Seminar: Practicing Art as Politics

Seminar: Practicing Art as Politics
Practicing Art as Politics: On the Potential of Somali Culture in Current Globalization
Seminar and public cultural performances
Time/Venue: University of Copenhagen, 21 March 2013

Public events in Copenhagen (22 March 2012) and Aarhus (23 March 2013)


Theme
Research has pointed to a specific creativity related to the postcolonial experience, further related to lives and life worlds of migration. Thus it is possible to argue that migration influences and transforms aesthetic practices. Not only because migrants bring different cultures and heritages to other places, but because these other cultures and heritages points to particular possibilities and potentials for addressing and performing the political in between issues related to the heritage and novel issues of migration. They thus become part of a cosmopolitical approach to politics on a national, regional and global level. This may be further reflected upon by relating artistic migratory art performances to recent years' debate on performance led research, which focuses on how artistic creativity may merge with and expand on notions of research.
The potential of art for deliberately forming, reflecting on and changing politics is an integral part of the modern art experience, for instance in modern avant garde forms. In recent decades this longstanding liaison between art, critique and politics has expanded into a very influential postcolonial art scene. Here aesthetics, ideas, and experiences related to postcolonial issues, including migration, have fed into a wider formation of contemporary culture in globalisation in diverse ways, including postcolonial art studies, aesthetics and cultural research.

The seminar presents Somali art and intellectuals who have worked with turning the potential of Somali culture and heritage into politics. The seminar presents performative statements, strategies, observations, and viewpoints to this end from Somali, English and Danish artists, intellectuals and scholars.


Keynotes
Professor Maxamed Ibrahim Warsame Hadraawi, The Centre of Humanities, University of Burao
Professor Abirahman Ahmed Hussein, Academy for Peace & Developmen, Somaliland
Dr. George Kapchitz, Institute of Asian and African Studies of Moscow State University
Dr. Mohamed Dahir Afrax, Somali PEN
Lecturer Ladan Affi, University of Djibouti


Organisers
Copenhagen Somali Seminar in collaboration with Network for Migration and Culture, University of Copenhagen, Center for Advanced Migration Studies, AMIS, Department of Culture and Global Studies, Aalborg University, and Danish Center for Culture and Development

Copenhagen Somali Seminar
Mahad Farah Aden, Somali activist, Auditor, National Bank of Denmark, Copenhagen
Osman Abdulkadir Farah, Assistant Professor, PhD, Department of Culture and Global Studies, Aalborg University
Anders Michelsen, Associate Professor, PhD, Department of Arts and Cultural Studies, University of Copenhagen
Martin el-Toukhy coordinates Practicing Art as Politics: on the potential of Somali culture in current globalisation – The Copenhagen-Somali Seminar

Contact
Anders Michelsen: amichel[at]hum.ku.dk; Abdulkadir Osman Farah: osman[at]cgs.aau.dk; Mahad aden: mfa632[at]gmail.com; Martin el-Toukhy: toukhy[at]gmail.com