. The panic wasn’t justified.
Rattlin' Bog Flash Mob
Practitioner:
Creativity & Change, Angela Higgins, Laurie Whelehan, Liz Dunne, Marie O'Connor, Michaela Donegan, Chendum Muotto, Laura Blewitt
Date:
Apr 27 2019
A This flash mob was designed to deliver a message to raise awareness and deepen understanding about the immediacy of the climate change problem. By subverting the lyrics of the Rattlin’ Bog, we appealed through music to the hearts of participants. The Irish song, the Rattlin’ Bog, is a well-loved traditional cumulative song, with a short chorus, and is easily learned. The word Rattlin’ means ‘splendid’.
Pranksters Prank Nobodies Into Believing Some Nobody Is Somebody
Practitioner:
Chill Hill Media
Date:
Apr 10 2012
BY NEETZAN ZIMMERMAN The Chill Hill Media gang descend upon a popular Virginia mall to conduct a simple social experiment: Turn team member Thomas Elliot into a celebrity through sheer force of suggestion.With the help of a few friends brought in to pretend Thomas is a famous actor, Chill Hill was able to persuade "tons" of mall-goers that they were in t
Regina José Galindo- Performance Art Guatemala
Practitioner:
Regina José Galindo
Date:
Feb 3 2000
Regina Galindo is a Guatemalan performance artist that uses her body as a means to explore many of the human rights violations in Guatemala. In one of her performances, " no perdemos nada con nacer," or " we don't lose anything by being born," the artist "disposes" of herself in a plastic bag.
Kacey Wong & his provocative pink tank at Hong Kong’s 1 July marches
Practitioner:
Kacey Wong
Date:
Jul 1 2012
The Hong Kong 1 July protests are a surprising sight on the often chaotic stress. This day marks the transfer of Hong Kong from the United Kingdom to China (PRC) and is a public holiday it was originally thought to be a day of celebration. However, now it is mostly known for hundreds of thousands of people flooding the streets who protest for democracy, universal suffrage, and other political concerns.
This is America
Practitioner:
Donald Glover/ Childish Gambino
Date:
May 6 2018
(NEWS 8) — A day after pulling double-duty as both the host and musical guest on "Saturday Night Live," actor-writer-comedian-musician Donald Glover was garnering attention on Sunday for another reason. Social media blew up this weekend with reactions to Glover's new music video for "This is America," released under the name of his musical alter ego, Childish Gambino.
Pro-Choice Trolling
Practitioner:
Jasmine Shea, Nathaniel Peck
Date:
Jul 9 2014
Hobby Lobby is a chain of arts and crafts stores that has recently come under fire for denying its employees affordable access to contraception. Jasmine Shea redecorated many of the craft supplies in one of their stores to "troll" them by rearranging letters to spell out "pro choice" and "all women deserve birth control"
Mada Underground
Practitioner:
Caylah, Naty Kaly, Totté, Temandrota
Date:
Oct 1 2017
As local rapper Naty says, a group of young people are intent on making their mark in Madagascar's cultural history. From gifted slam poet Caylah to inventive visual artist Temandrota and a crew of entrepreneurial skateboarders, a generation of young Madagascans are making space for creative projects.They are inspiring in their enthusiasm and hopeful for the future despite the poverty in their country and its colonial past.

Pages