Performance and Human Rights

In June 2006, PSi #12: Performing Rights will gather artists, activists and
academics who are making and researching performance that declares its interest and intent within the field of Human Rights. The conference and program of contextualising events will engage with the political, aesthetic and philosophical dimensions of the relationship between performance and human rights, on topics ranging from public and collective acts of insurrection to the intimacies and fragility of individual freedom and subjectivity.

The Performance and Human Rights Working group seeks to explore the role of performance and the responsibilities of artists and academics in effecting political, social and cultural change and to identify artist's projects, activist's interventions, cultural comment sand academic thinking in relation to issues of Human Rights.

The initial meetings will be held at PSi #12 with a view to continuing the activities and dialogue generated by the themes of the conference. However in order to have some input into the 2006 Performing Rights Conference and to have a solid working group in place by then, I would like to propose an e-discussion or exchange. We can explore various electronic strategies once the group begins to take shape.

In the meantime here are some jumpstart questions:

" What is the definition of the human in rights?"

"What is the right to perform? When, where and why does it exist? How is it permitted, prohibited or conditioned? Do notions of Human Rights embrace the rights of artists to say what they have to say and work in the ways they want even if it flies in the face of received social and cultural values? Is artistic censorship an abuse of human rights or simply a denial of civil liberties?"

"How can performance create, shape, articulate, represent, extend, protect, promote rights? How do performance's actions differ from those of the legislature and the judiciary?"

"Does Human Rights mean social justice? What are the responsibilities and roles of artists, activists and academics in creating strategies for raising issues and making changes? What do we need to activate performance arts and academia?"

"What are the new relationships that performance makes possible between international and local communities?"

"How do we capture, present, distribute knowledge gained from the small acts of performance that resist documentation? How do we preserve what is live and human?"

"What are the experimental technologies that would enable simultaneous performance and documentation, that can create strategies and practices that cross distance? If you are interested in participating in this working group, please send a brief profile of your interests and practices to loloweaver@aol.com"

Lois Weaver
School of English and Drama
Queen Mary, University of London
Mile End Road
London E1 4NS
TEL: 44 207 882 3355
EMAIL: loloweaver@aol.com
Skype id: loloweaver