16 Comments
Jul 5, 2023Liked by Dr Victoria Powell

I've just finished listening to all three episodes of the Beyond Contagion podcast - thanks for sharing. It's really clarified a lot for me in terms of the public / political / media responses to riots. Also thanks for the intro to JR's work. He has done so many amazing projects over his career, really enjoyed looking through all the videos on his website. He's brilliant. I've learnt so much from you today, Victoria. Thanks.

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Jul 19, 2023Liked by Dr Victoria Powell

Hi Victoria

I’m very glad to hear that your Gallery Companion podcasts are going strong and gathering a good sized audience.

I remember that you featured JR in one of your early streamed chats. He and his activities do seem to focus the matter of public art and influence for change particularly in the context of Europe . Is there an equivalent in GB. Banksy?Jeremy Deller? Not quite I think.

In this podcast you highlight the unlikely outcome of an artist inducing structural change in the way inequality is created and maintained in a statist capitalist economy. Nevertheless all sorts of dreaming must continue.

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It's a good question, Martin, Banksy would be the most obvious equivalent because he is so famous and his work is so accessible.

Artists sow seeds and make people see things differently. They are a crucial part of the process of change, even if one artwork can't change the world. I think.

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Thanks Helen. I found the Beyond Contagion podcast revelatory. It has totally shifted my thinking on riots.

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One of my favorite MLK quotes is: A riot is the language of the unheard.

It's a rich statement.

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Exactly that.

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Jul 5, 2023Liked by Dr Victoria Powell

Another great read, thank you 💥 Curators need to give a platform for thought-provoking, dialogue-initiating art; To choose not to support this often outsider artform is, I think, to be part of the problem.

The dismissive argument that "'Protest art' isn't proper Art'" is cheap. As you show, art can be sensitively beautiful on purely a visual level, AND politically potent.

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Thanks Lucy. And I agree completely with what you say about the gatekeepers of contemporary art. It reminds me of something the American-Iranian artist Shirin Neshat said last year. Watch the video in this post I wrote: https://www.thegallerycompanion.com/p/artists-should-be-leading-not-following

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Jul 7, 2023Liked by Dr Victoria Powell

Thank you Victoria. I like Shirin Neshat's work very much so it was great to watch this interview - she has such a powerful mixture of gentleness and strength. I now want to track down translations of the Persian poetry inscribed on her photographs ✨💛✨

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I’ve also read another thoughtful post this morning on Substack about both this sad death and the reason behind the riots -- linking below.

JR’s art is a beautiful form of passive resistance (on the words of MLK). I wonder what will make these politicians listen. Art is one way to attempt for them to feel the meaning of having this existence in France. Really interesting to see the art from the 60s and the way it affects us all. Thanks for writing about this.

https://open.substack.com/pub/hannahmeltzer/p/refusal-to-comply?r=rtf40&utm_medium=ios&utm_campaign=post

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Thanks for the link to Hannah's work, I've followed her. I fear that France is one step closer to Le Pen. It's a total mess. If you get a chance, listen to the podcast I linked to in this post about that academic research recently published on riots. It's eye-opening.

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Jul 14, 2023Liked by Dr Victoria Powell

Thank you for sharing @Dr Kathleen Waller, and thank you for reading my post @Dr Victoria Powell. I'm glad to have discovered both of your work!

I read your post with great interest and have added the podcast to my 'to-listen' list.

Thanks again.

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Let me know what you think of it!

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found you on Linkedin ... and tagged you in the comments.

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Thank you so much Chakradhar, really appreciate you circulating my work

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