Artivism is a

portmanteau word A portmanteau word, or portmanteau (, ) is a blend of wordsChicano Chicano or Chicana is a chosen identity for many Mexican Americans in the United States. The label ''Chicano'' is sometimes used interchangeably with ''Mexican American'', although the terms have different meanings. While Mexican-American ident ...

artists from

East Los Angeles East Los Angeles ( es, Este de Los Ángeles), or East L.A., is an unincorporated area in Los Angeles County, California. As of the 2020 census it had a population of 118,786, a drop of 6.1% from 2010, when it was 126,496. For statistical purpo ...

and the

Zapatistas Zapatista(s) may refer to: * Liberation Army of the South, formed 1910s, a Mexican insurgent group involved in the Mexican Revolution * Zapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN), formed 1983, a Mexican indigenous armed revolutionary group based ...

Chiapas Chiapas (; Tzotzil and Tzeltal: ''Chyapas'' ), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Chiapas ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Chiapas), is one of the states that make up the 32 federal entities of Mexico. It comprises 124 municipalities ...

, Mexico. The words "Artivist" and "Artivism" were popularized through a variety of events, actions and artworks via artists and musicians such as

Quetzal Quetzals () are strikingly colored birds in the trogon family. They are found in forests, especially in humid highlands, with the five species from the genus ''Pharomachrus'' being exclusively Neotropical, while a single species, the eared q ...

Ozomatli Ozomatli is an American rock band, formed in 1995 in Los Angeles. They are known both for their vocal activist viewpoints and incorporating a wide array of musical styles – including salsa, jazz, funk, reggae, hip hop, and others. The group ...

, and Mujeres de Maiz, among other East Los Angeles artists, and at spaces such as

Self Help Graphics & Art Self-Help Graphics & Art, Inc. is a community arts center with a mix Beaux-Arts and vernacular architecture in East Los Angeles, California, United States. The building was built in 1927, and was designed by Postle & Postle. Formed during the cul ...

. Artivism further developed as

antiwar An anti-war movement (also ''antiwar'') is a social movement, usually in opposition to a particular nation's decision to start or carry on an armed conflict, unconditional of a maybe-existing just cause. The term anti-war can also refer to p ...

and

anti-globalization The anti-globalization movement or counter-globalization movement, is a social movement critical of economic globalization. The movement is also commonly referred to as the global justice movement, alter-globalization movement, anti-globalist m ...

protests emerged and proliferated. In many cases artivists attempt to push political agendas by the means of art, but a focus on raising social, environmental, and technical awareness is also common. Besides using traditional mediums like film and music to raise awareness or push for change, an artivist can also be involved in

culture jamming Culture jamming (sometimes also guerrilla communication) is a form of protest used by many anti-consumerist social movements to disrupt or subvert media culture and its mainstream cultural institutions, including corporate advertising. It att ...

, subvertising,

street art Street art is visual art created in public locations for public visibility. It has been associated with the terms "independent art", "post-graffiti", "neo-graffiti" and guerrilla art. Street art has evolved from the early forms of defiant graf ...

spoken word Spoken word refers to an oral poetic performance art that is based mainly on the poem as well as the performer's aesthetic qualities. It is a late 20th century continuation of an ancient oral artistic tradition that focuses on the aesthetics o ...

, protesting, and

activism Activism (or Advocacy) consists of efforts to promote, impede, direct or intervene in social, political, economic or environmental reform with the desire to make changes in society toward a perceived greater good. Forms of activism range fro ...

.Politics, Power and Passion
''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'', December 2, 2011. Please see the fifth segment by

Eve Ensler V, formerly Eve Ensler (; born May 25, 1953), is an American playwright, performer, feminist, and activist. V is best known for her play ''The Vagina Monologues''.

.Jeanmarie Simpson -- Artivist in the Modern Landscape (Part 1)

Dylan Brody Dylan Brody (born April 24, 1964) is a U.S. humorist, playwright, author and comedian. In 2005 his play ''Mother May I'' won the Stanley Drama Award. He has appeared on A&E Network, A&E's ''Comedy on the Road'' and Fox TV's ''Comedy Express'' and ...

The Huffington Post ''HuffPost'' (formerly ''The Huffington Post'' until 2017 and sometimes abbreviated ''HuffPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and ...

