I grew up a lot hearing and learning about Augusto Boal. Theater of the Oppressed is basically theater that brings about social change. In Lebanon, I grew up seeing a lot of street theater that would be heavily influenced by the country's political climate. As a child I had a vague understanding of what it truly meant to be performing the way they were. It wasn't until high school that I started to view Lebanese street theater/art differently. My theater teacher at the time was very aware of Lebanon's political state and introduced us to Augusto Boal and his practices. Since then, I started looking at theater, film and art in ways I could not have before. Almost everything for me became political from then on. I felt that the urgency of art that fits into Theater of the Oppressed is one that is necessary for social, political, and economic change. I try to emulate or reflect the Lebanese struggles of war, poverty and corruption in nearly everything I create, be it satirical or dramatic
Assignment: Aesthetic Evangelists - Due 1/30 Three key ideas in the text that resonate with me: The first is the idea of the "new public art," or what we would call "community engaged art." The article discusses the transition from art displayed in public sites to community based projects that have the goal of collaboration and focus more on the process than the end result/outcome. This intrigues me because before this class I was honestly very unaware of this form of art-making and its growing prevalence. Another idea that resonates with me is when the author talked about community based public art of today drawing on the urban reform rhetoric of the past both consciously and subconsciously. This stood out because it's an old adage that history repeats itself and I think it's interesting that the times we live in now call for a callback to this type of work and a more curious examination of what this can do for people and their communities. Th...