Colectivo de Arte Precario, Bringing Together Art Works and Art Workers for Resistance – by Ximena Soza

 

Colectivo de Arte Precario, or Collective of Precarious Art works to promote as they say  “art workers” that stand up for social, racial and gender justice and those that use art as a daily vehicle of  resistance. In their own words “Precariousness calls us, because it echoes in our stories and the stories of those who have proven their resilience and have embodied resistance throughout their lives. Our work is not about the romanticization of poverty, but the resilience of those who have resisted the multiple channels of oppression, the survival of creativity, imagination and the celebration of work created with and from the communities”

The collective, created by artists, social workers, activists and educators, who have assumed art as and instrument to fulfil what they consider their social responsibility, have moved from the streets, galleries, museums, community centers and schools, to a digital platform or virtual cultural center, in response to the new scenario brought during the pandemic of covid 19 and wish to provide an accessible art space to highlight art experiences in different corners of the world.

One of the events they have shared is the opening for the digital version of the exhibit “From California to Santiago, de Wallmapu a Palestine” which shares photography of  resistance in occupied Palestine, the Mapuche territories now known as Chile and Argentina, the Zapatista autonomous communities, the community police in Guerrero and the rise ups that began in Latino America in 2019.

An event that coming upon May 7th is the “Precarious Encounter” between the renowned muralist Juana Alicia Araiza, who has painted extensively in California, and the Mural Collective Talimalakatsisikinan Naku or “Creating from the Heart” from the Totonaco communities in Puebla, Mexico. The encounter will invite the guests to display their work, share stories and ask each other questions. This space will also allow questions from the public. In June 18th, this space will find the men weavers Arturo de las Salinas from Oaxaca and Alberto Lopez Gomez, Tsotsil from Aldama, Chiapas that made it to New York’s Fashion Week. This encounter will be relevant because in many communities, the traditional textile art of weaving is performed by women only.

Besides having a space for poetry, and the performing arts (Escenario Precario or Precarious Stage) where videos of different groups, mini concerts or plays can be found, the digital cultural center provides a  space every two weeks for “Conversaciones Precarias” where art workers from different disciplines meet for 30 minutes with the host to answer questions about their lives, their arts and their experiences of resistance. The collective will occasionally conduct activities in person, like an upcoming event on May first in the Mission District in San Francisco with children of the “Comité de Madres Nativo Latinoamericanas de la Mission” which is a group of mothers advocating for social and educational justice for their children. The event will have alternative storytelling, a collective visual art installation and theater games.

Members of the collective work as volunteers and all programs are free. Classes will start to open soon with sliding scale options.

All programming and exhibits can be found at colectivoprecario.org and in the facebook and instagram pages Colectivo de arte precario.

To contact the collective please send an email to colectivoprecario@gmail.com or message them in any of their digital spaces.