Shia Conlon is a writer and artist whose work has been centered around marginalized voices and growing up in the landscape of working-class Catholic Ireland. His research is focused on non-linear time, queer representation, archives, language, and memory.
Additional vocabulary could mean
The fog spilled in
And you were cleaned by it or
The fog rolled in and
Created a halo of blur all around your head
Additional descriptions could mean
You were lost, but — you didn’t feel it
The fog came in and made for you
Your own wholly clouded sky
And
along with it
Sensations
And tools of measurement
for the task ahead
Today most Dalits are first or second-generation learners who are still trying to assert their existence and improve their societal position. In doing so, they prioritise safety and financial security and often enter fields tried and tested by their parents or other Dalit community members – they do not have the privilege of “choosing” versatile careers like art or filmmaking. Moreover, there is limited access and almost no exposure to the process of entering these industries. Even though Art is a storytelling medium that can bring about change, it is arduous and challenging for Dalit Bahujan filmmakers to publish their stories in a gate-kept caste society. Telling a story itself is the Art that propels change. Still, the question remains, how to break through the caste-based gatekeeping and works towards building a Dalit and Bahujan discourse of filmmaking and documenting?
READStories of Resistance: a conversation with filmmakers Omey Anand and Jyoti Nisha
It’s not that they didn’t “get it” back then and made a mistake. The problem is that they still don’t “get it”, that understanding without which all social movements are doomed to fail. I’m referring to our flawed idea of “freedom” as something that is limited to our own views only. Whereas we truly believe in freedom when we want it for our adversaries as well.
READEditorial / September 2022
The first thing to say about the value of documentaries, and about the Love & Anarchy festival selection that follows is that they tend to be about people, and they tend to articulate the possibilities of a changing world. Against all odds, even the faintest possibility of ‘a world’, or rather ‘worlds’ that are transforming, can inspire hope.
READConfessions of a Documentary Junkie: 2022 Love & Anarchy Festival Picks
Nuori Taide and other cultural youth work organisations need funding from the state to guarantee that art and culture services are accessible for all young people, regardless of their living situation. What worries me is how the changes in the government may change youth policy and its funding. We hope that future criteria for youth work funding will better take into account digital youth work as well as the nature of artistic hobbies.
READNuori Taide: a Forum for Young Art makers
