[P2P-F] Fwd: Arts and Culture: Integral to Transition

[Michel Bauwens]

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From: Kosmos Journal <info at kosmosjournal.org>
Date: Tue, Jun 10, 2014 at 7:06 AM
Subject: Arts and Culture: Integral to Transition
To: michelsub2004 at gmail.com


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    JUNE
10, 2014 NEWSLETTER
Arts and Culture: Integral to Transition

By now, most people are acutely aware of the need for change. Yet cultural
change comes slowly. How will we shift the values of people and
institutions quickly enough to avert the ecological and economic disasters
we hear predicted daily. Can it be done in one generation? Two? Where will
the inspiration for global transformation come from?

This week, the full moon on Thursday marks World Invocation Day, a day of
prayer and meditation for a growing network of servers and seekers. The Great
Invocation
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 is a world prayer translated into 70 languages and dialects -a call
for the spiritual direction needed to create right relationships on earth.
It coincides with the start on Friday of the 100-day countdown to the
International Day of Peace on September 21st, themed: The People’s Right to
Peace.

We know that prayer alone will not actualize radical change. Political
activism alone is not enough either. We must, in fact, use every means
available to turn hearts and minds toward the principles of peace and
sharing. In this newsletter we share some interesting ideas about the role
the Arts can play in changing cultural mindsets.

Alain Ruche, a Kosmos Global Ambassador, writes in the current edition
of *Kosmos
Journal* about the role artists play grounding our essential humanity:

“Artists have never been more integral to the functioning of society.
Artists are vibrant actors in street life, home life, interactions between
people, between people and objects, and maybe soon, also between machines.
Artists can explore what it means to be human at a time when people and
machines are becoming integrated.”

In *A New Theory of Growth*, a brilliant essay by Esko Kilpi Oy, we are
reminded that artists are not isolated actors; creativity and innovation
occurs only in the context of cultural connection.

“The sociocultural context matters because creativity is a systemic rather
than an individual phenomenon. Workable new solutions to our most pressing
concerns will not appear by themselves as isolated ideas of independent
people. Creativity is born in connections and in enriching interaction.”

Artists have been bearing witness and in many ways even influencing
revolutionary events in Ukraine these past four months. Read *Icons on the
Barricades: Ukrainian Protest Art.*

The compelling ability of images to tell the story of the new civilization
inspires our dedication to filling Kosmos Journal with transformative
beauty. We are re-sharing one of our favorite artist portfolios, *A Soft
Gaze into the Natural World, *sheer painted fabric veils that
inspired activists on a 60 mile walk for clean energy from Ripton to
Burlington, Vermont with Bill McKibben.

And there is even more to share – beautiful words and works by Martin Hill
and Dana Lynne Andersen.

Enjoy it all with our deepest gratitude and care. May we be the change we
wish to see.

*Kosmos*
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Featured in Kosmos Journal: International Cultural Engagement
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By Alain Ruche

Part One: Are We at the Tipping Point?

Culture has been described as the social programming of minds. Recent
collective and global transformative events have expanded participation in
public and cultural activities to include interactions among individuals,
non-profit organizations, corporations and many other entities. Many are
calling this phenomenon international cultural engagement.

Culture has always been present in international relations. Reciprocal
gifts between ancient rulers aimed to show who they and their people were,
to demonstrate power and to build lasting relationships. Culture became a
component of soft power when states began to appear. During the Cold War,
culture became a symbol of West-East confrontation. In the current foreign
policy rapidly invaded by realpolitik, culture is regarded as desirable but
not essential. However, in emerging countries, the cultural component of
soft power is increasing.
 READ MORE →
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Icons on the Barricades: Ukrainian Protest Art
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By Konstantin Akinsha and Alisa Lozhkina

Artists have been at the center of the protests in Ukraine, offering
murals, performances, and a golden “throne”

In January, the clashes between Ukrainian anti-government protesters and
police and special forces erupted into violence. The center of Kyiv became
a battlefield, with smoke from burning tires drifting overhead. Police
bullets and gas grenades were met by Molotov cocktails and paving stones.
During the last days of the month, while the street battle raged, masked
and helmeted protesters and police in full riot gear saw a surreal sight.

Seemingly oblivious of the chaos surrounding him, a young man set up an
easel between the opposing forces and worked furiously for a few hours on
an oil sketch of the city in revolt. The artist, Maksim Vegera, said later
that he couldn’t resist the call of history. In the tradition of Delacroix
or Daumier, he found inspiration on the barricades. He wasn’t the only one.