The Role of Art at The Zero Hour

The changes that must occur at this zero hour for humans transcend mere politics. We must transition from viewing the world and all of its people, creatures and places as objects to exploited to viewing them as subjects to be listened to. The stories & marvels & gestures of love that comprise art can help us make this transition.

The Artist in a War and Market Culture

Artists are generally despised because the work we pursue does not fit into the logic of the market or the arithmetic of war. Artists pursue the mysteries and the limits of consciousness and seek to make objects of beauty. We explore and advocate for more sensible, more imaginative and more loving ways of existing. These pursuits fall outside of the realm of the salesman and the soldier and are therefore disdained.

We return the disdain. We loathe the lamentable mind of the consumer zombie and the pitiless pisswater brain of the mercenary and the soldier. We pity them and consider them enemies of Life and of the Sacred.

Report from an Occupation in Brazil by Makely Ka. Tr. by Dan Hanrahan

Breaking. Occupations of Ministry of Culture buildings are spreading throughout Brazil, as street level resistance to the government of Michel Temer grows. Here is a report from Minas Gerais.

From the Facebook page of Brazilian musician and activist Makey Ka. Translated from the Portuguese by Dan Hanrahan. May 17, 2016.

I am here at an occupation*, we do not recognize the legitimacy of the Temer government, we are working on a proposal to create a parallel organization to the Ministry of Culture (which the Temer government has eliminated), one created by civil society, we are practicing civil disobedience, and are subject to a police invasion which could occur at any moment.

Here there are people under a diverse range of banners–anarchists, feminists, Black activists, indigenous activists, LGBT’s, the homeless, people practicing all the artistic disciplines, from various sections of the city, the metropolitan area and the interior of the state.

There is an intensive program of the activities occurring – classes, debates, shows, meetings, and performances, film screenings, dance rehearsals, theater and music. There are committees responsible for cleaning, security, food, communication, programming and political statements. We are giving to this National Foundation of Arts space the use it always should have had. This afternoon the FUNARTE headquarters in São Paulo was occupied. FUNARTE in Rio and Curitiba have already been occupied. A hashtag uniting al the occupations is ‪#‎ForaTemer‬ (TemerOut).

But it is striking how the PT (Workers Party of the ousted President Dilma) is able to sabotage all of the resistance initiatives with its lack of self-critique. Is it that they want to maintain the narrative of the coup liberating and, even moreso, incentivizing an alliance with the PMDB (Brazilian Democratic Movement Party, founded in 1981) in the upcoming municipal elections? It is unbelievable. For these and for other reasons I believe we need an arts organization based in civil society, unrelated to the government.

*of the FUNARTE Center of Brazilian National Foundation of the Arts in Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais