Center For Artistic Activism
— Art and Activism is a powerful combination for social change. We have the most experience and are the best at doing this work —
The Center for Artistic Activism runs about 6-8 workshops a year. If you’d like one of those to be with your group or organization, we’d like to hear from you. Our full workshops are 3-5 days and usually need at least 2 months of lead time. We offer day-long and half-day options where we can share portions of our ideas and methodology, as well as shorter lectures and presentations. If you are interested in bringing any of our Training Programs to your community, please contact us. Please understand we have no money, really. But if you can get some funding, we’re game!
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We also consult on campaigns and actions, brainstorming artistic tactics and planning creative strategies. We don’t have a “one size fits all” philosophy of artistic activism, but will work with you on developing the best, most creative course of action for your group, your issue, your creative resources and your unique cultural context. Consultation can be everything from a hour long phone call to in-person collaborations lasting several months.
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We do receive some institutional support, but it’s limited and often targeted to specific projects. Individual donations allow us to serve communities who normally wouldn’t be able to afford our programs and help us focus on the most important work we can do. With an organization like ours, every donation makes a difference and is greatly appreciated. And, of course, tax deductible.
Feature Artist: Ummi Yakubu
Photo of Ummi Yakubu by Ishaya Bako
Ummi is a young professional in the interactive multimedia and design industry. Although her training is in animation, game design & development, Ummi’s passion for development has seen her engage in projects that range from constructing houses for impoverished families in Alabama with Habitat for Humanity to 3D printing prosthetic limbs for amputees within Nigeria with a non-profit she co-founded with her brother, the Cyberlogik Foundation.
Her work include motion sensor games used for tourism and medical rehabilitation, web based games used for advocacy on the impact of healthy eating, as well as mobile educational children’s books used to improve vocabulary. As a video editor, Ummi has worked on various award winning documentary narratives including Silent Tears, a documentary on gender based violence, and Uprooted a documentary that sheds light on changing gender norms and cultural practices as a result of the Boko-Haram conflict in Borno State.
Ummi is currently working on a mobile game that’s aimed at increasing civic responsibility. “It’ll be the first project where the C4AA workshop teachings will be used in every step of the project. So, I’m excited to see if/how the outcome would differ from before the workshop, and what is to be learned from that.” Ummi said that concepts from the workshop now form an integral part of her process for planning and executing her projects, even beginning in the advocacy stages.