Artivist Film Festival 2010

In the 2nd installment of our 360 Mural #AscenDance series we speak with Filmmaker Spencer Wilkinson who documented the rise of CRP advocacy in his film "Alice Street" Links: alicestreetfilm.com // vimeo.com/endangeredideas // @spencer_isaac_w Insta

2020

Spencer returns to break down the festival successes of his hit documentary 'Alice Street'. He also walks us through some of his new work and gives us some insight into the medium of Film. Find him on Instagram @spencer_isaac_w and see excerpts of his films on his vimeo site: www.vimeo.com/endangeredideas

2020

This episode introduces the practice of Taiwanese artist Wu Mali （吳瑪悧）as an early anchor for regenerative artivism in East Asia. Moving from a polluted suburban creek at the edge of Taipei to river basins, a former naval kitchen on Cijin Island, and finally a project focused on one cubic centimeter of soil, the episode traces how Wu treats art as environmental infrastructure rather than isolated objects. Listeners will hear how Art as Environment: A Cultural Action at Plum Tree Creek turned a neglected waterway into a watershed commons through walking, mapping, school programs, and breakfast gatherings with residents and hydrologists; how river projects such as By the River, On the River, Of the River and Taipei Tomorrow as a Lake Again reframe Taipei as a vulnerable floodplain; how Cijin Kitchen and Cijin's tongue use cooking and storytelling in a former naval dormitory to surface maritime labor, migration, and coastal change; and how To Reconstruct 1 cm³ of Land, It Requires a Centennial foregrounds soil timescales and micro-acts of cultivation. Across these cases, the episode situates Wu's work within ecofeminist, community-based strategies that link environmental repair to everyday care, pedagogy, and local governance. Keywords Wu Mali; Taiwan; socially engaged art; community art; eco-art; environmental humanities; regenerative artivism; regenerative aesthetics; ecofeminism; watershed commons; Plum Tree Creek; Cijin Kitchen; Cijin's tongue; To Reconstruct 1 cm³ of Land, It Requires a Centennial; river city; climate adaptation; soil and land; art and governance; public pedagogy Key references Bamboo Curtain Studio. "Art as Environment: A Cultural Action at Plum Tree Creek." Project documentation. Bamboo Curtain Studio Website. https://bambooculture.com/en/project/2004.html. ecoartspace. "Member Spotlight: Mali Wu." Online feature. ecoartspace Blog. https://ecoartspace.org/Blog/13030578. Goto, Reiko, Margaret Shiu, and Wu Mali. "Ecofeminism: Art as Environment – A Cultural Action at Plum Tree Creek." Women Environmental Artists Directory (WEAD) Magazine. 2014. https://directory.weadartists.org/plum-tree-creek-action/. Harff, Amy Spencer. "Artist Series: Wu Mali, The Godmother of Taiwan's Socially Engaged Art." Eurasia Review. Last modified August 3, 2021. https://www.eurasiareview.com/03082021-artist-series-wu-mali-the-godmother-of-taiwans-socially-engaged-art-analysis/. Tung, Wei-Hsiu. "Art and Aesthetic Environmental Awakening at Plum Tree Creek." The Newsletter (International Institute for Asian Studies), no. 76 (2017): 30. Tung, Wei-Hsiu. "From Social Art Practice to Environmental Aesthetic Awakening and Civil Engagement: The Case Study of Cijin Kitchen." Journal of Contemporary Chinese Art 7, nos. 2–3 (2020): 307–324. Wu, Mali and Bamboo Curtain Studio. "Art as Environment – A Cultural Action at the Plum Tree Creek." Case summary for the Taishin Arts Award. https://www.taishinart.org.tw/en/art-award-year-detail/2012/463. Zheng, Bo. "An Interview with Wu Mali." FIELD: A Journal of Socially-Engaged Art Criticism, no. 4 (2016). https://field-journal.com/no4/an-interview-with-wu-mali. Special note: Chinese names in this episode follow local convention, with the family name given first and the personal name second.

