To what end should activism and institutionally backed projects cooperate? Contributors Kim and Odunlami recap on their experiences in the years 2019 and 2020.
In conversation: John Kim, Abbéy Odunlami
How can cultural producers and artists be allies to community organizers who work at the frontline of contemporary environmental and social conflicts? And to what end should activism and institutionally backed projects cooperate? In this conversation, John Kim and Abbéy Odunlami, both contributors to Mississippi. An Anthropocene River in 2019 and The Current in 2020, look at the challenges of building bridges between the different fields. The ongoing struggles of the diverse environmental justice movements in the US and Black Lives Matter have left their mark on the last two years as more than just points of reference for many cultural projects. Kim and Odunlami ask: how can those in the field of cultural production apply resources to productively draw connections between different localities worldwide, while also providing spaces for reflection and debate? As becomes clear, collaborating amid political struggle requires an ongoing awareness of one’s own limitations.