During Bulgaria’s transition period (1990-2007), contemporary artistic practices were not seen as valuable symbolic capital, causing friction between the state and the contemporary artistic...Show moreDuring Bulgaria’s transition period (1990-2007), contemporary artistic practices were not seen as valuable symbolic capital, causing friction between the state and the contemporary artistic community. A museum for contemporary art did not exist, marking contemporary artists as invisible. In response, the artist Ivan Moudov expressed institutional critique towards the scarce state funding and the absence of a museum through the staging of a fake museum opening (MUSIZ) at an empty railway station. Moudov’s action amassed over 300 attendees who were unconsciously organised into a community. This thesis will argue that by affectively involving the attendees of MUSIZ into participation and granting the audience agency in relation to the setting and the public, Moudov created a ground for social engagement that empowered his audience. The presence of affect and social engagement are crucial agents in achieving positive social transformation for the contemporary cultural community, as will be discussed through the outcome of this performance.Show less
Socially engaged art has begun to take a more prominent role in activism for the urban poor of India’s cities. Such projects present a solution to the challenge of attaining rights, proper...Show moreSocially engaged art has begun to take a more prominent role in activism for the urban poor of India’s cities. Such projects present a solution to the challenge of attaining rights, proper resources and infrastructure for livability. Existing research examines criminal acts and violent protests as a primary method of achieving such goals, however, this paper will instead claim that crime and violence are instead the result of lacking these basic rights. In doing so, this paper will also analyze the installation artwork On Stage: Sathenagar Here as a multi-disciplinary version of socially engaged art which directly acknowledges these gaps in current research as well as a more effective method of representing the urban poor and its political effects. Through the use of architectural reconstructions, inclusion of Sathenagar residents, and employing participative methods, the artwork offers a literal stage for the political representation of the urban poor.Show less
More and more artists have been practicing socially engaged participatory art in China, but the discourse in the field is underdeveloped, and little research has been done on it. In order to...Show moreMore and more artists have been practicing socially engaged participatory art in China, but the discourse in the field is underdeveloped, and little research has been done on it. In order to provide insights into this subject area, this thesis studies existing practices in China and examines the artistic approaches and the museum collaboration in the practice. In the thesis a literature review discusses the current situation of socially engaged participatory art practice in China, and forms a theoretical framework for evaluating this practice. Furthermore, case studies of two art projects are conducted to evaluate the artistic approaches that have been taken up by the artists in their practice and the museum collaboration involved in it. The two projects are the Family Museum Project (2008) by the Utopia Group and the Qiuzhuang Project (2013-2014) by Li Mu. The findings from this research show that the artists’ practice of socially engaged participatory art has social significances in contemporary China, and the artists have experimented with creative ways to strive for public expression in the Chinese society; the museum collaboration with the artists’ practice could contribute to the social effect of this practice in China.Show less
