Images Festival
May 2021
Working within community, whether it be sharing a project with another person, or with a larger group, we are able to experience joy in struggle. That joy needs to be documented. — bell hooks
The animating concern for the 2021 edition of the Research Forum is decentralization, as method, as a practice of freedom in general. This thematic focus and its differing potentials will be explored across the festival through conversations, social media interventions, publications, and more. Calls to decentre structures of cultural and political power have grown increasingly louder in the pandemic era, which has laid bare socioeconomic rifts all over the world in a particularly urgent way. Principles of decentralization have been held up as utopic pillars in new forms of technology that promise liberated states of being in worlds both online and offline. Collective practices have gained renewed relevance in a hypercompetitive landscape exacerbated by the effects of neoliberal strategies in the creative industries. There are many paths to freedom. This multiplicity is at the heart of how we will engage with the idea and the promise of decentralization. The Forum will be composed of collectives and collective-like bodies of individuals invited to deliver online talkback sessions on their practices and policies. This will be a key opportunity to meet and interact with some of the leading practitioners and theorists in their fields. These groups will also be invited to assemble playlists composed of the readings, songs, films, art, and other works that have influenced them in their ways of functioning and that help delineate the concept of decentralization as they understand it. After their participation in the Forum, the groups will be invited to provide key recommendations and practices, serving as tools that they would offer to anyone that may want to incorporate decentralized thinking and acting into their operations. The playlists, recommendations, and other outcomes of the sessions will be compiled into a Forum catalogue that will be made available in open access, documenting the joys and struggles that will be shared among participants, and hopefully taken out into the wider world long after the festival has closed.
— focused investigations of the margins as well as the center
— A circle instead of a pyramid
— knowledge democracy— exploring new ways of sharing information — Collective Responsibility
— Using the rest of the body’s intuition and intelligence and not just the head.
— finding new boundaries
— Sharing
— embracing resonance over volume, moving beyond loudness and visibility
— New (necessary) way to work/collaborate in the “new normal”
— the point of origin for silenced histories — A move to distribute authority.
— A decolonial process + a way to overcome the rural/urban dichotomy
What does decentralization mean to you? — (...) to go beyond discourse and qualifying so that decentralizing becomes an active-gesture-reality.
— thinking about networks instead of hierarchies — being there
— To decentralize is to predicate upon existing conditions while proposing a set of strategies and futures to be imagined in the future horizon of political possibilities.
— The project of redistributing centralized and consolidated power and authority to a network of localized nodes.
— a lack of hierarchies. horizontal empowerment and power as opposed to vertical.
— Interrogate the process, reconfigure the gatekeeper
— not to have a central point of power/knowledge — looking to others for knowledge
— vital communication for all parts of artistic expression—we must pull together to fight...
— Green Papaya Founded in the Philippines in the early 2000s, Green Papaya Art Projects was born out of the need to create a platform for artists to do what they want, without the constraints of the market or the institutions. Until now, it endeavours to provide a platform for intellectual exchange, sharing of information, critical dialogue, and creative and practical collaboration among members of the artistic community both locally and abroad. The programs (projects, talks, screenings etc.) that it offers also widen the exposure of its visitors, as it covers perspectives that are not usually prioritized by art schools and other institutions.
TOP ROW (L-R): Norberto Roldan (founder/artistic director/artist) Jel Suarez (assistant archivist/artist) Yuji de Torres (online platforms manager/artist) MIDDLE ROW (L-R): Dominic Zinampan (managing editor/artist/writer) Iris Ferrer (managing curator) Joaquin Roldan (archives assistant) BOTTOM ROW (L-R): Ramie Jiloca (technical assistant) Lesley-Anne Cao (chief archivist/artist) Touki Roldan (visual communications director/designer)
“
Since the early 2000s up to the present, the arts landscape in the Philippines is generally defined by precarity and self-initiation, as response to a general lack of resources and institutional support with only a few enjoying corporate and governmental help. This recurring situation eventually fed the growth of collaborative relations that are also more community-based, interdisciplinary and intergenerational in nature. Initially, Green Papaya Art Projects was born out of the need to create a platform for artists to do what they want, without the constraints of the market or the institutions. Until now, it endeavours to provide a platform for intellectual exchange, sharing of information, critical dialogue, and creative and practical collaboration among members of the artistic community both locally and abroad.
greenpapaya.art
CONVERSATION / recording
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— Green Papaya
Especially considering the culture induced by the art world’s “scarcity economy” (a lack of resources and opportunities circulating within the institutional network that has bred a culture of fierce competition), Green Papaya’s generosity in terms of resource sharing has been immensely helpful especially for younger artists and cultural workers who persist outside of the mainstream circles. The programs (projects, talks, screenings etc.) that it offers also widens the exposure of its visitors, as it covers perspectives that are not usually prioritized by art schools and other institutions. In addition, the archive that is currently being worked on provides a very personal and intimate view of the community and its players in the early 2000s to the development of the field in the present.
