Creative action projects demonstrate how media and art affect social justice
What: Student media projects on social justice issues
Who: Cultural Studies and Art History students at UBC Okanagan
When: Friday, February 27, 7 to 8:30 p.m.
Where: Alternator Centre for Contemporary Art, 421 Cawston Avenue, Kelowna
UBC Okanagan students from the “Creative Activism: Art, Media, and Social Justice” course are exploring the role of art and media to promote social change.
The Cultural Studies and Art History students began exploring a range of activist interventions into political crisis through contemporary art and media. And their research created more questions than answers, says Asst. Prof. Ruthann Lee.
The students wondered: How can we broaden our everyday assumptions about activism to generate meaningful strategies for positive social change? What role can art play in fostering innovative forms of resistance? To answer these questions, students came up with their own “creative action” projects.
“These projects illustrate the powerful role of art and media in movements for social justice,” Lee says. “Although the students were challenged by limited time and resources, they effectively mobilized their artistic, performance, and media skills to raise awareness and promote justice for consumer/survivors and ex-patients of the mental health system, and for migrant workers.”
Students will discuss two of these projects at a special AlterKnowledge Discussion event on Friday, February 27 from 7 to 8:30 p.m.
The AlterKnowledge Discussion series, organized by UBC Asst. Prof. Allison Hargreaves and Assoc. Prof. David Jefferess, aims to foster community-based knowledge-making, rather than simply providing a venue for the presentation of research to the public. The series seeks to bring people together to discuss, share, and (un)learn, focusing on critical engagements with the way colonialism continues to shape relationships and identities in both local and global contexts.
The event is free, open the public, and takes place at the Alternator Centre for Contemporary Art, 421 Cawston Avenue, Kelowna.
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