2017 CREATIVE TIME SUMMIT: OF HOMELANDS AND REVOLUTION

 

SEPTEMBER 28 – 30, 2017

 

DOWNLOAD A PROGRAM (PDF)

 

ABOUT OF HOMELANDS AND REVOLUTION

 

The 10th Creative Time Summit, Of Homelands and Revolution took place in Toronto, Canada from September 28th – 30th, 2017, co-produced with The Power Plant and in collaboration with the Art Gallery of Ontario.

 

Of Homelands and Revolution explored the concept of ‘home’ in its intimate and immense dimensions: we considered urgent struggles for sovereign homelands, the violent borders that produce exile, displacement, and refugeeism, and the threats of virulent nationalism(s). At the same time we kept in sight ‘home’s’ relation to the heart, and the everyday and extraordinary realms of domestic life and hospitality. Our consideration of ‘revolution,’ the Summit’s second thematic axis, took as its point of departure the Centennial of the Russian Revolution. While certainly the legacy of this historic moment can be contested, the Bolshevik Revolution was a remarkable event that, in the words of Trotsky, one of its principal architects, allowed for the “direct interference of the masses in historic events.” 100 years later we looked back at the Marxist tradition and at the many forms of radical sociality, aesthetics and anti-capitalist organizing that it has inspired, particularly in light of the resurgence of neoliberalism and the global turn to the right today.

 

The 2017 Summit invited participants to consider the many-layered political and aesthetic understandings of home alongside social movements—revolutionary ones at that—which have sought to summon a broader dream of social justice. Present in both of the Summit’s main thematic threads were ongoing movements led by indigenous peoples across continents and the multiple relations between home, land, culture, and community that they bring to bear.

 

The first day of the Summit featured dynamic talks and presentations from an international roster of artists and activists to a live audience at Koerner Hall. The following day there was opportunity for further engagement via roundtables and breakout sessions at the AGO led by day-one speakers and Toronto area artists and organizers who were invited to participate or selected via an open call.

 

The Creative Time Summit “Of Homelands and Revolution” was curated by Nato Thompson, Sally Szwed, Gaëtane Verna, and Josh Heuman.

 

Summit Toronto Advisory Council: Indu Vashist, Luis Jacob, Gerald McMaster, Anique Jordan, Syrus Marcus Ware, Umbereen Inayet, Naomi Johnson, Julia Paoli, and Sean O’Neill.

 

 

DAY ONE

KOERNER HALL
273 BLOOR ST W, TORONTO, CANADA

 

PARTICIPANTS

 

 

 

DAY TWO

ART GALLERY OF ONTARIO
317 DUNDAS STREET WEST, TORONTO, CANADA

 

PARTICIPANTS

 

The second day of the Summit, held at the Art Gallery of Ontario, featured over 30 conversations, workshops, and interactive walks held at the Art Gallery of Ontario. Sessions were selected via an open call to the Greater Toronto Area and Summit advisors. Sessions were led by:

 

Ala’ Al-Thibeh and Zahra Komeylian; Alexa Hatanaka, Patrick Thompson, and Parr Josephee; Amy Wong (Angry Asian Feminist Gang); Ana Serrano, Victor Willis, Heather Mathis, Douglas Rushkoff, and Justin Stephenson; Cheryl L’Hirondelle, Camille Turner, and Leah Snyder; Chris Cavanagh; Diane Borsato; Emelie Chhangur; Golboo Amani; Henry Heng Lu, Morris Lum, Shellie Zhang, and Alvis Parsley; Honor Ford-Smith, Andil Gosine, and Lisa Myers; Jon Olbey and Dr. Bryant Greenbaum; MICE MAGAZINE; Maria Hupfield, Siku Allooloo, and Jaskiran Dhillon; Mark V. Campbell, Pamela Edmonds, Yaniya Lee, Chiedza Pasipanodya, and Genevieve Wallen (We Curate, We Critique Collective); Pamila Matharu and Lisa Deanne Smith; Phillip Dwight Morgan; Public Studio; Saada El-Akhrass, Eliza Chandler, Lindsay Fisher, Kim Fullerton, Katie McMillan, and Anne Zbitnew; South Asian Visual Arts Centre; The Feminist Art Museum (Xenia Benivolski & Su-Ying Lee) presenting Christine Migwans; Wael Shawky; Whippersnapper Gallery; Woodlands Cultural Centre; and more.