Playlist
Green Papaya Art Projects
Devolution has always been part of Papaya’s culture where there is no one particular system or permanent power structure that determines the operation. — Green Papaya
FILMS
MUSIC/SOUND
Shireen Seno: Big Boy ► youtube link
Radioactive Sago Project: Astro ► youtube.com link
John Pilger: Utopia ► youtube.com link
Elemento ► youtube.com link
Audrey Lam: Faraways ► vimeo.com link
Alyana Cabral: Kasarian ► youtube.com link
Iara Lee: Life is Waiting ► youtube.com link
The Buildings: Room So Small ► youtube.com link
Dinh Q Le: South China Sea Pishkun ► vimeo.com link
Girl Cloud: full set at Limbo Makati • October 21 • 2019 ► youtube.com link
ARTWORKS
ARCHIVES
All artworks/exhibitions in the list were all shown in Green Papaya.
Bea Camacho: Efface, 2008 ► ocula.com link
Asia Art Archive ► aaa.org. hk link Green Papaya Art projects ► greenpapaya.art link
Martha Atienza: Man in Suit, 2009 ► papayapost.blogspot.com link Soni Kum: Foreign Sky, 2008 ► sonikum.com link Kiron Robinson Lani Maestro Gary-Ross Pastrana Maria Taniguchi Patricia Eustaquio Jonathan Olazo Gina Osterloh ► greenpapaya.art link Michael Arcega: Fantasy Island ► facebook.com link
SITES No Soul for Sale Festival of Independents ► tate.org.uk link Night Festival Singapore: New World ► theatreworks.org.sg link
Radioactive Sago Project's Astro is first in the list as a historical marker. The band's sound which is a fusion of spoken-word, poetry, bebop jazz and punk marked the advent of a new Manila sound in the early 2000s. For Papaya, it signalled a more multi-disciplinary programming and integrated music as a big part of Papaya's interests.
We included Elemento, a seminal sound collective founded by Lirio Salvador that Papaya supported all the way even after Salvador had a tragic accident that left him unable to perform again. Alyana Cabral's Kasarian demonstrates Papaya's explicit political leanings and solidarity with progressive political formations. The two bands The Buildings and Grrl Gang represent Papaya's cross-generational inclination and at the same time relate with Joaquin's indirect involvement with Papaya events.
We included two important off-site projects: our participation in the No Soul for Sale Festival of Independents at the Tate Modern, London, and the New World: Night Festival in Singapore, both in 2010, as important markers of our 10th year.
The Asia Art Archive and Green Papaya sites complete the list as repositories of our collective narratives which we hope will live beyond Papaya's existence.
The Nest Collective is a multidisciplinary arts collective living and working in Nairobi. We are a collective with an intentionally decentralised practice. We are committed to all the pros and cons that come with working in this way: decentralising is costly on time, and is a tough thing to communicate outwardly because of the expectation that hierarchies exist. That being said, this process has been crucial to the making and release of work whose layers and richness would not have been possible without it.
Akati Khasiani aka Atiani Storyteller and DJ
Njeri Gitungo aka Ziggie Producer and DJ
Jim Chuchu General Manager and Filmmaker
Njoki Ngumi Artist and Feminist Thinker
Kedni Kamwambia Comptroller and DJ
Noel Kasyoka Filmmaker and DJ
Mars Maasai Music Producer and DJ
Sunny Dolat Curator and Creative Director
— The Nest Collective
thisisthenest.com
We are interested in, and inspired by many expressions of this decentralisation, within and outside of the arts and artistic expression. This is mainly because our work is inspired by our lives and politics, as well as those of the demographics and communities within which our different members have found alignment and belonging, to several extents. These include but are not limited to: Africans, black people, LGBTQ+ people, women, men, youth/young people, different ethnic and religious/spiritual communities, and many more. Our inspirations therefore go further than the art that is our daily life, into the spaces in which artistic practice is anchored and goes back to: what people are going through every day.
CONVERSATION / recording
Playlist
The Nest Collective
It has been interesting to learn that many
HEVA Fund: HEVA is an Eastern African fund that invests in social, economic and political potential of the creative economy sector. The HEVA team is headed by partners, but all its decisions are fundamentally made by subgroups and sub-teams. HEVA Fund is The Nest’s sister organisation.
