Active Art – Ed Joachim Hamou, Maija Rudovska and Barbara Sirieix

Texts in English
[FR] Le livre prend pour point de départ le manifeste « Active Art », rédigé en 1923 par le philosophe Letton Andrejs Kurcijs. A partir des propositions de Kurcijs, différents artistes, auteurs et curateurs réfléchissent sur la notion d’activisme dans l’art, sa trajectoire historique autant que son actualité. Chaque contribution à ce volume, écrite ou graphique, interroge à son tour la dimension active des pratiques respectives des contributeurs du livre. Active Art rassemble des textes de Rebeka Põldsam, Evita Vasiļjeva, Eva Barto, Laura Boullic, Bella Marrin et Robert Glück, un texte de 1987 de James Baldwin republié ici, ainsi qu’une conversation au long cours entre les trois éditeurs de l’ouvrage et le philosophe Ainārs Kamoliņš.

[EN] In this book, the 1923 manifesto ‘Active Art’ by Latvian philosopher Andrejs Kurcijs triggers a series of responses by writers, artists and curators on the notion of activism, past and present: art for political purposes, art for its own purpose or art with no purpose. All the texts collected in this volume aim at considering the active part of writing according to the definition given by Kurcijs. It is true of the book design by Laure Giletti and Gregory Dapra too. Contributors include curator Rebeka Põldsam, artists Evita Vasiļjeva and Eva Barto, writers Bella Marrin and Robert Glück, and poet Laura Boullic. It also includes the reprint of an essay from 1987 by James Baldwin, commissioned by the African Center in New York, and an in-depth conversation between the editors of the books and philosopher Ainārs Kamoliņš.

In collaboration with Kim? Contemporary Art Centre, Riga
Sponsored by Fondation d’entreprise Ricard, Paris, Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Latvia, Latvia 100, Latvian State Culture Capital Foundation
Graphic Design: Laure Giletti and Gregory Dapra, Brussels

148p