LONDON – Renowned Indo-British sculptor Anish Kapoor is among 200 artists, musicians and writers who have joined a global coalition against the rise of right-wing populism around the world.
Kapoor, 62, and other members of the creative arts have signed up to the Hands Off Our Revolution movement, which launched its website on Thursday.
Their aim of the coalition is to stage exhibitions and events that counter far-right narratives.
“Our art affirms our humanity and we insist on inclusion of all and for all. We call for action by people of good conscience to stand against the abhorrent policies of the governments that claim to represent us,” Mumbai-born sculptor Kapoor said.
One of the project’s driving forces is the artist Adam Broomberg, who told the ‘Guardian’ that the movement aimed to channel anger and explore “the possibility of envisaging a future we want to be in”.
The mission statement of the coalition says that the group wants to affirm the radical nature of art.
It reads: “We believe that art can help counter the rising rhetoric of right-wing populism, fascism and the increasingly stark expressions of xenophobia, racism, sexism, homophobia and unapologetic intolerance.”
“We know that freedom is never granted – it is won. Justice is never given – it is exacted. Both must be fought for and protected, yet their promise has seldom been so fragile, so close to slipping from our grasp, as at this moment,” according to the mission statement.
“As artists, it is our job and our duty to reimagine and reinvent social relations threatened by right-wing populist rule. It is our responsibility to stand together in solidarity. We will not go quietly. It is our role and our opportunity, using our own particular forms, private and public spaces, to engage people in thinking together and debating ideas, with clarity, openness and resilience,” it states.
