ART & CULTURE ACTIVISM
I use art to promote human rights. I have authored two books on child rights using art and I hope to do more on Social Justice and Human rights.
Art is a human right?
Well, it’s pretty simple actually.
Enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights is Article 27 that states that “everyone has the right freely to participate in the cultural life of the community, to enjoy the arts and to share in scientific advancement and its benefits.”
Cultural rights are inseparable from human rights, as recognized in Article 5 of the 2001 UNESCO Declaration on Cultural Diversity, and can be defined as the right of access to, participation in and enjoyment of culture.
MY ART PROJECT
In 2011, I authored two child-friendly art books with the aim of promoting child rights in a funny and involving way, and the only way I saw it was through art.
The project was supposed to be implemented working with community schools to enhance art skills and to promote creative and expressive abilities to the children aged 5-18 years.
I found it as a way to encourage children to express their needs, problems, opinions and experiences through visual arts. The plan was that children would be oriented about child rights and be provided with the basic techniques of drawing /painting skills during the art workshops.
I love art and this has made me use it in all my humanitarian activities, and it has made me become an internationally published author.
I am now using Art as a Therapy, (Art Therapy) a tool to help people discover themselves and overcome some life challenges.
In implementing some of my work activities I thought of developing two child-friendly rights art books, the idea behind was to find something that would excite children and help them to learn about their rights, their country constitution and the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, (UNCRC) I authored the two masterpieces from year 2011 to 2017, I am so proud of there myself.
For me to be able to develop these two book money was required, so I approached two funding organizations in Zimbabwe to support my big dream. The view gatherings, designing and pilot testing of these two books were initially funded by Switzerland Embassy in Zimbabwe from 2011 to 2013 to a tune of US $46,500.00 and by UNICEF Zimbabwe in 2015 US$ 15, 000.00
ART FOR A BETTER WORLD
I have come up with something that will help change someone's life, when I was growing up I did not have anyone to help me through the stages of growth and development and i always said, one day when i grow up i would like to help someone to grow up knowing what i did not know then.
I have come up with something that will help change someone's life, when I was growing up I did not have anyone to help me through the stages of growth and development and i always said, one day when i grow up i would like to help someone to grow up knowing what i did not know then.
The publication of the two books was finally done by an international publishing house called Just fiction based in Germany in January 2018. The decision to approach Just Fiction came after our local funders in Zimbabwe had said they could not fund us further.
The project was earmarked for Zimbabwean children with these books supposedly to have been printed and distributed in all country's 10 Provinces but due to lack of funding to translate them into 6 vernacular languages and to print them in Zimbabwe.
The books have now been taken to the Global Market and they have now become an international project which was accepted by Save the Children online hosting platform, you can view them through these links:
ART
Art is a diverse range of human activities involving the creation of visual, auditory or performing artifacts (artworks), which express the creator's imagination, conceptual ideas, or technical skill, intended to be appreciated primarily for their beauty or emotional power.
Enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights is Article 27 that states that “everyone has the right freely to participate in the cultural life of the community, to enjoy the arts and to share in scientific advancement and its benefits.” Let's take a look at some art activities one can use to promote human rights.
ACHTECTURE
The art and science of designing buildings and structures. The word architecture comes from the Greek arkhitekton, "master builder, director of works," from αρχι- (arkhi) "chief" + τεκτων (tekton) "builder, carpenter". A wider definition would include the design of the built environment, from the macrolevel of town planning, urban design, and landscape architecture to the microlevel of creating furniture. Architectural design usually must address both feasibility and cost for the builder, as well as function and aesthetics for the user.
Drawing is a means of making an image, using a wide variety of tools and techniques. It generally involves making marks on a surface by applying pressure from a tool, or moving a tool across a surface. Common tools are graphite pencils, pen and ink, inked brushes, wax colour pencils, crayons, charcoals, pastels, and markers. Digital tools which can simulate the effects of these are also used. The main techniques used in drawing are line drawing, hatching, cross-hatching, random hatching, scribbling, stippling, and blending. An artist who excels in drawing is referred to as a drafter, drafts woman, or draughtsman.[19] Drawing can be used to create art used in cultural industries such as illustrations, comics and animation. Comics are often called the "ninth art" (le neuvième art) in Francophone scholarship, adding to the traditional
PAINTING
Painting is a mode of creative expression, and can be done in numerous forms. Drawing, gesture (as in gestural painting), composition, narration (as in narrative art), or abstraction (as in abstract art), among other esthetic modes, may serve to manifest the expressive and conceptual intention of the practitioner.[21] Paintings can be naturalistic and representational (as in a still life or landscape painting), photographic, abstract, narrative, symbolistic (as in Symbolist art), emotive (as in Expressionism), or political in nature (as in Artivism).
