By Rebecca and Maria

Artistic Citizenship 

The Major Questions

  • What is artistic citizenship?
  • What is the collective?
  • Who is the individual and who is in the collective?
  • Who is the artist and who is the audience?
  • Is the artist holding up a fun-house mirror to society? Or are they manipulating the truth?
  • What is the medium?
  • Whose eyes are looking at the piece?
  • Does the size of the project matter?
  • What is the experience perceived?
  • How are we all connected?
  • Does the digital age transform the collective experience?
  • Is it focused on real life?
  • What is the history of the art?
  • What is the history of the citizenship/society?

Define the Terms

  • Togetherness
  • Singular –singularity
  • Placeholders
  • Aloneness
  • Witness
  • Fueled
  • Carrier of the collective moment
  • Negotiations
  • Responsibility
  • Bee Hive

Food Lab

  • Economic crisis in Athens, near collapse of the bank
  • Refugees arriving in masses in Athens from various countries
    • Many individuals with many different individual stories, identities, and skills
  • Food Lab partners with a refugee day center
  • Those with skilled cooking backgrounds, cook meals for pop-up restaurant of home countries
  • Pop-up restaurants serve as both a collective togetherness, while also providing income
  • Using capitalism against itself
  • Triangularity of new comers à nomad citizens à solidarity networks and their shared space
  • Bringing together groups in conflict for a singular cause

 

Melissa Network

  • Migrant Women in Greece
  • Center for women and children
  • Melissa Network from root of the bee hive, all working together
  • Meant to empower and give a voice to those who have not an opportunity to share
  • Greece has a history of migrants, can connect to the refugee “crisis” that “began” in 2014, although always there
  • Rather than solely psychological counseling, utilizing creative workshops and creative therapeutic activities
  • The circle of literacy à psycho-social support à skills creativity
  • Creating refugees as neighbors, bringing them out of the camps and into the cities
  • Many children missing from their families, many people are separated, not all are seeking asylum, hoping to meet with family members in other countries nearby
  • Many victims to sexual violence, war, religious violence
  • Humanizing these people who have lived through an inhumane history
  • Art, food, and storytelling
    • What reminds them of home? What makes them feel at home? So many mentioned lemonade and other comfort foods from home land