Art for (and within) a Citizen Scene & Be Water, My Friend

A book consisting of two interconnected volumes produced after a series of online workshops discussing collaborative publishing design.

vol.1: Art for (and within) a Citizen Scene connects people working within South-East-Asia contexts to share their creative practices. Through speculative, open-ended conversations, the contributors explore questions such as: If we shift our attention away from artistic practices based on object production and individual success, what do other kinds of practices bring about? How to understand those practices in their materialisation and relation to their surroundings? What does collaboration mean today, and what positions do artists take in these collaborations? The book sheds light on practices in communities where collaboration is common in daily life, where art is seen not only as a self-contained profession, but also as a way of living.

vol.2: Be Water, My Friend: Non-Oppositional Criticalities of Socially Engaged Art in China looks at different forms of socially engaged artistic and cultural practices in China. These practices address a range of social issues in the country’s cities, including the unequal treatment of migrant workers and denigration of urban villages. Through anthropological fieldwork and critical analysis, the book explores how socially engaged art offers creative and critical approaches to these issues in the context of the contemporary Chinese regime. Becoming Water stresses how art practices in China have developed forms of criticality that avoid explicitly opposing political authorities.