“Madness in the Masses” is the theme for this year’s ARTIVISM, an annual visual and performing arts festival that centres around topics in social justice and amplifies the voices of marginalized artists.
With the support of Exposure UBC and BC Culture Days, fourth-year social justice and visual arts student Jesse Medrano is curating a series of events celebrating resistance and resilience. The theme was inspired by a book that Medrano read in a philosophy course: How to Go Mad Without Losing Your Mind by La Marr Jurelle Bruce.
“It really resonated with me how he talked about madness as a symptom of oppression, and how he talked about all these different kinds of madnesses and how they’re intertwined,” said Medrano.
Similar to previous ARTIVISM festivals, Medrano is collaborating with the Hatch Art Gallery. In addition to an exhibit running until mid-October, there will be an opening reception on September 26 featuring performance art, a dialogue circle and an open mic.
Sprouts and Sulong UBC will work together to host a “People’s Picnic” to amplify Sulong’s campaign to combat food insecurity. People will also have the opportunity to sip coffee and listen to passionate activists tell stories of resistance at “Human Library: RealiTEAs of Resistance,” or watch surrealist films challenging capitalism at a UBC Film Society screening.
Unlike past directors, Medrano is not a media studies student— while others gravitated toward music and literature-based events, she wanted to take advantage of her social justice background. Her goal when organizing the festival was to “put the activism back in it, and try to highlight some student activist groups and see what events they wanted to curate.”
In her time with Sulong UBC, Medrano learned about the Filipino practice of “talambuhay” — sitting down with others and taking the time to tell the entire story of how you got to where you are now. It encourages compassion and understanding, and as a result, helps activists build a stronger support system.
“I think capitalist systems are really good at distancing people’s struggles from real problems … people can get very individualistic,” said Medrano. “I really wanted to foster this narrative of ‘Let’s hear other people’s stuff, let’s put it out there, it shouldn’t be taboo.’”
She drew inspiration from “talambuhay” when planning this year’s events, which include a playback theatre experience where participants share a story from their life, then a group of actors bring it to life. Medrano recognizes that it sounds daunting, but when she tried it out, she found that seeing her life from someone else’s point of view was “really therapeutic and healing.”
“It’s to really ignite critical engagement and humanize marginalized voices,” said Medrano, when asked what she hopes attendees can take away from ARTIVISM. “Hopefully, even if people may not come from that background, they empathize with it.”
She hopes that the partnerships with various social justice organizations will inspire more people to get involved in initiatives on campus.
“By supporting one, you’re kind of supporting all, and becoming part of this collective … You see how many people really do care, and it makes you imagine [how] these better places can start existing.”
Information about upcoming ARTIVISM events can be found on exposure’s Instagram page (@exposure-ubc).