2026

In this introductory episode, I lay out the core idea of regenerative artivism and the scope of the podcast. Speaking from southern California with my attention grounded in East Asia, I reflect on how art, care, and collective imagination help communities confront social and environmental injustice and craft/cultivate more livable futures in damaged places. Using the image of a threatened valley and the community-organized Meinung Yellow Butterfly Festival (美濃黃蝶祭), I introduce regeneration as an ongoing practice rather than a single victory. I explain why Season 1 focuses on women artivists in the greater China region and why their often-overlooked work in creeks, kitchens, schools, villages, and resettlement sites matters for environmental thinking. I situate the podcast in relation to my own long-term field research and to the limits of academic writing, framing the series as a slow, seminar-like space for listening, critical reflection, and grounded imagination. The episode closes with an invitation to consider a place that matters to you, the damages it has absorbed, and the quiet forms of care already at work there. Keywords regenerative artivism; regenerative aesthetics, socially engaged art; environmental art; ecofeminism; environmental humanities; Asia, East Asia; Greater China; community art; environmental justice; social justice; regeneration; care; multispecies relations; public pedagogy; art and ecology; women artivists Key References Demos, T. J. Decolonizing Nature: Contemporary Art and the Politics of Ecology. Berlin: Sternberg Press, 2016. ECOARTASIA. Digital Archive of Chinese Socially and Ecologically Engaged Art. https://ecoartasia.net/. Gablik, Suzi. The Reenchantment of Art. New York: Thames & Hudson, 1991. Haraway, Donna J. Staying with the Trouble: Making Kin in the Chthulucene. Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2016. Kester, Grant H. The One and the Many: Contemporary Collaborative Art in a Global Context. Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2011. Lerner, Steve. Sacrifice Zones: The Front Lines of Toxic Chemical Exposure in the United States. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2010. Nixon, Rob. Slow Violence and the Environmentalism of the Poor. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2011. Puig de la Bellacasa, María. Matters of Care: Speculative Ethics in More than Human Worlds. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2017. Wang, Meiqin. "Ecology, Environmental Art, and Sustainable Community Building: The Meinung Yellow Butterfly Festival as a Case of Environmental Activism in Taiwan." International Journal of Social Sustainability in Economic, Social, and Cultural Context 19, no. 2 (2023): 75–101. Wang, Meiqin. Socially Engaged Art in Contemporary China: Voices from Below. London: Routledge, 2019. Wang, Meiqin, ed. Socially Engaged Public Art in East Asia. Wilmington, DE: Vernon Press, 2022.

2026

In this episode, we explore the intersection of art and activism, known as 'Artivism'. We delve into the stories of artists who use their work as a medium for social change, highlighting how art can provoke thought, stimulate dialogue, and inspire collective action. From street murals to music and theater, discover how artivism is shaping societal narratives and driving progress.

2026

Trailer for the 2009 RuckusRoots Festival: Artivism in Action, organized by the Los Angeles-based nonprofit RuckusRoots. This event combines art and activism to inspire positive change, featuring interactive art-making programs that cultivate environmental awareness and action in local communities. The festival empowers citizens through creative engagement and community-based artistic initiatives.

2009

Official trailer for the 2008 Artivist Film Festival, showcasing a diverse selection of films that address human rights, environmental issues, and social justice. This annual international event strengthens the voice of activist artists (artivists) while raising awareness for global causes through the powerful medium of film.

2008

Títeres gigantes! Cartón que baila! Política por todo los edades! Como parte del Bienal de Arte Manifesta15, the Artivist Network junto fuerzas con La Casa dels Futurs para crear un circo popular de justicia climática que muestra la interseccionalidad y diversidad de diversos actores y luchas por la justicia climática en Catalunya. Presentado en barrios periféricas de Barcelona, este circo usa el humor como una herramienta de cambio social para llevar discursos políticos a un público popular. Pero este circo no solo presenta las problemáticas de la crisis climática, sino también celebra la organización comunitaria y el poder popular de las comunidades afectadas como lideres en la lucha por la justicia climática. https://www.casafuturs.org/projecte/circ/ ------ Giant puppets! Dancing cardboard! Politics for all ages! As part of the Manifesta15 Art Biennial, the Artivist Network joined forces with La Casa dels Futurs to create a popular climate justice circus that showcases the intersectionality and diversity of diverse actors and struggles for climate justice in Catalonia. Performed in peripheral neighborhoods of Barcelona, ​​this circus uses humor as a tool for social change to bring political discourses to a popular audience. This circus not only presents the problems of the climate crisis, but also celebrates the community organization and popular power of affected communities as leaders in the fight for climate justice. https://www.casafuturs.org/projecte/circ/

2025

This is a step by step tutorial video on how to make an art space together with your comrades. Made by The Artivist Network Powered By Roots

2024

This is a tutorial video which shows tou how to create a mural with your allies, step by step. Made by The Artivist Network Powered by Roots

2024

Organizing powerful actions inside the COP venue requires plenty of preparation and knowledge of UN rules. In this online training, you will learn everything you need to know about the action rules as well as creative ways and tactics ways to overcome the many limitations set by the UNFCCC. Want more support? The Artivist Network is also providing personalised online action support to help groups plan their actions this year. We will have a team of “Artivists-in-Residence” (from various artistic disciplines) in Dubai to support your actions - from planning to execution. We will also organise an “ArtSpace”in Dubai to support the creation of actions. If you already have something in mind for action in the Blue Zone and need support with artwork, action design, documentation or navigating the UNFCCC rules: reach out to us at contact@artivistnetwork.org P.S. Love our work? Share the love! We have created a crowdfunding page. If you can support us by donating or spreading the word around, that would be more than appreciated. 👛 https://gogetfunding.com/cop28-artspace-help-us-to-support-the-actions-of-the-climate-movement/ In solidarity, The Artivist Network

2023

How to Set up a Guerrilla Projection #FreeFromGas (2022). Tags: climate justice, activism, artivism. Credits: Artivist Network

2022