“The role of art as a tool for protest, political commentary and community-building” — (panel discussion)

Art in times of social tension

To say that we live in a time of social unrest and polarization is, on the one hand, a truism and, on the other, a considerable understatement. Art is a space — and sometimes also a tool — of social friction. This is hardly surprising: art always comments on reality in one way or another and reflects the time in which it was created, sometimes even against the artist’s intentions. Paradoxically, artists are also a group frequently denied the right to speak out on social or political issues. After all, as the saying goes, “actors should stick to acting, writers to writing, and singers to singing.”

Yet artistic engagement does not have to mean journalistic commentary or an explicit political declaration. Art can protest through the very way it operates: by refusing to participate in a particular system, by creating alternative forms of relationships, or by challenging accepted ways of organizing life. It can be more than a commentary on reality — it can also become an attempt to rehearse a different kind of reality.

Should artists speak out?

This raises the question of whether socially engaged art has to persuade, or whether its role can instead be to ask uncomfortable questions. Should artists take sides, or can their role be to create a space in which people with different experiences and views are able to meet? And finally: in a polarized society, can art become a place for building community rather than yet another arena of conflict?

A conversation with practitioners

At this year’s Fonomo Music & Film Festival, these questions — where the boundaries of artistic engagement lie today, what artistic protest can mean, and whether art can genuinely influence the way we organize our shared lives — will be discussed by people who know these issues from their own practice and experience: Piotr Kikta, arek Pasożyt, Julia Graczyk

Guests

Julia Graczyk – a visual artist and enthusiast of avant-garde and experimental music, and co-creator of the online platform Women of Noise. Through WoN, she focuses on promoting women and highlighting their role in alternative music. She curates charity music compilations (including Samples Without Borders, Women of Noise For Kherson and Women of Noise for Ocalenie) and creates and publishes the Women of Noise zine.

Piotr Kikta – a bookseller, musician, cultural animator and author of The Only Sensible Guide to Bydgoszcz. He runs the independent bookshop Toniebajka, which he sees not merely as a place to sell books but as a space for encounters and public debate. He is known for the ironic messages displayed on the pavement sign outside his bookshop, commenting on politics and social issues, often resonating far beyond the local context.

Arek Pasożyt – an artworker whose practice operates at the intersection of socially engaged art, post-art, artivism and cultural animation. He combines personal experiences with current socio-political issues, creating counter-narratives that challenge the status quo. In 2010, he formulated the Manifesto of Parasitism, a critical reflection on the status of the artist and art institutions. He has developed numerous artistic interventions and projects in Poland and internationally.

Moderated by: Amelia Wielicka

Free admission.