Counter-narratives and resistance through mural art
L’atelier consiste en la réalisation d’une peinture murale dans l’espace public en collaboration avec les citoyen·ne·s de la ville de Lausanne (en particulier les résident·e·s du quartier sous-gare) et les participant.e.s de la conférence sur l’Artivisme. Tout en offrant un exercice pratique, l’atelier permet d’apprendre l’histoire de l’art mural comme forme d’expression subversive dans des conditions de précarité. Le partage d’expériences contemporaines ouvre sur l’interaction entre l’art et la politique dans la vie quotidienne et dans l’espace urbain. L’atelier aborde l’art mural comme un événement collaboratif, commençant par la conceptualisation de l’idée jusqu’à la peinture sur le mur.
The workshop is divided into three parts:
- An introduction by the researchers on the history of mural art as a means of political expression and a presentation by the artist on the process of creating the mural, from the idea to the conceptualization to its realization on the wall.
- It continues collectively and collaboratively with the development of an idea for the mural, integrating the dimension of history, neighbourhood relations, urban transformation and migration as constitutive parts of sous-gare community life.
- Dans un troisième temps, les participant·e·s entament the process of producing, drawing and painting the mural, based on the learning method, guided by the muralist.
The size/space of the mural, the material, the life span of the mural, etc. will be adapted to the possibilities of the location and the available wall.
The process includes a discussion led by the participants. This will give the participants the opportunity to present their practical experiences, both in their research and in their everyday life.
The workshop aims to be a space for exchange between academia, art, activism and civil society, in order to develop a collective reflection on the visual and material forms of power relations in the urban environment, as well as forms of resistance. How can we create a bottom-up in which artistic forms of expression reflect urban transformation, migration processes and freedom of expression?
Kristy Sandoval
Kristy Sandoval is a Los Angeles based artist from Pacoima. As a first generation Latinx Artivist her work touches on social justice, and womyn empowerment themes. Her brushstrokes have been mainly dedicated to social practice art in mural work. This came about in 2008 while developing arts education programming for local organizations. Through the healing power of creativity she, along with other local artists, changed the reputation of the neighborhood with the uprising of Mural Mile in Pacoima. The recognition for this success led Sandoval to go international with being the first woman muralist for the Mural Istanbul Festival in 2015.
Peu après, Sandoval a reçu le Phenomenal Woman Award en 2016 par le Department of Gender & Women’s Studies de Cal State University Northridge parmi plusieurs autres prix décernés par la ville de Los Angeles pour sa pratique continue. Elle a présenté son travail et pris la parole dans de nombreuses universités, musées, organisations, événements et dans les médias. Pendant la majeure partie de 2017, Sandoval a travaillé avec Amnesty International dans le cadre de leur campagne Art for Amnesty, créant des œuvres d’art représentant des cas individuels de prisonniers politiques dans le monde entier. Pour en avoir fait l’expérience directe, elle croit au pouvoir de guérison de l’art et continue à peindre des peintures murales, à diriger et à développer des programmes artistiques.
Kristy is a self-taught muralist, her time spent at the Academy of Art University in San Francisco exposed her to formal art training but she is not afraid to mix and explore new mediums in her designs while keeping sustainability and green space in mind. She's picked up the artist name kSan and a distinct and unique style with her sarape-like dripping texture that is representative of her culture and is ever changing in it’s color schemes.
ERC Artivism
This workshop is part of the broader activities related to the ERC project ERC ARTIVISM. Art and Activitism. Creativity and Performance as Creative means of Expression in Super-Diverse Cities lead by Prof. Monika Salzbrunn, namely the final conference Artivism and Creative Resistances: New Research Methods and New Alliances between Art and Activism (12.-14.4.22). The ERC ARTIVISM Project (www.erc-artivism.ch) has received funding from the European Research Council (ERC) within the framework of the European Union’s research and innovation programme “Horizon 2020” (ARTIVISM - grant agreement No. 681880). Dr. Raphaela von Weichs is senior researcher and Federica Moretti and Sara Wiederkehr are PhD students within the project.