ORGANIZATIONS HEVA Fund ► hevafund.com link Kiziba Community Seedbank ► facebook.com link
ethnic groups in the geographical area that is now
Kizibi Community Seedbank: These women in Uganda are ensuring that farming of beans and bananas remains as diverse as possible, and are using a collective management approach to make this happen.
called Kenya lived in harmony in their communities without centralised leadership. It shows seperation in many good ways from the nation state. — The Nest Collective
The Micronation of Molossia: Halfway between a satirical verité installation and a (believable?) first step into secession, (and problematics of its “benevolent dictator” acknowledged), this social experiment is as interesting and insightful a depiction of life away from mainstream nation-state politicking as it is humorous.
The Pink Panthers and the Gulabi Gang: The striking use of the colour pink is one of the similarities between these two groups of people, other than the fact that they are vigilante groups set up to protect and care for the marginalised because centralised power structures have not worked for them. No publicly available video exists of the Pink Panthers (whose name was problematised by the owners of the cartoon IP as well as by the Black Panthers), who were a community patrol to keep LGBTQ people safe in the late 80’s/early 90s in the USA. A documentary was made featuring the Gulabi Gang, a women’s grassroots movement set up to actively fight gender-based violence because the society and law enforcement agencies had refused to.
Pixar Sparkshorts: Pixar, which usually spends most of its money on massive, singular, iconic, multi-year projects, gives its individual artists some budget and some time to make short animated films fully independent and their own. Burrow is one of these films, and is a sweet little piece about how swiftly decentralised solutions can solve problems, as seen through the eyes of a bunny who just wants a home.
The Pink Panthers ► washingtonpost.com link Gulabi Gang ► youtube.com link
ARTWORKS The Micronation of Molossia ► youtube.com link
FILMS Burrow ► myflixertv.to link
— Toronto Biennial of Art
torontobiennial.org
The inaugural curatorial team for the Toronto Biennial of Art was assembled to work together on the first two editions, in 2019 and 2022. Between Biennials, Candice Hopkins, Clare Butcher, Katie Lawson, Myung-Sun Kim, and Tairone Bastien have come closer together as a collective, to think, listen, (un)learn, and move alongside one another, shaping and realizing a collective vision through the challenges of the global pandemic, political upheaval, and a climate crisis. As they breathe together, they conspire. So risky, in viral times, that “collective breath” creates a climate of its own, a curatorial ethics. Collectivity supports a modality through which the exhibitions and programming curators look to new forms of kinship—with one another, their collaborators, human and non-human—and to new ideas, beliefs, and perspectives.
CONVERSATION / recording
Playlist
Toronto Biennial of Art*
As we breathe together, we can inspire, so risky in times of cryptic breath that creates a climate of its own, a kind of curatorial ethics.
When you have a breach of protocol, that’s actually a profound learning – how do you make space for that?
TEXTS
PODCASTS
Should Rivers Have Same Legal Rights As Humans? A Growing Number Of Voices Say Yes Ashley Westerman ► npr.org link
On Being with Krista Tippett Robin Wall Kimmerer The Intelligence of Plants ► onbeing.org link
We Are All at Sea: Practice, Ethics, and Poetics of “Hydrocommons” Astrida Neimanis, RIBOCA2 — 2nd Riga International Biennial of Contemporary Art 2020 ► moussemagazine.it link
NPR Invisibilia The Last Sound ► npr.org link
BAR Book Forum: Tiffany King’s “The Black Shoals” Roberto Sirvent ► blackagendareport.com link
POEMS
A Billion Black Anthropocenes or None Kathryn Yusoff ► manifold.umn.edu link
Envelopes of Air Ada Limón and Natalie Diaz ► newyorker.com link
The Undercommons: Fugitive Planning & Black Study Stefano Harney & Fred Moten ► minorcompositions.info link
Discourse on the Logic of Language M. NourbeSe Philip ► are.na link Transitory, Momentary Juliana Spahr ► poetryfoundation.org link
* Candice Hopkins Clare Butcher
— Toronto Biennial of Art
Katie Lawson Myung-Sun Kim Tairone Bastien
— not having fear, having hope
— to properly have your own place in the world
— an absence of barriers, an equal opportunity for growth and selfactualization
— A never-ending meeting
— nothing left to lose — I think freedom is tempered by obligations to others
— not much, everything
What does freedom mean to you? — The luxury of saying no, and disengaging. Freedom from all forms of oppression for all.
— Loss of inhibition, either from outside or from in. — freedom is freedom. it has arrived when there is no need to wish for it.