, 2011.10.03Jeanmarie Simpson -- Artivist in the Modern Landscape (Part 2)

, The Huffington Post, 2011.10.05 Artivist

Eve Ensler V, formerly Eve Ensler (; born May 25, 1953), is an American playwright, performer, feminist, and activist. V is best known for her play ''The Vagina Monologues''.

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 ... umans... can, through courageous creative expression, experience the unifying power of love when courage harnesses itself to the task of art + social responsibility.''

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". In 2008,

Chela Sandoval Chela Sandoval (born July 31, 1956), associate professor of Chicana Studies at University of California, Santa Barbara, is a noted theorist of postcolonial feminism and third world feminism. Beginning with her 1991 pioneering essay 'U.S. Third W ...

and Guisela Latorre published a piece on Chicano/a artivism and

M. K. Asante M. K. Asante (born November 3, 1982) is an American author, filmmaker, recording artist, and professor. He is the author of the 2013 best-selling memoir ''Buck''.

using the term in reference to Black artists. There is a chapter on artivism in the book '' It's Bigger Than Hip Hop'' by M. K. Asante. Asante write''s 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 in

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan a ...

, Denmark, in 2018. The results, reported in the journal of ''Social Movement Studies'', suggest that artivism may be more effective than conventional activism.

Artivists

Some of the artivists or self-identified as artists-activists (with Wikipedia pages) * Above *

Ai Weiwei Ai Weiwei (, ; born 28 August 1957) is a Chinese contemporary artist, documentarian, and activist. Ai grew up in the far northwest of China, where he lived under harsh conditions due to his father's exile. As an activist, he has been openly c ...

Aloe Blacc Egbert Nathaniel Dawkins III (born January 7, 1979), known professionally by his stage name Aloe Blacc (), is an American singer, songwriter and rapper. He is best known for his singles "I Need a Dollar", " The Man", which topped the charts in th ...

Annie Sprinkle Annie M. Sprinkle (born Ellen F. Steinberg on July 23, 1954) is an American certified sexologist, performance artist, former sex worker, and advocate for sex work and health care. Citing: Sprinkle has worked as a prostitute, sex educator, femi ...

Anomie Belle Anomie Belle (an·o·me bel) is an American multi-instrumentalist, vocalist, songwriter, producer, and ''artivist'' from Seattle. Originally a classically-trained violinist and songwriter, Belle began writing and recording music as a child. Belle ...

Banksy Banksy is a pseudonymous England-based street artist, political activist and film director whose real name and identity remain unconfirmed and the subject of speculation. Active since the 1990s, his satirical street art and subversive epigram ...

Bleepsgr Bleepsgr (or Bleeps) is the pseudonym used by V.(M.) Kakouris, who is a Greek artist. He creates political street art, paintings and installations;Helena Celdrán (7 July 2011)"Aquiles también sale a protestar a las calles de Grecia" 20minutos ...

* Daniel Arzola (Spanish) * Deborah De Robertis *

Deeyah Khan Deeyah Khan ( ur, , , born 7 August 1977) is a Norwegian documentary film director and human rights activist of Punjabi/Pashtun descent. Deeyah is a two-time Emmy Award winner, two time Peabody Award winner, a BAFTA winner and has received the ...

Ernest Zacharevic Ernest Zacharevic (born 1986 in Lithuania) is a multidiscipline contemporary and public artist based in Penang, Malaysia. Technique and style Zacharevic creates oil paintings, installations, sculptures and stencil and spray paint to produce cu ...

Favianna Rodriguez Favianna Rodriguez (born September 26, 1978) is an American artist and activist. She has self-identified as queer and Latina with Afro-Peruvian roots. Rodriguez began as a political poster designer in the 1990s in the struggle for racial justic ...

* Gianluca Costantini *

Guillermo Gómez-Peña Guillermo Gómez-Peña is a Mexican/Chicano performance artist, writer, activist, and educator. Gómez-Peña has created work in multiple media, including performance art, experimental radio, video, photography and installation art. His fifteen b ...

JoFF Rae JoFF Rae is the pseudonym of a New Zealand event producer, designer & artist. Concept design & event management; Creative Director & Technical Director with Urban Arts entity ARTIVIST : creative by any means necessary!; produced various projec ...

* JR * Jeanmarie Simpson *

Judy Baca Judith Francisca Baca (born September 20, 1946) is an American artist, activist, and professor of Chicano studies, world arts, and cultures based at the University of California, Los Angeles. She is the co-founder and artistic director of the Soc ...