 

A MONUMENT TO THE CENTURY OF REVOLUTIONS

 

The Summit coincided with A Monument to the Century of Revolutions, a work by renowned Russian collective Chto Delat, curated by Creative Time Artistic Director Nato Thompson, and designed by famed architect Yury Avvakumov (Moscow) for Nuit Blanche Toronto. The immersive installation was a living monument, consisting of an array of containers producing a small village housing works from Chto Delat and local artist activist groups reflecting on the history and future of revolution. With individual and collective actions on Nathan Philips Square and stage, City Hall was transformed into a veritable mass-shipped revolution that unpacks into a world.

 

SUMMIT SCHEDULE

 

Thursday, September 28

Kick-Off Party at The Power Plant

Friday, September 29

Presentations at Koerner Hall

Saturday, September 30

Breakout Sessions at The Art Gallery of Ontario

Nuit Blanche Toronto: “A Monument to the Century of Revolutions” at Nathan Phillips Square

For a more detailed schedule, click here.

 

SUMMIT READER

 

The 2017 Creative Time Summit Reader is a compilation of resources designed to be read in conversation with the presentations and conversations that took place at the Summit. Find it here.

 

ACCESSIBILITY

 

Questions about accessibility the Summit? Check this page.

 

CONNECT WITH US

 

Follow @creativetime on Twitter and use the hashtag #CTSummit to join the conversation.

 

ABOUT THE CREATIVE TIME SUMMIT

 

The Creative Time Summit is an annual convening for thinkers, dreamers, and doers working at the intersection of art and politics. Functioning as a roving platform, the Summit brings together artists, activists, and other thought leaders engaging with today’s most pressing issues. Presenting a critical range of perspectives, the Summit provides strategies for social change in local and global contexts.

 

Launched in New York City in 2009, the Creative Time Summit was the first major international platform for socially engaged art, and has since grown to encompass an expanded field — featuring a range of multidisciplinary practices from music to policy making. To date, the Summit has hosted over 8,000 live attendees and hundreds of luminaries on its stage, including legendary art critic Lucy Lippard, Academy Award-winning filmmaker Laura Poitras, MacArthur “genius” award winning contemporary artist Carrie Mae Weems, #BlackLivesMatter co-founder Alicia Garza, and president of Afghanistan Ashraf Ghani. Just as significantly, the Summit is also a forum for emerging artists and thinkers to debut ideas and projects.

 

In an effort to reach new audiences and explore issues within a global context, in 2014 Creative Time began partnering with institutions beyond NYC, taking the Summit to cities around the world, including Stockholm, Venice, Washington, DC, and now, Toronto. Local attendees are invited to propose panels, roundtables, and workshops through an open call, and Summit events highlight each city’s unique aesthetic and social spaces. In its travels outside of New York, the Summit aims to foster meaningful connections among a growing global community while also highlighting locally driven programming. The Summit also meets tens of thousands of attendees in their hometowns through Livestream, as well as through more than 100 satellite screening sites that host live events in cities from Dhaka to São Paulo.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Creative Time Summit: Of Homelands and Revolution is made possible by the Trust for Mutual Understanding, Partners in Art, Blum Media International and the Blum Family Foundation.

Partners in Art
 

Additional support is generously provided by The British Council Canada, Kickstarter, OCAD University, and the Royal Norwegian Consulate General Ottawa.

 

Media support is provided by Global Voices and the Musagetes Foundation.

 

Major Creative Time programming support for 2017 has been provided by:

Funders