The making of a manifesto over the years…
( Excerpt from Apacheta, or A Manifesto as A Spectrum of Collective Responsibility, by Yasmine Ostendorf-Rodríguez and Nicolás Amaro, 2022)
In the Spring of 2013, sitting in the gardens of the Jan van Eyck Academie in Maastricht, the European partners of the Green Art Lab Alliance (gala) made the first version of the gala Manifesto. On that mildly sunny afternoon, we mostly spoke about the practical matters of how we were going to reduce our environmental footprint as European cultural organizations. We spent a lot of time analyzing and understanding our energy consumption, our water consumption, the waste we were producing and sharing all the inventive ways and strategies we could apply to reduce all of them. We made targets of Co2 reductions, and commitments to Sustainability Policies and an ambitious plan of how we are going to mea- sure the carbon footprint of our whole, 3 year EU-funded project. The first version of the gala manifesto was born. Over the years we adapted the manifesto.
What (for some) seemed radical in 2012 (such as switching to ethical banks and moving away from fossil fuels) became a more regular practice for many of the partners as the years went by. The second version of the Manifesto was made as a collective effort from the gala Asia partners.
In 2015 the gala Asia partners met in Taipei, and one thing that became painfully clear, was how euro-centric the first version of the manifesto actually was. It was all about European data, targets and (climate) science. Not surprisingly, as it was written by twenty European art organiza- tions, yet it was in need of a more global dimension. Ten art organizations, from Japan, the Philippines, Indonesia, South-Korea, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and Taiwan reworked the manifesto to fit their realities, adding dimensions about indigenous territories, ancestrality, dictatorial regimes, regenerative agriculture and the entanglement of climate change with colonialism. We went from talking about climate change, to talking about climate justice; recognising the social and environmental could not be seen as separate. Antares Gomez from Concerned Artists of the Philippines (CAP) and Gustaff Iskandar of Common Room Bandung (Indonesia), did an incredible job bringing all of our gala Asia concerns and conversations together in a coherent and brand-new version of the gala manifesto.
The third major update to the gala manifesto occurred in 2020, when not only many Latin-American organizations had joined the alli- ance, but also when the pandemic hit. Many new art organizations wanted to join the alliance in search of support, solidarity and exchange. We had to recalibrate the compass and understand which key values were binding us together and on which ones we weren’t willing to compromise on (anymore). Quick growth was not what we wanted, and rather, we took the opportunity to thoroughly review the manifesto once again. One issue that turned up here: Language had the potential to drive us apart from each other. Some (new) partners didn’t relate to the word ‘manifesto’. It felt too political in their context, old-fashioned or it was too much associated with rules and being rigid. Others didn’t like the word ‘bank’ of the Future Materials Bank, as they associated it with money and capitalism. Another point that proved to be difficult: the fact that the manifesto said that we don’t accept any funding from fossil fuel, mining or weapon industries. This ruled out a lot of Latin American art organizations to become a gala partner. We created a space for discussion: for any gala partner who wanted to participate, we organized an online session to re-write the manifesto once more. We kept the manifesto: without the rules, we could have no freedom, and without commitment we would not be accountable. With so many differences in contexts, backgrounds, realities, languages and whatnot – we had to find our collective meeting point, our common objective. The manifesto needs to belong to every gala partner.
What became clear in this session, is that the gala manifesto has always been work in progress, and always will be. There will not be a final version, but the shape constantly changes. The Manifesto is moving as time progresses, as more colonial wounds come to the surface, as right- winged and dictatorial regimes rise, as climate change makes more and more territories unsafe or even unlivable. As our worlds are crumbling, we have been growing our capacity to listen and respect differences. The crumbling, flooding and burning world has strengthened our capacity to generate bonds as the need for allies became clearer and clearer. It catalyzed the dynamic of the Lyannaj, – which is to forge alliances, and to re-forge alliances, to link and re-link and to meld all of that which has been kept apart. Though we don’t meld into one, the gala manifesto is the spectrum in which we all fit together. We are not all exactly on the same point in the spectrum but the spectrum is what unites us all and the spectrum is how we understand our collective responsibility. It’s not static, singular or providing one solution (‘reduce your carbon footprint and that’s the end of climate change’) but rather is accepting differences and taking a holistic approach, yet creating the conditions for all of us to learn from each other, exchanging and sharing knowledge and resources. United in solidarity, yet on different points in the spectrum, through our manifesto, we can raise a collective voice. Glissant would say we are in Relation; we are comrades through rhizomatic roots.’ Changing, improving and mutually reinforcing each other through exchange and from the intention of collaborating and supporting each other.
The manifesto, just as much as this publication, is like an Apacheta, Nicolás, participant of the galaFest 2022 and part of the editing group of the galaFest publication suggested to me in a message. An Apacheta is a pile of stones on the road, brought together by a group of people. It’s a sense of direction. It’s how the Incas used to mark their routes. Built as a collaborating pro- cess through time, stone over stone, and in a constantly changing shape, apachetas lead the way, protect the travelers and thank Pachamama with offerings, simultaneously. I loved his analogy. A pile of words, thoughts, collectively brought together. It’s sturdy, yet it’s not permanent. It’s not the destination, but it’s giving a sense of direction and above all, is reminding us and honoring where we currently are.
Workshopping sessions around the manifesto
Since gala’s first manifesto, which emphasises the struggle towards social and ecological justice, partners keep joining the alliance to foster a sustainable future for the people and our shared ecosystem. While the alliance is growing stronger, the task of securing a sustainable future seems to have grown bigger, with a continued spiral of extractivism, loss of habitats and the spread of zoonotic diseases.
