Tuesday, June 29, 7:30pm (free)
Please join us for an artist talk and multi-media presentation by Spanish artist/activist Leonidas Martin. We'll get a visual tour of some of the most creative art/activist interventions performed in the context of the counter-globalization movement, and in contemporary urban struggles in Barcelona and beyond, including Las Agencias, Yomango, Pret a Revolter, and New Kids on the Black Bloc. Leo will explore the relationship between art and activism, how creativity can be a powerful tool for social transformation, how we can have fun while fighting back, and why direct action is one of the fine arts.
ABOUT LEONIDAS MARTIN
Leonidas Martin is a Professor at Barcelona University where he teaches video, new media and political art. For many years he has been developing collective projects between art and activism, many of them well known internationally. He also writes about art and politics for cultural blogs, journals and newspapers. As a video maker he has created several documentaries and movies for television and internet. He is a member of the cultural collective “Enmedio” (http://www.enmedio.info). Last but not least, he is an expert telling jokes, often using this divine gift to get free beers and to avoid police arrest.
We know more and more about digital activism with each new example of online "people power", yet we understand very little about the fundamentals. We have been asking the same questions about digital activism's effect on political power around the world, yet we remained locked in the same debates between optimists and pessimists, each armed with their own anecdotes. How can activists, practitioners, and citizens move the discourse of digital activism forward?