— A state of liberation
— Movement in the present moment
— getting out of my head
— The ability to live and flourish without contributing to the harm of others or the environment in ones own time and times to come.
chiapasmediaproject.org
Founded in 1998, Chiapas Media Project (CMP)/ Promedios was a bi-national collaboration that facilitated the production and distribution of video, radio, and multimedia through four regional media centres we built and equipped in collaboration with the Zapatista communities in Chiapas, Mexico. CMP/Promedios collaboratively produced 32 Indigenous and non-Indigenous documentaries for international distribution. Currently, CMP/Promedios is known as Promedios de Comunicación Comunitaria, a Mexican NGO based in San Cristobal de las Casas, Chiapas. Promedios continues to work with Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities in Southern Mexico providing audiovisual training and technical support.
— Chiapas Media Project / Promedios CONVERSATION / recording
Playlist
Promedios | Chiapas Media Project
As part of our strategy of being independent, we have been reflecting on the need to adopt our dynamics to the communities. And to be able to respond to those patterns of organizing, a lot of this has to do with being able to create our own funding. — Chiapas Media Project / Promedios
FILMS Chiapas Media Project/Promedios Production: Eyes on Whats Inside ► vimeo.com link Zapatista Film: The Land Belongs to Those who Work it ► vimeo.com link The Zapatista Uprising (20 Years Later) ► youtube.com link Contrast ► youtube.com link Where the Word Inhabits ► youtube.com link Alba Rosa ► youtube.com link Hermalinda ► youtube.com link
TEXTS Chapter Outside the Indigenous Lens ► chiapasmediaproject.org link Acerca de ProMedios ► promedioschiapas.wordpress.com link A Spark of Hope: The Ongoing Lessons of the Zapatista Revolution 25 Years On ► nacla.org link
forensic-architecture.org
— Forensic Architecture Forensic Architecture (FA) is a research agency, based at Goldsmiths, University of London, investigating human rights violations including violence committed by states, police forces, militaries, and corporations. FA works in partnership with institutions across civil society, from grassroots activists, to legal teams, to international NGOs and media organizations, to carry out investigations with and on behalf of communities and individuals affected by conflict, police brutality, border regimes, and environmental violence. Findings from FA’s investigations have been presented in national and international courtrooms, parliamentary inquiries, and exhibitions at some of the world’s leading cultural institutions and in international media, as well as in citizen’s tribunals and community assemblies.
Playlist
Forensic Architecture FILMS Herbicidal Warfare in Gaza: video and investigation ► forensic-architecture.org link Triple Chaser: film by Laura Poitras and Forensic Architecture ► forensic-architecture.org link The Extrajudicial Execution of Ahmad Erekat: video and investigation ► forensic-architecture.org link
TEXTS Botanical Decolonization: Rethinking Native Plants by Tomaz Mastnak, Julia Elyachar, Tom Boellstorff ► drive.google.com link Weaponised Landscapes: Mapping the Calais “Jungle” by Jens Haendeler, Alex Ioannou, Anushka Athique ► drive.google.com link
— You. Me. Us. Humanity. Nurture. Nature. Neighbor. Narcissist. No.
What are the keywords that will be most relevant for art and culture in the years to come?
— decolonize unlearn relearn shift change
— Kinomatics The Kinomatics Project collects, explores, analyzes, and represents data about the creative industries. Our research is collaborative and interdisciplinary. Kinomatics is derived from the word Kinematics; the study of the geometry of motion, and Kino; the term meaning cinema in many countries. Kinomatics is therefore the study of the industrial geometry of motion pictures. The focus of Kinomatics has been extended further in our research to mean the study of the industrial geometry of culture.
What is a key historical example of decentralization that has inspired you? diasporic migrant cinema circuits (post-WWII) and film festivals as movie distribution networks
kinomatics.com
What in your opinion is an existing decentralized organization that presents an ideal model to learn from? https://mukurtu.org/ Mukurtu (MOOK-oo-too) is a grassroots project with Indigenous communities to manage and share digital cultural heritage. It aims to empower communities to manage, share, and exchange their digital heritage in culturally relevant and ethically-minded ways. It allows communities to choose how their content is shared and defined. What is the biggest challenge that you face working in a decentralized manner? Time Zones (in the past travel expenses) Getting enough sleep (! both then and now)
CONVERSATION / recording
Can you reflect on some of the selections in your playlist and how it came together? Have been using them in analysis and translating for public presentation already, in evocative, metaphorical, visually-striking theoretical fashion. The specific playlist for Images came together, as Kinomatics projects all seem to, in an iterative, exploratory and recursive way (at first tentative then clear and confident, but serendipitously.)