* Julio Salgado * Kwame Akoto-Bamfo * Las Cafeteras *

Lila Downs Ana Lila Downs Sánchez (born 9 September 1968 * *) is a Mexican singer-songwriter. She performs her own compositions and the works of others in multiple genres, as well as tapping into Mexican traditional and popular music. She also incorporat ...

* Lost Children of Babylon *

Lydia Canaan Lydia Canaan ( ar, ليديا كنعان) is a Lebanese singer-songwriter and humanitarian activist. Credited as the first internationally successful Lebanese recording artist,Sinclair, David. "Global Music Pulse", ''Billboard'', New York, De ...

* Lynnette Haozous * Martha Gonzalez *

Marina DeBris Marina DeBris is the name used by an Australian-based artist whose work focuses on reusing trash to raise awareness of ocean and beach pollution. DeBris uses trash washed up from the beach to create trashion, 'fish tanks', decorative art and o ...

Martin Aveling Martin Aveling 'Mart' (born 1982) is an artivist who uses his work to promote wildlife conservation and generate funds for its support. Early life Mart grew up in England, Kenya and the Democratic Republic of Congo with his conservationist parent ...

Maya Jupiter Melissha Martinez (born 21 December 1978), better known by her stage name Maya Jupiter, is a Mexican-born Australian rapper, songwriter, MC and radio personality. She released her debut album, ''Today'', in 2003. She was a member of hip-hop group ...

* Michel Platnic *

Milo Moiré Milo Moiré (; born 7 May 1983) is a Swiss pornographic film actress, conceptual artist, and model known for her nude performances and the use of her body in her art. Moiré was born in Switzerland, of Slovak and Spanish origin. She has an art ...

* Norm Magnusson * Pavel 183 * Peter Joseph * Quetzal (band) *

Reverend Billy and the Church of Stop Shopping Reverend Billy and the Church of Stop Shopping is a radical performance community based in New York City. The Stop Shopping Choir is accompanied by a comic preacher, Reverend Billy, portrayed by performer William (Billy) Talen. The philosophy of ...

Sabo_(street_artist) Sabo (born 1968) is the pseudonym of a right wing street artist formerly active in Los Angeles, California. His name derives from sabot, a weapon most commonly used in firearm or cannon ammunition. According to a 2015 interview with Adland, Sabo ...

Tania Bruguera Tania Bruguera (born 1968 in Havana, Cuba) is an artist and activist who focuses on installation and performance art. She lives and works between New York City and Havana, and has participated in numerous international exhibitions. Her work is i ...

Tinkebell Katinka Simonse (born 10 June 1979), professionally known as Tinkebell, is a Dutch artist who engages with issues around animals and how people treat them. Career Tinkebell's projects have English names, and are not translations from Dutch. ...

Valie Export Valie Export (often stylized as 'VALIE EXPORT'; born 17 May 1940) is an avant-garde Austrian artist. She is best known for provocative public performances and expanded cinema work. Her artistic work also includes video installations, computer ...

* Will St Leger

Collectives and organizations

Artivists often work in interdisciplinary collectives that are stand alone or operate as a 'creative' part of the greater activists groups like for example

Gran Fury Emerging from ACT UP (AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power) in 1988, Gran Fury was an AIDS activist artist collective from New York City consisting of 11 members including: Richard Elovich, Avram Finkelstein, Amy Heard, Tom Kalin, John Lindell, Lo ...

of AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power (ACT UP). * Artivist Film Festival *

Crass Crass were an English art collective and punk rock band formed in Epping, Essex in 1977, who promoted anarchism as a political ideology, a lifestylism, way of life, and a resistance movement. Crass popularised the anarcho-punk movement of the ...

* Da! collective
Pangaeseed Foundation

Red Rebel Brigade
*

The Fearless Collective Fearless Collective is an art collective. It uses participatory art practices to provide means to move from fear to love in public space. The collective uses visual campaigning, multimedia storytelling and large-scale public art projects to enga ...

The Yes Men The Yes Men are a culture jamming activist duo and network of supporters created by Jacques Servin and Igor Vamos. Through various actions, the Yes Men primarily aim to raise awareness about problematic social and political issues. To date, t ...

* Sol Collective

References

{{Reflist Contemporary art Activism Culture jamming Political art DIY culture

Artivists

Collectives and organizations

See also

References