The first speaker series of The ARTivism Lab featured four activist thinkers who shared their work and ideas on the politics of intersectionality, creativity, solidarity and fearlessness.
There was an underlying theme amongst all speakers about creating change from the root of caring for one another. How do we stand together?
Dr. Audrey Hudson, Assistant Professor at OCAD University researches and teaches hip-hop as a means of solidarity between Black and Indigenous communities, and how this can be articulated into culturally relevant pedagogy. In her interview Audrey Hudson on: hip hop, intersectionality, and education with Olga Goroshko, she mentions “I view hip-hop as a tool to begin decolonizing education because of the attention to minority voices and to the powers it speaks back to.” During her presentation, was enthusiastic to share work created by her student at OCAD where she offers courses on Hip Hop and Material Culture (a class so high in demand she decided to create a second course to reach a wider audience). Her work encourages people to discuss and educate one another, a similar approach to what artist Tania Bruguera mentioned in the interview Education is always about the future with Jeanette Petrik “As an artist interested in social change, I vouch for education, 70,000%. I believe that education is the solution to all problems…I believe that education lies in conversation.” She not only aims to educate students in university settings about the pieces of knowledge that are silenced but other teachers as well, offering a course called Desire and Change – Difficult Dialogues in Art and Art Education at the AGO.
Dr. RM Kennedy professor at Centennial College shared his experience as a spokesperson during a 5-week teachers strike that was to fight 1. Labour rights and 2. Academic Freedom. He shared how he utilized his frustrations to fuel a successful protest, where many students stand in solidarity with their teachers and reclaim post-secondary education. It showed that in order to gain a proper education, there must be a mutually respected and uplifting relationship amongst those in the educational sphere, and work with one another to seize change for better education. Tania Bruguera mentioned in her interview “I believe that education is the solution to all problems. I know it sounds a bit grandiose, but I think it should be everybody’s priority. Education helps you deal with your feelings and it gives you options to act.”
Dr. Sandra Jeppesen, Associate Professor at Lakehead University spoke about various social activist movements such as the Slutwalk, #MeToo and #BLM-TO and their success’. In her presentation, she shared attributes of a neoliberal university versus transformative research, which helped me to better grasp the understanding of the aspects of Ryerson University that need change. Dr. Jeppesen ended her presentation with “Silence has been broken and it won’t be unbroken.” encouraging everyone to be powerful and vocal in their activism.
Susanne Nyaga, Student Union President at Ryerson University spoke about social media activism and politically driven hacking. It was inspiring to hear about the various activism actions taken on campus such as Tent City and Solidarity Rallies and how she utilizes online platforms as an extension of the activism that is happening on campus. She mentioned that the utilization of social media platforms can facilitate conversations, both productive and sometimes malicious. Thus it is important to mobilize globally, with social media being the start and not the end. It is important to keep the momentum going and have in-depth conversations with one another, both in person and online. This reminded me Tania Bruguera in her interview where she mentions “The educational moment is to create a relationship between people. To me, education is the ideal set up of a relationship between people.”
This speaker series opened my eyes to the various educational issues I see around my university that I often find powerless to change, and how in fact with a voice I am able to fight for the type of education I want out of Ryerson. As an immigrant minority who has grown up in a predominantly wealthy white high school, I often felt the need to belong and conform while growing up. However, now that I am older I see that my alternate view is a strength and my knowledge and perspective should be shared to those who may not view certain life situations through my lens. As a graphic designer and art director, I wish to create art that will help to push forward our society and create meaningful conversations with people from multiple perspectives. Dr.Hudson mentions in her interview, “With its far-reaching voice, creativity has been and will continue to be at the forefront in a fight for equality.”