ARTivism: Inspiring Activism Through The Arts

Last week, we were thrilled to display Harbani’s Dicta poetry collection at a special showcase at the offices of Manatt, Phelps and Phillips, LLP in Century City, Los Angeles. Harbani and ICAAD Co-Founder Jaspreet attended the event to present the collection.

Dicta is a public arts project developed as part of our Artivism program, where we support emerging and underrepresented artists from around the world. By redacting sections of key Supreme Court cases in U.S. history, Harbani’s collection of poems highlight the gap between law and justice, and the impact that this disconnect has on marginalized communities.

“Dicta is a brilliant showcase of how written laws in the justice system do not always reflect the injustice of the world, and bridges art and activism in a way that connects people with something that can feel as intangible or impersonal as Supreme Court decisions,” said Sirena from Manatt. 

“Providing access to justice for all, no matter a person’s skin color, gender identity, sexuality or immigration status, is part of Manatt’s DNA, and we’re extremely proud to partner with ICAAD to feature Harbani’s incredible work highlighting the legal inequities we too often see for historically underrepresented communities.”

We were so excited to share Harbani’s work through a beautiful visual arts display, and look forward to our continued collaboration with Manatt as we advance social justice through the arts.

Thank you for supporting our Artivism initiative – your generosity makes all of this possible! Watch this space as we continue to raise the profile of our resident artists and promote important issues of social justice. 

2022 was a milestone year for our Artivism project, and there are exciting developments ahead as our engagement with the arts continues to grow. 

An Update on Dicta

In August, we unveiled Artivist-in-Residence Harbani's poetry collection on Immigrant Rights as part of the Dicta public arts project. Following the launch, Harbani was featured in an online event co-hosted by ICAAD and the Center for Art Law. 

The webinar explored the gap between law and justice, which is a central theme throughout Dicta. Harbani reflected: “Because the law is so complex, we often just assume that it’s correct, it’s right, it’s just – and it’s not. We’re trained to think of the law like this by society. But for a lot of marginalized groups in this country, the law has even been a system of oppression.” 

We hope that Harbani’s work has resonated with you. We are preparing to launch two new collections on Indigenous Rights and the Right to Love this year, so stay tuned! 

Introducing our New Artivists

In 2022, we released a call-out for a new cohort of Artivists-in-Residence to join the ICAAD team. We’re thrilled to announce that we have brought five artists on board: Namita (India), Dilpreet (India), Katja  (New Zealand), Queen (U.S.), and Vishavjit (U.S.).

While they work across different mediums and themes, they all share a commitment to supporting human rights advocacy through the arts. You can find out more about them here.  

As part of our partnership, the cohort participated in a pilot program of our virtual How to Be An Effective Human Rights Advocate course – which outlines tools, resources and strategies that can be used to maximize the impact of their projects. 

We are thrilled to begin sharing the incredible work being created by these Artivists this year, through virtual exhibitions and public engagements. Watch this space!