Chto delat - #13: Culture and Protest

Timed to coincide with the G8 Summit in St Petersberg last month, Chto delat have published a new issue of their newspaper. Members of the group will hopefully be participating later this year in an online Metamute discussion on protest culture and the politics of activism

The workgroup Chto delat is happy to announce that there has been a major update of its site. Please visit us at www.chtodelat.org

Aside from now being bilingual (Russian/English), all issues of the workgroup’s newspaper are now online as .pdfs. A complete html archive for online reading is also nearing completion.

The update also includes the newspaper’s most recent issues. This new cycle of publications loosely addresses the themes raised by the documenta 12 magazine project. Chto delat is participating in this collective dialogue of editorial groups all over the world.

#13: Culture and Protest

This special issue of Chto delat was published in July 2006, on occasion of the Second Russian Social Forum, held during the G8 Summit Meeting in Saint-Petersburg. It explores the relationship between protest and contemporary culture. It was made in dialogue with the participant of the Russian protest campaign against the G8 summit in Petersburg, and a number of international artists, whose graphical contributions can be understood as an expression of solidarity.

As preparation for the Social Forum were underway, over 300 people were directly prevented from coming to Petersburg by local law enforcement; even more activists and their families were put under pressure by the militia and the secret services. These stepped-up “preventative” measures were unprecendented in more recent Russian history, and present a serious infringement upon the right to political self-expression. Nevertheless, the Second Russian Social Forum was still able to provide some minimal possibility for discussion and consolidation. Chto delat was part of the Social Forum’s organization committee and was responsible for its cultural section, which hosted several discussions on the politicization of contemporary culture.

The issue includes 8 posters by contemporary artists from Russia and elsewhere, and also provides a number of case studies on the politicization of culture.

CONTENTS

Preface                                                                                                       Fredric JamesonWe Don't Have a Choice but We Still Have a Voice                                          The Pyotr Alekseev Resistance MovementThe “Nature” of Power vs. the Culture of Protest                                             Oxana TimofeevaImagine and Create...                                                                                  Oliver ResslerStruggle, Event, Media                                                                                 Maurizio LazzaratoG8 Summit in Saint-Petersburg                                                                    DSPA and Chto delat“Antiglobalist Slogan”, or, What is a political demonstration today?                  Alexei PenzinCORPORATE CITIZEN COPYRIGHT Privatization                                             Andreas Siekmann“Interrogating the good person within myself.”                                              Kirill Medvedev/Sergei OgurtsovPolitical and social democracy...                                                                  Carlos Motta“Our” Universities                                                                                       Ilya KalininG2                                                                                                             Nikolai OleinikovThe Ballad of John and Yoko                                                                          David RiffBe the Change You Want to See                                                                    WHWThe Cultural Revolution Will Come First                                                         Alexei Nikonov/Aleksandr Skidan   

Grab the PDF :  http://www.chtodelat.org/images/pdfs/Chtodelat_13.pdf