<nettime-ann> [Newsletter] Exhibition on the counter-globalization movement in Canada

[Oliver Ressler <oliver@ressler.at>]

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A WORLD WHERE MANY WORLDS FIT
An exhibition on the counter-globalization movement

Foreman Art Gallery of Bishop's University
Sherbrooke, Canada
January 27 to March 20, 2010
http://www.ubishops.ca/foreman/english/exhibitions/2009-2010/worlds/index.html

Artists: ATSA (Canada), Zanny Begg (Australia), EtcÃtera (Argentina), 
Petra Gerschner (Germany), John Jordan (England), Oliver Ressler 
(Austria), ÂTMark (United States), Gregory Sholette (United States), 
Nuria Vila + Marcelo ExpÃsito (Spain), Dmitry Vilensky (Russia)

Curated by Oliver Ressler



The trope âA World Where Many Worlds Fitâ goes back to the Subcomandante 
Marcos, when talking about the Zapatistasâ struggles in the Lacandonian 
Rainforest in Mexico. Since their uprising in 1994 the Zapatistas have 
been fighting for a less-hierarchic autonomous world where more options 
exist for involvement in democratic decision-making processes. They 
fight against an existing world, which calls itself âdemocraticâ, but 
should rather be seen as a form of sophisticated oligarchy that 
functions in favor of the interests of the political and economic elite. 
While the Mexican army and paramilitary mercenaries are brutally 
defending this exclusive world of the elite in Chiapas, in the part of 
the world where I am coming from (Austria/Europe) the stick that 
punishes people who envision another world is usually not so visible. 
But this can change suddenly in times when those in power assemble in 
the framework of the summits of World Bank, International Monetary Fund, 
World Trade Organization, World Economic Forum or the G8. Though the 
decisions made by the politicians and business leaders at these meetings 
affect the lives of all people in the world, the negotiations take place 
hidden from the public gaze behind fences and ten-thousands of 
riot-police, becoming, therefore, a symbol for the undemocratic and 
illegitimate formation of global capitalism.

At each of these summits individual and collective singularities from 
all over the world come together to express that they â we â are opposed 
to this way of making decisions and ruling the world. These 
mobilizations against the summits form the movementsâ most visible 
public appearance, movements that according to most narratives, 
originated at the 1999 protest against the World Trade Organization in 
Seattle. These articulated forms of resistance and protest in the center 
of capitalism, were strong enough to shut down the WTO summit in 
Seattle. Since 1999 this global movement has been showing up at each 
meeting of World Bank, IMF, WTO, WEF â unless, that is, the scared 
politicians decided to meet in the mountains, in deserts or in 
dictatorships in order to avoid the public manifestations of dissent at 
their summits. Even though this movement is the first that is truly 
globalized, it is usually being called counter-globalization movement. I 
prefer calling it the âmovement of the movementsâ.

At the demonstrations, counter-summits and mass blockades many 
individuals and collectives come together: media activists, clown army, 
pink block, naked block, black block, anarchists, socialists, 
Trotskyists, members of ATTAC, human rights activists, feminists, 
migrants, indigenous people, artists, etc. All these singularities have 
their own images, banners, different public appearance and slogans, 
which not only represent something, but contribute to the creation of 
effective blockades and to the creation of a space. This space of 
representation is also a space for action that in the best cases spreads 
to other areas such as the local neighborhoods of the activists. This 
new social subject, sometimes referred to as âthe multitudeâ, builds 
horizontally organized networks and has a radial transformation of 
society in mind.

The exhibition âA World Where Many Worlds Fitâ at the Foreman Art 
Gallery of Bishopâs University in Sherbrooke is based on a section I 
curated for the Taipei Biennial in 2008 that presents the global 
movement as the brilliant example of collective intelligence it is 
through a variety of artistic practices. The exhibition features the 
work of 10 artists that focus directly on the counter-globalization 
movement. All artists show a strong commitment to the social movement 
and do not position themselves as âneutralâ in relation to the movement. 
Many of the works focus on one of the cities whose name has become 
shorthand for demonstrations, counter-summits and/or blockades: Seattle, 
Prague, QuÃbec City, Genoa, Buenos Aires, Gleneagles, St. Petersburg or 
Heiligendamm.


For further information on the participating artists and images from the 
pervious exhibition at the Taipei Biennial 2008 please check 
http://www.ressler.at/a_world_where_many_worlds_fit/

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