EMERGENCIA
CONTENTS INTRO.................................................................................PG. 3 ATTENDEES........................................................................PG. 4 MANCHESTER....................................................................PG. 7 CHALLENGES.....................................................................PG. 8 METHODOLOGY................................................................PG.13 DISCUSSIONS...................................................................PG. 14 FINDINGS..........................................................................PG. 23 CONCLUSIONS.................................................................PG. 27 CALL TO ACTION..............................................................PG. 30 PROJECT PROPOSAL.......................................................PG. 31
In June 2014, Emergēncia UK gathered together artists, activists, academics and a range of other creative practitioners to Manchester to explore the challenges faced in environments of conflict, revolution and emergency and to unpack the power of artistic endeavour to effect real social and political change. Over the course of the conference, the delegates were invited to think freely about the challenges they faced in their everyday working lives and about what they would like to see change in the world around them. In Place of War (IPOW), responsible for organising the conference, supports artists and creative communities living in sites of war, revolution and conflict to build powerful networks, create social change through creativity and demonstrate the value of the arts to public space, public life and public debate. Based at The University of Manchester, IPOW have been working with international creative communities for ten years. Work is spread across five core areas: Platform, Research, Education, Spaces and Production. The five day event formed part of a series of Network Global Meetings founded by In Place of War’s Brazilian partners, Fora do Eixo. The Emergēncia series considers emergency in both meanings of the word. Urgency, from the need for immediate action in response to systemic crisis; and emergence, from the rise of a new social, political, economic and cultural context in the age of network society and digital connectivity. This is a line of enquiry that fits neatly with the IPOW ideology of ‘doing it together’. The network that we have engaged with over the past ten years are all variously engaged in these ‘crisis’ contexts and have all sought to benefit through coming together and learning from one another’s perspectives. The network has been grown through a series of projects over the years, taking in a number of different missions and focusses, but all under a belief in collaboration and experiential exchange.
and challenges to the table in a series of discussions that sought to explore a wide array of emergent and contentious issues. Centered around topics of artistic creation, the power of culture, and the rise of digital interconnectivity, Emergēncia cast a wide net to take full advantage of the combined experience of its invitees. In developing Emergēncia, In Place of War looked at the gaps between communities. Between practice and research communities, between art and activist communities, between social projects and tech projects, between charity and business; and at the internal fissures within these disparate communities. In doing so, IPOW sought to explore the power of experience and exchange between people from vastly different backgrounds. What may be an insurmountable barrier for a cultural producer in Zimbabwe, for example, may have been overcome long ago by a similar group in India. By filling a room with talented, experienced and inspirational people, Emergēncia looked to allow for a knowledge transfer that could not only solve problems, but also inspire and enflame the attendees, spawning new collaboration and ideas. The discussions in the conference centered on five clusters. Creativity in conflict; representation and subjectivity in war; the gap between real world activism and digital activism; the power and limitations of networks; and the role of arts activism in driving social and political change. By casting a wide net, the discussion topics sought to allow for an open framework where nothing was off the table and all ideas could be aired and considered. The resulting conversations were eye-opening and gave voice to a universal desire to learn about and understand the lives and experience of others, in order to apply it to the world we live in. As a result, the opportunities for collaboration and ongoing research are abundant and Emergēncia looks to be only the beginning of a wide-reaching and long-lasting network.
Emergēncia holds at its centre a goal of free and open discussion, taking the form of a culture lab allowing the organic development of solutions to often widely shared problems. By inviting participants from five continents, In Place of War sought to explore the challenges faced by practitioners across the world in variously peaceful and war torn countries. Delegates working in Egypt, Palestine, India, Lebanon, the DRC, the USA, Italy, Bosnia, the UK, Zimbabwe and Brazil brought their personal experiences
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