Join us for 2 days of films, discussion and teach ins @ Portland State.
The B Media Collective has released the first installments of their Art and Resistance series!
Day ONE – Monday, November 29th:
1-3pm, SMSU 296
Day TWO – Tuesday, November 30th
7-9pm, SMSU 294
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The ART AND RESISTANCE Film Series is a collection of video shorts focused on different artist collectives around the Americas using culture as a tool for radical social transformation. From street musicians and hip-hop artists in Venezuela, to graffitti artists in Mexico, the mini-documentaries focus on how people are actively using their creativity to challenge the status quo and empower their communities.
The B Media Collective is a Portland based video art collective that stands in solidarity with local and global people’s movements through the socialization, documentation, creation, and exchange of media between communities in the global north and south. Founded upon the principles of Latin American solidarity movements, the collective shares skills and films to help connect themes and raise critical awareness about social justice here in Portland and around the Americas.
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Day ONE – Monday, November 29th:
1-3pm, SMSU 296
Day ONE
Introduction to the B Media Collective
Join us for a facilitated journey through the B Media Collectives stockpile of mini features from Portland and beyond. Jam packed with excitement these video pieces span 2-10 minutes each, including a short educational discussion about each film.
Teach In-ter/mission: How to Make A Political Remix Video
As powerful technology becomes more readily available to an increasingly critical and media literate population around the world, new critiques of the dominant media culture are emerging that challenge, explore and redefine the language of media communication. This workshop sets the framework for exploring the emerging phenomenon of the ‘political remix video’ and its implication on mass media through discussion of specific media examples with tips and tricks for learning how to do it yourself. Participants will learn how to download movies from popular sources and then cut them in a video editing program. A basic understanding of video editing with programs such as iMovie or Final Cut is preferred though not required.
Introduction to Art and Resistance Part 1:
Underground Culture: The Musicians of the Metro/
Cultura Subterránea: Los Musicos del Metro
Venezuela, 34 mins
Underground Culture follows street musicians in modern day Venezuela. Focusing on the effort by 60 independent artists to unite and form a collective to legally play on the Metro cars, it discusses their independent project within the context of a society 10 years after the socialist revolution of Chavez. Through improvised songs, discussions with Metro officials, and interviews with Metro passengers and rappers alike, the film provides insight into the nature of modern day Venezuela and the pockets of independent underground culture that have developed in recent years.
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Day TWO
Introduction to Art and Resistance Part 2:
Tiuna el Fuerte: Revolutionizing the Revolution
Tiuna el Fuerte: Revolucionando la Revolución
Venezuela, 28 mins
Tiuna el Fuerte is a community arts collective that uses music and culture to empower the barrio of El Valle in Caracas, Venezuela. Situated on an old cement parking lot transformed into a community constructed cultural center, Tiuna el Fuerte now hosts a hip-hop school, youth orchestra, media lab, mobile community radio, and serves as an example for reclaimed space for the community. A “nucleus of endogenous cultural development,” Tiuna el Fuerte exemplifies the concept of local development of the people, for the people, by the people that finds its roots in modern day Venezuela.
Introduction to Art and Resistance Part 3:
A New Revolution is Necessary
Una Nueva Revolución es Necesario
Mexico, 32 mins
A New Revolution is Necessary crisscrosses Mexico in conversation with muralists, printmakers, musicians, and philosophers, exploring the dynamic relationship between art and social transformation. Exploding into a resurgence of vibrant visual resistance in Mexico, artistic practices have a stronghold in the public sphere of social critique and perseverance of marginalized cultural tradition. Sparked by the Zapatistas enduring struggles for liberation and dignity, the phrase Otro Mundo es Posible has began resonating around the world. Creative expression is changing the face of revolution in Mexico. If another world is possible, a new revolution is necessary.