Modern painters have extended the practice considerably to include, for example, collage. College is not painting in a strict sense since it includes other materials. Some modern painters incorporate different materials such as sand, cement, straw, wood or strands of hair for their artwork texture. Examples of this are the works of Elito Circa, Jean Dubuffet or Anselm Kiefer.
PERFOMING ART
This comprises of dance, music, theatre, opera, mime, and other art forms in which a human performance is the principal product. Performing arts are distinguished by this performance element in contrast with disciplines such as visual and literary arts where the product is an object that does not require a performance to be observed and experienced. Each discipline in the performing arts is temporary in nature, meaning the product is performed over a period of time. Products are broadly categorized as being either repeatable (for example, by script or score) or improvised for each performance.[22] Artists who participate in these arts in front of an audience are called performers, including actors, magicians, comedians, dancers, musicians, and singers. Performing arts are also supported by the services of other artists or essential workers, such as songwriting and stagecraft. Performers often adapt their appearance with tools such as costume and stage makeup.
Dance (from Old French dancers, of unknown origin) generally refers to human movement either used as a form of expression or presented in a social, spiritual or performance setting.[23] Dance is also used to describe methods of non-verbal communication (see body language) between humans or animals (e.g. bee dance, mating dance), motion in inanimate objects (e.g. the leaves danced in the wind), and certain musical forms or genres. Choreography is the art of making dances, and the person who does this is called a choreographer.
Definitions of what constitutes dance are dependent on social, cultural, aesthetic, artistic and moral constraints and range from functional movements (such as folk dance) to codified, virtuoso techniques such as ballet. In sports, gymnastics, figure skating and synchronized swimming are dance disciplines while Martial arts "kata" are often compared to dances.
Music is an art form whose medium is sound and silence, occurring in time. Common elements of music are pitch (which governs melody and harmony), rhythm (and its associated concepts tempo, metre, and articulation), dynamics, and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture. The creation, performance, significance, and even the definition of music vary according to culture and social context. Music ranges from strictly organized compositions (and their reproduction in performance) through improvisational music to aleatoric pieces. Music can be divided into genres and subgenres, although the dividing lines and relationships between music genres are often subtle, sometimes open to individual interpretation, and occasionally controversial. Within "the arts", music may be classified as a performing art, a fine art, and auditory art.
MUSIC
dance
STORY TELLING
Not a process, method, or technique. Storytelling is described as an art … the “art” of storytelling.
And — like art — it requires creativity, vision, skill, and practice. Storytelling isn’t something you can grasp in one sitting, after one course. It’s a trial-and-error process of mastery.
Sounds like a lot of work, right? It is, and rightfully so because storytelling has become a crucial component of the most successful marketing campaigns. It sets apart vibrant brands from simple businesses and loyal consumers from one-time, stop-in shoppers.
It’s also the heart of inbound marketing.
Storytelling is an incredibly valuable tool for you to add to your proverbial marketing tool belt. That’s why we’ve compiled this guide, to help you discover and master storytelling and weave gorgeous, compelling tales for your audience.
Pick up your pen, and let’s dive in.
What is storytelling?
Storytelling is the process of using fact and narrative to communicate something to your audience. Some stories are factual, and some are embellished or improvised in order to better explain the core message.
While this definition is pretty specific, stories actually resemble a variety of things. This graphic from ReferralCandy helps outline what stories are and are not.
Why Do We Tell Stories?
Storytelling is an art form as old as time and has a place in every culture and society. Why? Because stories are a universal language that everyone — regardless of dialect, hometown, or heritage — can understand. Stories stimulate imagination and passion and create a sense of community among listeners and tellers alike.
Telling a story is like painting a picture with words. While everyone can tell a story, certain people fine-tune their storytelling skills and become a storyteller on behalf of their organization, brand, or business. You might’ve heard of these folks — we typically refer to them as marketers, content writers, or PR professionals.
Every member of an organization can tell a story. But before we get into the how, let’s talk about why we tell stories — as a society, culture, and economy.
There are a variety of reasons to tell stories — to sell, entertain, educate or brag. We’ll talk about that below. Right now, I want to discuss why we choose storytelling over, say, a data-driven powerpoint or bulleted list. Why are stories our go-to way of sharing, explaining, and selling information?