Art and Solidarity Reader—Radical Actions, Politics and Friendships (OCA / Valiz, 2022) is a new publication featuring a collection of various accounts of artistic solidarity globally from the 1970s to today. The publication also acts as a companion to Actions of Art and Solidarity, the OCA-curated exhibition that took place at Kunstnernes Hus in 2021. Art and Solidarity Reader emphasises the centrality of artist-led empathy and personal connectivity in building networks of solidarity and concrete actions that generate profound transformation in society.
For the book’s first public launch in Norway, editor and former director of OCA, Katya García-Antón will introduce the publication. Norwegian-Palestinian historian, Toufoul Abou-Hodeib will present her research for the Reader and her chapter titled The Travelling Scarf and Other Stories. Art Networks, Politics and Friendships Between Palestine and Norway. Mixe language rights activist and researcher, Yásnaya Elena Aguilar Gil, and Southern Sámi PhD fellow, Eva Maria Fjellheim, will discuss Indigenous language advocacy and their contributions to the Reader. Curator of Contemporary Art at MUNCH, and assistant editor of the Reader, Liv Brissach will talk about queer solidarity drawing on the work Probably Chelsea by Heather Dewey-Hagborg and Chelsea Manning presented as part of the Actions of Art and Solidarity exhibition. Welcome words by OCA director, Ruben Steinum.
The Reader considers the agency that artists, collectives and art institutions have generated from the 1970s to today to build the radical imaginaries of care and solidarity needed to transform the conditions of our collective existence in the face of local and global crises. Presenting new and historical material, the Reader narrates a series of stories of solidarity across geographies in relation to emergencies connected to ecocide, femicide, genocide, migration, neo-colonialism, inter-religious conflicts, class divisions and heteronomativity, amongst others. It also gives a central place to Indigenous perspectives rarely considered when discussing solidarity in the arts.
“An admirable gathering of urgently needed documents to construct a true history of art and solidarity around the world. —Cecilia Vicuña, Chilean-Indigenous mestizo artist and poet
“At a time when humanity is struggling to create a more equitable world, this is a must-read for those interested in generating networks of solidarity for our future.” —Zineb Sedira, Franco-Algerian photographer and video artist
The publication includes contributions by Reem Abbas, Toufoul Abou-Hodeib, Noor Abuarafeh, Yásnaya Elena Aguilar Gil, Ali Hussein Al-Adawy, Salvador Allende, Beth Brant, Wendy Carrig, Heather Dewey-Hagborg, Emory Duoglas, Ntone Edjabe, Ingrid Fadnes, Eva Maria Fjellheim, Katya García-Antón, Soledad García Saavedra, Gavin Jantjes, Sholi Kanuga, Geeta Kapur, Lara Khaldi, Ixchel León, Audre Lorde, Chelsea Manning, Olivier Marboeuf, Barbara Masekela, Naeem Mohaiemen, Mário Pedrosa, Ram Rahman, Laura Raicovich, farid rakun / ruangrupa, Aban Raza, Devika Singh, Irene Soria Guzmán, Kwanele Sosibo, Eszter Szakács, Dulce Celina Ureña Hernández, Alice Walker.
Art and Solidarity Reader—Radical Actions, Politics and Friendships
English
384 Pages
28cm x 20cm (h x w)
Published by Valiz / Office for Contemporary Art Norway (2022)
Editor: Katya García-Antón
Design: Hans Gremmen
ISBN: 978-94-93246-02-7
29.90 EUR
The book is published and distributed internationally by Valiz. To order, please visit valiz.nl or oca.no.
For press enquiries, please contact OCA’s Head of Communications and External Relations.
