BEFORE: Art as Resistance and Fuel for Social Change

#artasresistance, #dominantnarrative, #counternarrative, #artandsocialschange  

"Life imitates art more than art imitates life ... Things are because we see them, and what we see and how we see it depends on the arts that have influenced us" Oscar Wilde - The Decay of Lying 

    Gramsci talks about two strategies that are "the war of maneuver" (physically taking over the state apparatus) and "the war of position" (resistance against the dominant narrative with culture) that are essential to challenge the hegemony. He argued, these two strategies needed to complement each other rather than substitute one another. What he meant was that the war on ideologies cannot merely be won by strict economic determinist approaches and one needed to understand the bilateral relationship between the "base" (means and relationships of production) and the "superstructure" (ideology: art, culture, institutions). When I say that I believe in art as a mode of resistance and fuel for social change, I don't mean that art is a magic wand that solves all problems but rather tackle the issue as an extension of my involvement with social theory and social sciences. I strongly believe in art's potential to fuel social change and its function in collective healing from social trauma/cultural wounds such as oppression, imperialism, colonialism, war by gathering people around and transforming their pain, anger and resentment. More importantly I believe it to be an act of resistance. A resistance against the dominant narrative, a resistance against the unjust, a resistance against the exploiter; a power plant of counter-narratives. Art or artwork by itself might not create change, but in my opinion, people gathering around art, inspired, touched and fueled by art can. Because art is an expression, a query, a record of what it means to be human. The way we experience humanity -our lives- are shaped by the culture and even though art is rooted and situated within the cultural and economic structures, it is not a mere product but also a producer of them. As people who are angry, overlooked, repressed and ignored it is our duty to own our narrative and engage in counter-historiography against the history of those who are "victors". Look at the racist, the sexist, the privileged; usually what they have in common is that they have a tendency to think they are entitled to their own opinions, when in reality, what they think "their opinions" are mostly propaganda, dogmatic "facts" and other products of socially determined structures. This is why it is hard to change to their mind. But it is sometimes possible through art to touch the depths of the hearts of those who won't let you inside their minds, and it is through the heart that one can access the gates of the mind. 

I would like to end this first attempt with some lyrics of 2PAC, a legendary urban poet and hiphop artist who elaborated on racism, poverty, police brutality and social injustice while inspiring, bringing together millions and elevating the voice of his people through his art still to this day.

"Whatever it takes to live and stand

'Cause nobody else'll give a damn
So we live like caged beasts
Waitin' for the day to let the rage free
Still me 'til they kill me
I love it when they fear me"