The galaFEST is an opportunity for partners and participants to collectively reflect on gala’s current manifesto. How does the manifesto speak for the partner’s involvement in gala? How is it in line with the visions and needs of a rapidly transforming world?
The suggestion is to read, discuss, and amend the manifesto applying several lenses:
- Language
- Well being
- Organizational Restructure
- Funding Structures
Each term offers an entry point to multiple layers and ideas. Language for instance, includes the question of choice of a particular language, such as Imperial English in a multicultural world. Language also takes the meaning of the tone of a voice or language as the skin worn by gala. Well-being includes multiple levels of collective, organisational and personal care.
Speaking about organisational values & structures, embracing of chaos, allowing for fluctuations in urgency and action, as well as the willingness to share knowledge and to maintain a safe space can be considered as important values. When it comes to structures, gala favours de-centralised, non-hierarchical structures with adaptable forms to remain useful. Treating networks like a living ecosystem, the invitation is to be radical and realistic for this work in progress.
Working Manifesto:
The Green Art Lab Alliance (gala) is a diverse alliance initiated by artists and cultural practitioners seeking to address the breadth of environmental problems that beset the world. In light of the extreme urgency of our global crisis, the organizations that comprise the alliance have come together in order to bolster and amplify our manifold efforts at securing a sustainable future.
gala asserts that a life-sustaining environment is a basic human right that must be fought for, upheld, and defended. We stand united to foster a sustainable future for the people and our shared ecosystem. This entails respect for biodiversity as well as sensitivity to the depth of interdependencies that inform the notion of ecology.
We believe in the power of solidarity, international knowledge exchange, and genuine and fair collaboration in order to demand and build new systems that serve people and planet in an equal and balanced way, recognising the problematic underlying legacies that have informed our current world, including colonial, patriarchal and geopolitical histories of power.
This means we reject extractivist practices at all times. Reciprocity is key in our practice and applies not only to ourselves, but extends to artists, participants and other guests we invite to our programs. This is particularly important as some of us are based in indigenous territory. Our aim is to democratise knowledge, making space for different knowledge systems, not just the dominant one(s).
In pursuing our advocacies, gala seeks to harness the best practices from diverse fields and knowledge-bases spanning heritage and innovation, social and natural science, indigenous cosmologies, as well as community organizing and political activism, to formulate interdisciplinary collaborative approaches for creative and process-driven problem-solving, awareness-raising, and capacity-building campaigns.
As a gathering of varied creative agencies, we collectively take up the challenge of envisioning alternatives and of broadening our communal imagination of what is possible, whilst taking our own environmental footprint into account. We make collective efforts to continuously improve our own practice regarding the following practical matters:
Energy: we commit to using green sources of energy, are aware of our energy suppliers, we monitor, understand and reduce our energy consumption and where possible, move away from fossil fuels. To start understanding our carbon footprint, we make use of the online carbon calculators as developed by partner Julie’s Bicycle.
Financial services: we switch to ethical banks, do not have any investments in mining, fossil fuels industries, or work with pension funds or insurance companies that have. We do not accept donations or funds from fossil fuel, weapon or mining industries.
Inhouse: we work with non-chemical and biodegradable products, and promote the usage of non-toxic and alternative materials to our artists. Materials that don’t damage the environment, nor our human health. We use recycled paper and keep printing to a minimum. We use the Future Materials Bank to identify sustainable materials for artists.
Waste: we take a radical and proactive stance in relation to waste. We work towards a situation where materials circulate and the word ‘waste’ becomes obsolete. We acknowledge that this is an ongoing learning process which we actively pursue. We compost, recycle and up-cycle. Innovative and revived technologies allow us to develop opportunities, ideas and new habits in relation to the materials we use.
Water: we install rainwater collectors where possible, we don’t pollute our waterways and monitor our water consumption. And we like to drink lots of it!
Food: For public events involving catering we make conscious and vegetarian decisions regarding our suppliers. We buy local, where possible, organic. We actively reduce our food waste, and keep a compost. Where possible we grow our own foods, we forage and share. When growing our own foods we do not use herbicides and pesticides.
Mobility: we promote cycling, share cars where possible and opt for the train for distances over land. We stimulate and guide our artists and other visitors in making environmental choices when they visit our organisations, by providing them with information on the best travel options to reach us.
Community Engagement: By creating a more biodiverse, healthier and more sustainable environment for ourselves we aspire to create momentum for our neighbourhoods to take on similar attitudes. The more people join in this, the easier it becomes to share and circulate ideas and resources. This will lead to an upward spiralling succession of events transforming our environment into a healthier place for both human and non-human actors.
As a network that spans diverse backgrounds and contexts, gala holds a deep regard for cultural diversity, autonomy, transparency, accountability, and mutual trust among its collaborators. We believe diversity gives rise to ecological space for give and take, for mutuality and reciprocity.
We all strive to be open organisations that act, communicate, share and grow as a small part of a bigger whole. We aim to be reflective, critical and transformative and adhere to the values of freedom of expression and interdependence. We encourage our surrounding network to do the same: we welcome artists, scientists, partner organisations, volunteers and the general public to reach out and get involved, to explore, to share work and to exchange knowledge and ideas with us in the creation of an interconnected community for alternative culture. In the same breath, we express our solidarity with the movements that have initiated and sustained the struggle for environmental justice thus far, and invite any and all creatives who seek to uphold the same, to live up to and sign up to our manifesto.