Artivism is aportmanteau word combining "art" and "activism", and is sometimes also referred to as "social artivism".
The term artivism inUS English has its roots in a 1997 gathering ofChicano artists fromEast Los Angeles and theZapatistas inChiapas, Mexico. The words "Artivist" and "Artivism" were then popularized through a variety of events, actions and artworks via artists and musicians such asQuetzal,Ozomatli, and Mujeres de Maiz, among other East Los Angeles artists, and at spaces such asSelf Help Graphics & Art.[citation needed]
Artivism further developed asantiwar andanti-globalization protests emerged and proliferated. In many cases artivists attempt to push political agendas by the means of art, but a focus on raising awareness of social,environmental, and technological problems is also common.[citation needed]
Besides using traditional mediums like film and music to raise awareness or push for change, an artivist can also be involved inculture jamming,subvertising,street art,spoken word,protesting, andactivism.[1][2][3] Since 2013, Cromoactivismo, a Brazilian group of women artists, works with collectives, groups and schools in direct actions using color for social change.[4][5]
ArtivistEve Ensler stated:
... This passion has all the ingredients of activism, but is charged with the wild creations of art. Artivism—where edges are pushed, imagination is freed, and a new language emerges altogether." Bruce Lyons has written: "... artivism ... promotes the essential understanding that ... [humans] ... can, through courageous creative expression, experience the unifying power of love when courage harnesses itself to the task of art + social responsibility.[1][2][3]
By 2005, the term had made its way into academic writing when Slovenian theatre scholar Aldo Milohnic used the term to discuss "autonomous ('alter-globalist', social) movements in Slovenia that attracted wide attention. In carrying out their political activity they made use of protests and direct actions, thereby introducing the 'aesthetic', willingly or not".[6] In 2008,Chela Sandoval and Guisela Latorre published a piece on Chicano/a artivism andM. K. Asante using the term in reference to Black artists.[7][8]
There is a chapter on artivism in the bookIt's Bigger Than Hip Hop by M. K. Asante. Asante writes of the artivist:
The artivist (artist + activist) uses their artistic talents to fight and struggle against injustice and oppression—by any medium necessary. The artivist merges commitment to freedom and justice with the pen, the lens, the brush, the voice, the body, and the imagination. The artivist knows that to make an observation is to have an obligation.
The impact of artivism vs. conventional activism was tested in a public scientific experiment inCopenhagen, Denmark, in 2018. The results, reported in the journal ofSocial Movement Studies, suggest that artivism may be more effective than conventional activism.[9]
The Inaugural Global Artivism Conference took place in Tshwane, South Africa, from September 5-8, 2024.
Notable artivists and self-identified artist-activists include:
Artivists often work in interdisciplinary collectives that are stand-alone' or operate as a creative part of the greater activist groups, such asGran Fury ofAIDS Coalition to Unleash Power (ACT UP).[citation needed] Other groups include: