The Art Persists Podcast

For our Season 7 finale, we are joined by Iranian photographer and activist Reihane Taravati.Reihane shares her story of growing up in Iran and the significant challenges she faced as a young woman pursuing a career in photography.In April 2022, she had the unique opportunity to photograph Narges Mohammadi, the Nobel Peace Prize-winning activist and human rights defender, during a brief release from prison. These powerful images would later be used to announce Narges' winning of the Nobel Prize. Today, she remains behind bars.Reihane reflects on the profound responsibility she felt in capturing Narges in her home environment that day.If you’re enjoying the Art Persists podcast, please consider leaving a review wherever you listen. With your support, we can ensure these vital stories reach more listeners.Learn more: https://www.boslaarts.com/tapp-reihane-taravatiFollow Bosla Arts on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/boslaarts/

This week, we’re joined by Belarusian poet, translator, and writer Hanna Komar.Hanna shares her early life, growing up in a small village in Belarus, where she found comfort in poetry, and later discovered the power of writing poetry in Belarusian rather than Russian.She recounts the nationwide protests following the rigged presidential elections in Belarus, in which long-time President Lukashenka seized power once again. The protests were met with a fierce crackdown on activists, leading to Hanna and thousands of others being imprisoned.While sharing her story, Hanna also recites some of her deeply powerful and emotive poetry. She concludes by telling us about her upcoming play, Body in Progress, coming to London next month.As always, if you are enjoying the Art Persists podcast please leave a review wherever you listen. Only with your help can these important stories be heard.Learn more: https://www.boslaarts.com/tapp-hanna-komarFollow Bosla Arts on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/boslaarts/

This week, we are joined by artist and activist Peter Kennard.Since the 1970s, Kennard has produced some of the world’s most influential works of resistance and protest. From the Vietnam War and the anti-Apartheid movement to the war in Ukraine and the siege on Gaza, Peter’s five decades of work have been dedicated to fighting for justice and holding power to account.We talk at length about his career, as well as his latest exhibition, Archive of Dissent, currently on display at the Whitechapel Gallery in London.As always, if you are enjoying the Art Persists podcast please leave a review wherever you listen. Only with your help can these important stories be heard.Learn more: https://boslaarts.com/tapp-peter-kennardFollow Bosla Arts on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/boslaarts/

This week, we are joined by Melissa Bolivar, founder of Kites in Solidarity—a grassroots movement of volunteers founded in 2023 in response to the ongoing siege of Gaza.Melissa shares with us her decision to start Kites in Solidarity. After witnessing the horrors of the siege in Gaza through her phone every day, she felt compelled to take action.Since then, the movement has grown across the UK and around the world—a tribute to the power of collective solidarity.As always, if you are enjoying the Art Persists podcast please leave a review wherever you listen. Only with your help can these important stories be heard.Learn more: https://www.boslaarts.com/tapp-kites-in-solidarityFollow Bosla Arts on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/boslaarts/

On the latest episode of Art Persists, we speak to Omaid Sharifi, Co-Founder & CEO of ArtLords, a grassroots movement founded in Kabul, Afghanistan in 2014, driven by the desire to harness the transformative power of art.We talk to Omaid about the early days of ArtLords, where he and group of artists and volunteers would paint the empty walls of Kabul and the rest of Afghanistan with murals, focused on bringing communities together. He tells us about August 2021 where the Taliban retook control over Afghanistan and the devastating days that have followed since - Omaid now lives in exile in the USA. He goes on to tell us about the incredible work that ArtLords continues to do today, both in Afghanistan and out, and the hope he still holds to one day return to his country. As always, if you are enjoying the Art Persists podcast please leave a review wherever you listen. Only with your help can these important stories be heard.Learn more: https://www.boslaarts.com/tapp-artlordsFollow Bosla Arts on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/boslaarts/

We launch Season 7 of Art Persists with a special episode recorded live during Refugee Week 2024 in collaboration with Counterpoints Arts. Three artists / creative producers, Solomon aka. KMT, Boseda Olawoye, and Sally Watkins joined us live to talk about how they use art to create dialogue, connection, and community with people from refugee and minority backgrounds. Find out more about their work:Counterpoints Arts: https://counterpointsarts.org.uk/Solomon aka. KMT: https://www.instagram.com/kmt_may/Bo Olawoye: https://www.bosedaolawoye.com/B Side: https://www.instagram.com/bsidefestival/

The Art Persists Podcast is back with Season 7! Join us for another incredible season as we chat to renowned artists and activists from all around the world. We will hear from creative practitioners working in some of the most dangerous countries for artists in the world. As well as guests who use art to build communities, foster solidarity, and combat hate. Join us for the first episode out Wednesday, 2 October 2024.We are on Patreon! If you are enjoying the podcast, please consider subscribing to support our costs. From as little as £3 a month.And don't forget to subscribe wherever you listen.

