The Art of Social Change

For our 29th episode we spoke to Angolan-Portuguese artist Mónica de Miranda in Lisbon. Monica’s research-led practice is grounded in the concepts of urban archeology and emotional geography. Her films, installations and photographs are inspired by her own personal story and anchored in postcolonial politics, emancipation and identity. During our interview we discussed her recent film The Island, her installation Mirage and the series of photographs titled Shadows Fall Behind. If you would like to see images of the works we discussed during the podcast you can go to our Instagram account @theartofsocialchange. We hope you enjoy this episode!

For our 29th episode, Alix had a conversation with Chaveli Sifre while visiting La Embajada’s booth in Liste, a fair in Switzerland dedicated to international, independent galleries and spaces. In her gallery's booth, Chaveli was conducting an experiment. Sitting in a corner, looking over a glass contraption, she distilled an odd mixture of water, money given to her or found in wishing wells, and locally sourced "healing alpine plants". Through this performance, Sifre explored the reduction of bodies to capital and means to reverse this process. Listen to the full episode to find out more about this serendipitous encounter.

In our 28th episode, curator Marielsa Castro made us wonder, What does it take to construct the bonds that bind communities together? How can we create genuine relationships with our neighbors?During our conversation, we discussed how her interest in collectivity and commoning has led her to be a part of the cooperative Coopia and how this has influenced her current role in the Jumex Museum in Mexico City. She walked us through the museum’s recent project Museos en Común, where the entire team sought to build a long-lasting bond with with the people of their neighboring food market Mercado Granada.As usual If you would like to see images of the artworks and projects we discuss on the podcast, and to stay up to date on the upcoming episodes you can go to our Instagram account @theartofsocialchange.

For this episode, we had a conversation with Yoshua Okón. Yoshua was born in Mexico City in 1970, where he currently lives and where Gabriela met with him. His work ressembles a series of near sociological experiments executed for the camera. They blend stage situations, documentation, and improvisation to question our perceptions of reality and truth. In this episode, Gaby and Yoshua talked about staging real life soap operas, about police forces in Mexico, Astroturfing, about sneaking into a Los Angeles cinema set, political slogans, the movie industry and so many other things. Enjoy!

For our 26th episode we had a conversation with artist and Afield fellow Filipa Cesar and architect Marinho de Pina. We talked about their historic and personal bonds to the country of Guinea-Bissau and its war of independence. They walked us through their efforts in preserving the country's historic footage of the revolution and the unique place they created in order to continue with this dream: the Mediateca Onshore.

For this 25th episode we had a conversation with Sandra Terdjman and Abi Tariq from AFIELD, an initiative that feels very close to what we strive to do on the podcast. AFIELD is an international network of cultural changemakers created in 2014. It awards fellowships for social initiatives from arts and culture, organizes events, leads a study program, and many other things. AFIELD is anchored in the fundamental belief that artists are essential to the fabric of society, as thinkers, visionaries and changemakers. By providing the resources and support, AFIELD believes in their profound capacity to lead transformational change in their communities and in society as a whole.

For our 24th episode we had a conversation with Gaëlle Choisne. She told us the serendipitous accident that prompted her to become an artist, a fateful event that catalyzed her multi-disciplinary artistic practice. Between occult fables and objective sciences, Choisne navigates through imaginaries as composite as the techniques which give them shape. She told us about her mixed heritage and how visiting her mother’s country, Haiti inspired some of her recent films. Together we explored several of her performances about love and collective healing, showing us how her works address the world’s disorder through a creative lense.

For this episode we had a conversation with Joana Hadjithomas and Khalil Joreige, a fascinating duo of artists and filmmakers. They walked us through their first encounter growing up in the tumultuous Lebanon and how this shaped their artistic practice. In films and installations, the artists examine the unreliability of images, history, memories, and even first-person experiences in narrating the world around us.

For our 22nd episode, Gaby recorded a continuation of our interview with Martha Wilson, this time in New York. Last time we met Martha as she was preparing for her first solo-show at the Pompidou Center and it turns out that Paris left quite an impression on her, so she decided to return and make a brand new project titled Generations of Feminism in France. In this episode we talk about her venturing from a photography-based practice to a completely different format. We discussed the ways in which trauma can be channeled into creative practices and conversed about the invisible challenges that become apparent once we reveal patriarchal structures.

Our 21th episode with artist Ndayé Kouagou was full of questions. The artist revealed how a situation of crisis led him to daringly enter the world of art. He walked us through his performance works and talked about the importance of constantly questioning oneself. Ndayé Kouagou (1992) is an artist and performer based in Paris; his practice always starts from texts of which he is the author. Voluntarily or involuntarily confused, he tries as best as he can to bring a reflection on these three topics; unease, power and vulnerability.