Abadi Art

Mission of Abadi Art

Abadi Art is a cultural organization, which promotes art for social change. Through activities including exhibitions, projects and involving communities and artists.

Promote Art for self and collective expression towards empowerment

We intend to be part of the processes of creative expression, to realize that what one has created constitutes 'art', to claim public space and to be able to represent one's realities, can be highly empowering. This is particularly so in contexts where such realities are made invisible, marginalized or distorted. When members of communities are central to the process of creating art, it also makes real the objective of 'community participation', beyond being a buzzword.

Promote Art as a powerful medium for communication of social realities

Art can evoke a connection with emotions beyond the realm of words. This is precious, particularly when marginalized communities seek to protest, share or compel others to engage others with their realities. Realities which are often complex and messy, whether wonderfully messy or painfully messy, and difficult to capture in words tend to push experiences into neat boxes. Realities which may be considered too 'sensitive' or controversial can find space for expression through art even in highly constrained contexts. We also believe that art can also reach larger audiences beyond who the written word reaches.

Promote Art for learning, awareness raising and knowledge creation

We believe that art can trigger as well as strengthen processes of unlearning, learning and awareness raising through a deeper experiential engagement with existing notions, emotions and the unconscious. Art can push the boundaries of the audiences' thinking by inviting and provoking conversations. Abadi Art also seeks to work with art as a means of research and knowledge creation, not in ways which are extractive but in ways that strengthen mutual learning.

Promote Art for joy and pleasure

For all audiences, including activists and practitioners engaged in the intensive work that social change involves, art can also provide the space for meditative respite or sheer fun.

What We Do

Broaden the horizons of art

Through its work Abadi Art also seeks to demonstrate that a deep engagement with social issues and communities has the ability to enrich art. It is with good reason that community art and art for social change constitute one of the most important and exciting trends in the art world today. Just as art can subvert existing social norms, an engagement with socially engaged art can allow a transformation of the very meaning of what is art, who is an artist and what are the materials an artist works with. People centred art could include for example a range of materials, including themselves, their homes and everyday objects from in their daily lives. The inclusion of representations of everyday life can often be experienced as a simple but powerful source of connection between marginalized communities and the audience. Socially engaged art promoted by us also enables artists who might otherwise work as individuals on their own to be part of spaces in which shared creative energy flows.