Arts & International Affairs: Volume 3, Issue 1, Spring 2018 | Page 44

THE ARTS, PARTICIPATION, AND GLOBAL INTERESTS
We discussed how authenticity must come from a position of truthfulness, honesty and
integrity to have a legitimate place in our cultural practice. We recognised the dilemmas
and tensions around the motivations and context affecting the authentic voice as a tool
for advocacy and positive change. We considered the parallels with medical malpractice
after the Second World War and wondered about the potential for a set of ethics, values
and principles to support the conditions within which the authentic voice in participatory
and socially engaged practice might survive and thrive globally.
We explored the boundaries and intersections between art for art sake, art as an instrument
for cultural activism and the ramifications for “artivism,” while also considering
systems and theories of change that highlight and prioritise agency and the amplification
of voice at their centre.
The group was thoughtful and generous with their deliberations and the conversation,
though exploratory, resulted in two key themes for further consideration by the larger
group.
Day 3: Witness
This theme explores the artists or individuals as witnesses. What does it mean to be a witness to
and how is that different from being an observer? Additional questions include what the artist’s
or individual’s ethical responsibility is in situations of oppression, cruelty and hypocrisy? Must
an individual or an artist even have one?
Global Cultural Fellows reflected on “Mies Julie” and “Ramy: In the frontline” in
today’s session on Witness.
By Zach Marschall
Witness Film by Guy Gotto (password: aia37)
Do artists have a predisposition to bear witness? Why and How?
That was a primary concern for the Global Cultural Fellows after seeing Yaël Farber’s
Mies Julie and Ramy Essam’s Ramy: In the frontline. Their discussions acknowledged
many challenges including moral and ethical responsibility of artists, being a witness
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