Playlist
Kinomatics PEOPLE
ARTWORKS
Irene Neverla ► de.wikipedia.org link
In Silence (2008) Shiota Chiharu ► mori.art.museum link
Kathryn Graddy ► en.wikipedia.org link Doreen Massey ► en.wikipedia.org link Annemarie Mol ► en.wikipedia.org link Gaylene Preston ► en.wikipedia.org link
TEXTS The Second Sex Simone de Beauvoir ► archive.org link Rock Culture in Liverpool Sara Cohen ► archive.org link The Visual Miscellaneum David McCandless ► archive.org link A Green Crab’s Shell Mark Doty ► poets.org link
Planes (2018) Mit Jai Inn ► biennaleofsydney.art link Untitled (1986) Alex Janvier ► gallery.ca link Parabolic Mirror (2010) Anish Kapoor ► high.org link
CINEMAS The Astor, Melbourne ► astortheatre.net.au link Skalvija Kino, Vilnius ► skalvija.lt link Revue Cinema, Toronto ► revuecinema.ca link ARRI Kino, München ► muenchen.premiumkino.de link Open-Air Winter Screen, Edmonton ► ifwintercinema.wixsite.com link
We start from the premise that all relationships, be those between academics, within the network, our relationships with our respective universities, and with our respective research communities, and with our data, are all inscribed and informed by power relations. — Kinomatics
— Universe Contemporary universecontemporary.art
CONVERSATION / recording
Universe Contemporary is the premiere cryptomedia consultancy, building community and advising artists, collectors, and institutions. The consultancy curates unique interactive experiences and has special expertise in NFTs, blockchain technology, and decentralized systems. Founded by curator Lady Phe0nix.
Keeping things in really simple terms has been successful for me. I used to come in and and have these very academic conversations with folks, and I found that people appreciate the “Cheers” approach to a conversation: “Cheers” is a place where everybody knows your name and everybody feels good and you can have regular, everyday conversations. And so I want to keep it in the “Cheers” approach of talking about these things so that it can become real for people. So: Sovereignty is sexy, and decentralization is a practice of freedom. The most important understandings of consciousness, of our philosophies and ways of being for the future. There’s nothing outside of those things. We are a human blockchain. First and foremost. So if all technology should fall apart, and there’d be a blackout, and the plug is pulled so to speak on all of our electronics and our systems, then we still have one another. And we must maintain a blockchain with integrity and must maintain trust but verify with each other in order to move ourselves forward.
Playlist
Universe Contemporary ARTISTS
The practice of sovereignty is the practice of freedom, and decentralization is a node within the sovereign framework of the practice of freedom. — Universe Contemporary
KESH ► instagram.com link Fewocious ► fewocious.com link
STUDIOS The Dematerialised ► thedematerialised.com link RTFKT Studios ► rtfkt.com link The Fabricant ► thefabricant.com link
PLATFORMS Cryptovoxels ► cryptovoxels.com link LUKSO ► lukso.network link
— To take the pulse of the zeitgeist. pulse pulse pulse pulse zeitgeist. zeitgeist. zeitgeist. zeitgeist.
Describe your interest in the Research Forum. What would you like to get out of it?
— To take the pulse the pulse of the zeitgeist. the pulse of the zeitgeist. the of the zeitgeist.
About Images Festival Images Festival is a leading presenter of independent film and media culture in dialogue with contemporary art. We aspire to elevate conversations between artists, scholars, and the public about the politics of the moving image. Taking place online from 20–26 May 2021, Images Festival offered screening, events and critical conversations completely free of cost and open to audiences across the globe.
About EXPOBLVD Projects General Manager: Greg de Cuir Jr Communications: Linda Kopitz Design: Andrej Dolinka For more about our work visit our site or follow us online on Twitter or Instagram.
Images Festival would like to acknowledge
About the Images Research Forum As part of this year’s programming, the Images Research Forum explored decentralization as a method and practice of freedom through conversations, playlists, social media interventions and more. Organized by the independent, crossdisciplinary visual and cinematic arts consultancy EXPOBLVD Projects, the Images Research Forum invited collectives and collective-like bodies of individuals to deliver online talkback sessions on their practices and policies.
The land on which we gather and organize is the territory of the Anishinaabe, the Chippewa, the Haudenosaunee, the Huron-Wendat, and the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation. Today, the meeting place of Toronto is home to many Indigenous peoples. A territorial acknowledgement can demonstrate a coming to awareness, and provoke thought and reflection, all of which are essential in beginning to establish reciprocal relations. This acknowledgement should not function as closure, resignation, or acceptance of the structural conditions of settler colonialism that remain in effect today. Images Festival will continue to ask what it means for us to keep open a spirit of sustained inquiry into the complexities of our context.