Via the website www.survivart.org the artists involved – they are from Ethiopia, Cambodia, Burma/Myanmar, Nigeria, Thailand, and the Czech Republic – are able to document the stages of their work and communicate with one another. Wherever non-existent, debates concerning climate change, sustainability, or gender roles were prompted by SurVivArt projects. In many locations, the project brought together for the first time artists and local communities to talk about sustainable practices within the framework of their everyday lives. “From the very beginning, SurVivArt was an inspiring, creative, and reflexive journey – not just for those involved but for us, too,” reports Valia Carvalho. “This had already been tangible during the preview of projects that took place during the Über Lebenskunst summer festival, in August 2011 at Berlin’s Haus der Kulturen der Welt.”
From the 7th until the 24th of February 2012 works created as part of the project by artists Kebreab Demeke, Robel Temesgen, Alafuro Sikoki, Segun Adefila, Adebimpe Adebambo, Oeur Sokuntevy, Neak Sophal, Tith Kanitha, Nino Sarabutra, and Phyoe Kyi will be on display at the galleries Mikael Andersen and Meinblau in Berlin’s Prenzlauer Berg district.
The project has resulted in a mosaic of diverse perspectives. The art works narrate widely differing stories – about the quest for a “good life”; the quest for balance, happiness, and contentment; about the responsible as well as creative and playful handling of resources and new modes of consumption. They also tell us about the power of communities, their potential to survive, and their strength that inspires artists to contribute to a good life through their art.
A project from Thailand, for example, focuses on our patterns of consumption; in Ethiopia villagers turned omnipresent jerry cans into living art and children engaged with their visions for the future; in Cambodia the artists were inspired by rice pots and set up a flea market of memories.
Parallel to the SurVivArt presentation the conference Radius of Art will promote a never before seen international dialogue and exchange of ideas between culture, science, and politics.