12.09.2014 – 20.12.2014 /
Santa Monica Museum of Art. Santa Monica, California.
Performance
Curated and Organized by Lucia Sanroman. Coordinated by SMMoA
©Toro Castaño
CITIZEN CULTURE: ARTISTS AND ARCHITECTS SHAPE POLICY
Dignity has no nationality International Campaign
Citizen Culture examines effectiveness and outcomes within the growing field of social practice by exclusively featuring projects that have transformed legislation and society. The projects in Citizen Culture serve as case studies for how artists can work directly with municipal governments, NGOs, legislators, and advocates to effect change. They reveal the extraordinary potential for art to address critical contemporary issues including prison reform, citizen participation, immigration, environmental policy, and socially-responsible urban development.
Performance artist Tania Bruguera stages a political movement within SMMoA’s exhibition space, engaging Citizen Culture attendees and local immigration advocates in a large-scale postcard campaign known as The Francis Effect. The Francis Effect’s broad aim is to challenge public perceptions of immigration through a participatory, artist-driven response. Bruguera and her collaborators collect signatures on postcards addressed to Pope Francis, which endorse his supportive stance toward immigrants and, adopting the concept of Vatican City as a state with open borders, urge the Pope to grant Vatican citizenship to undocumented immigrants world-wide. The Francis Effect is presented by the Santa Monica Museum of Art in collaboration with the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum as part of the Guggenheim UBS Global Art Initiative and the Meadows School of the Arts, Southern Methodist University.