On September 5th, 6th and 7th, I (Mildred Achoch) attended (virtually) the inaugural Global Artivism Conference which was held in Tshwane, Pretoria, South Africa. It was an entertaining, insightful, inspiring and encouraging three days and I look forward to the next one. Below are some outstanding quotes from the first session of Day 1 and the keynote address. The keynote was by Favianna Rodrigues and was titled “Art, Social Justice and the Radical Imaginary: An Art Talk”
“I give honour to the sacredness of all the journeys which have brought us to this moment where we are gathered here…” – Louisa Zondo (22:20)
“…we also have to create ideas, ideas for the future. We need that novel that is going to help us think different, we need that film…” – Favianna Rodrigues (42:52)
“The African struggle for dignity and freedom, in the mainland and in the diaspora, is unimaginable without the contribution of Motown, Jazz, the Blues, Reggae, Hiphop…” – Professor Maluleke (13:45)
“We must address the scourge of poverty, inequality, corruption, gender-based violence, deteriorating mental health and well-being and the imminent threat of climate change. We must push for the end of genocide…” – Louisa Zondo (28:12)
“…only art and purposeful activism can help us RE-member our broken relationships, broken relationships between humans, broken relationships between men and women, between humans and the environment, between the body, the mind and the soul.” Professor Maluleke (16:41)
“…we are in a battle for the imagination, we are in a battle for understanding history and the impacts of history…” – Favianna Rodrigues (37:22)
“…we acknowledge that our histories connect all of us in many ways, including the tyrannies of colonization, oppression, inequality, marginalization and violence yet we in South Africa know that our liberation depended partly on the solidarity we received from people all over the world.” – Louisa Zondo (27:25)
“We as artists…we have to fight for justice and peace, that is what it means to be an artivist…” – Favianna Rodrigues (46:14)
“In the beginning, there was art…” – Professor Maluleke (11:44)
You can watch the Day 1 sessions on YouTube:
For more information, visit www.globalartivism.com
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