How the media and the arts can influence societies and make them better and more just places to live, was the topic behind an international conference hosted by the University of Cyprus…
How the media and the arts can influence societies and make them better and more just places to live, was the topic behind an international conference hosted by the University of Cyprus.
Bringing together academics and artists from around the world, ‘Art and Social Justice: The Media Connection’ was hosted by the University of Nicosia’s Communications Department.
Jan Jordaan held the first such conference at South Africa’s Durban University of Technology last year, and it was brought to Cyprus in order to give an opportunity for local and international academics and artists to meet.
Associate Professor of the University’s Communication Department Dr Holger Briel was a member of the conference’s organising committee, and was one of those who presented papers.
“We invited people here so we could have a healthy interchange between ideas and perhaps different practises which might serve as stepping stones in the process towards more social justice here in Cyprus,” he told the Cyprus Weekly recently.
The main guest speaker was Professor Lance Bennett from the University of Washington, and holder of the Olof Palme Visiting Chair at the University of Stockholm. An expert on social movements, his presentation was about the media ways in which new social movements are starting all over the world (see separate story).
“In particular, he cited the 99% movement in the States,” elaborated Briel, “based on something that Obama said, meaning that there’s one percent that has way too much influence and way too much money to go around and this is a social injustice that ought to be righted.”
Bennett’s speech also highlighted the way protests against government authority around the world are organised, and the way social
technology is used to communicate personal messages to very large audiences.
Briel said that one of the main issues that arose from the postpresentation discussions was how to go from activism to actual viable social and political structures.
“We see a lot of activism in the world, but that’s no guarantee for viable social structures afterwards,” he said.
“So this is a critical point where you actually move from people who are affected by certain things happening around the world and who are committed to their causes, to creating structures that would allow them to do something proper about that. So how to get from the discussions and protests and outpourings of commitment from people to remedying it in a practical way, this is a very big issue and
it’s an on-going battle, where solutions have to be localised.” Briel concluded that the event’s Organising Committee, chaired by Dr Nayia Roussou, was very pleased with the conference, as were the participants.
“They agreed that it was a very good conference in terms of focusing on both local and global issues, as these are coming together more and more these days, and that the arts do hold quite a large key in solving at least some of the social injustices committed globally on a day-to-day basis.”
-Cypress Weekly
