CCD Symposium 2016: The Art of Anti-Exclusion

5, 6 Sept 2016

Goodman Arts Centre, Singapore

We live in the times of ‘Liquid Modernity’ (Bauman 2014). The preservation of privacy is a hallmark of such times, to protect individuals and elite communities against the risk of unpredictability and calamity. Gated communities keep danger at bay. Danger at bay is a distant image on cable TV, or the equally distant image that emerges every now and again in the local newspaper. Exclusion ensues as gated communities, from the secure position of distant critic, disengage with others not like them and engage in the safety of liquid global connections instead.

The Art of Anti-exclusion seeks to preserve a connection between the excluded and the gated, between the spaces of no-man’s land and spaces of high value. It seeks to establish communication across spheres that otherwise never collide and as a result, miscommunicate towards further segregation, separation and conflict. Across the world, artists have sought to do this, in varying capacities, with limited resources. The Art of Anti-exclusion aims to present a range of excellent artistic endeavours, which have sought to level the field of communication and as a result have eradicated a distinction of value in favour of only one side. As a symposium, it seeks to  assess the means of community access, the mode of aesthetics and the measure of significance of such work.

6 local and 6 foreign artists (in the area of dance, music, theatre, art and multi-media) who had initiated projects from the various community approaches were invited to present at the symposium. The approaches sought for include artists initiated projects in the area of:

• Social exclusion: This includes communities who have been socially excluded due to cognitive, sexual and physical ‘disabilities’ or ‘deviance’, such as those with special needs, the elderly, the handicapped, etc. It also includes those who have been kept away because of ‘anti-social’ behaviour, such as the incarcerated and juvenile delinquents.
• Political exclusion: This includes communities who have been denied citizenship such as refugees and asylum seekers. It also includes communities whose particular histories have been repressed.
• Economic exclusion: This includes communities who are part of the informal economy as they have difficulty entering the structures of the formal economy, such as sex workers, transient migrant workers, rural and child labourers.