In Part 2 of the Season 6 finale of The Art Persists Podcast, we continue our conversation with journalist, filmmaker and writer, Dr Myriam François.Myriam chats to us about the rise of Islamophobia today and why she thinks it is often considered an acceptable form of racism within society. We chat about having hope in youth and why she thinks current student protests in America and beyond are widely misrepresented and misunderstood. We end on thinking about the role of the artist in solidarity movements.The Art Persists Podcast is independently run by Bosla Arts' small team (Georgia & Faz). If you are enjoying the podcast, please support us via Patreon!Learn more: https://www.boslaarts.com/tapp-myriam-francoisFollow Bosla Arts on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/boslaarts/

In the Season 6 finale of The Art Persists Podcast, we sit down with journalist, filmmaker and writer, Dr Myriam François.We chat to Myriam about how she is dealing with the state of the world today amid Israel's bombardment of Gaza. She questions society's moral boundaries, emphasising the need for discomfort in addressing the conflict. We go on to explore the artist's role in solidarity and resistance. Myriam delves into her film, Finding Alaa, illustrating how grief can unite people across divides. We unpack her background and talk about the racism she faced after converting to Islam as a young woman.The Art Persists Podcast is independently run by Bosla Arts' small team (Georgia & Faz). If you are enjoying the podcast, please support us via Patreon!Learn more: https://www.boslaarts.com/tapp-myriam-francoisFollow Bosla Arts on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/boslaarts/

In the latest episode of Art Persists, we speak to interdisciplinary artist and writer Coco Fusco.Coco talks to us in depth about the historic oppression of artists in Cuba, which has accelerated since 2018 when the government introduced laws that stifle freedom of expression within the country. She tells us about her activism, advocating for the release of imprisoned artists in Cuba including her friend and fellow artist, Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara, who has been imprisoned since July 2021. Coco also tells us more about her interdisciplinary work and writing and reflects on how the art scene has changed since the 80s.The Art Persists Podcast is independently run by Bosla Arts' small team (Georgia & Faz). If you are enjoying the podcast, please support us via Patreon!Learn more: https://www.boslaarts.com/tapp-coco-fuscoFollow Bosla Arts on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/boslaarts/

In the latest episode of Art Persists, we speak to journalist, writer, and Chief Contributing Editor of The Art Newspaper, Gareth Harris.We chat about Gareth’s book, Censored Art Today, two years after its publication. We reflect on how censorship of the arts has changed and transformed since the book’s release - including the silencing of artists in the wake of Israel’s war on Gaza. We go on to discuss controversial statues and what to do with them, as well as the ongoing impact of social media on artists and the arts.The Art Persists Podcast is independently run by Bosla Arts' small team (Georgia & Faz). If you are enjoying the podcast, please support us via Patreon!Learn more: https://www.boslaarts.com/tapp-gareth-harrisFollow Bosla Arts on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/boslaarts/

In the latest episode of Art Persists, we speak to award-winning poet, playwright, author and editor, Joelle Taylor.Joelle talks about growing up in Lancashire and how punk and live performance introduced her to spoken word and poetry. She opens the conversation by reading an extract for her brilliant new novel, The Night Alphabet. We chat about the central themes of patriarchy and the strength of solidarity between women across the globe, interwoven throughout.The Art Persists Podcast is independently run by Bosla Arts' small team (Georgia & Faz). If you are enjoying the podcast, please support us via Patreon!Learn more: https://www.boslaarts.com/tapp-joelle-taylorFollow Bosla Arts on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/boslaarts/

In the latest episode of Art Persists, we speak to information designer Federica Fragapane. We talk to Federica about her work, humanising data by unpacking it in creative, organic forms.From visualising the number of civilians killed in Gaza, to showing European attitudes to immigration, or the silencing of environmental activists in Brazil, Federica's work manages to evoke empathy and understanding by bringing hard data to life through art.The Art Persists Podcast is independently run by Bosla Arts' small team (Georgia & Faz). If you are enjoying the podcast, please support us via Patreon!Learn more: https://www.boslaarts.com/tapp-federica-fragapaneFollow Bosla Arts on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/boslaarts/

We launch Season 6 of Art Persists with Chilean feminist collective LASTESIS.We chat to Sibila Sotomayor Van Rysseghem and Daffne Valdés Vargas from the collective about their work, using performance and video art to unpack feminist texts and to challenge global patriarchy and its impact on women and the LGBTQI+ community. Sibilia and Daffne discuss some of their most important works including Un violador en tu camino (a rapist in your path) - a performance that went viral and was replicated by different groups in over 50 countries.The Art Persists Podcast is independently run by Bosla Arts' small team (Georgia & Faz). If you are enjoying the podcast, please support us via Patreon!Learn more: https://www.boslaarts.com/tapp-lastesisFollow Bosla Arts on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/boslaarts/

The Art Persists Podcast is back with Season 6!Join us for one of our best seasons yet as we chat to artists and activists from all around the world.We'll talk about some of the biggest threats facing the arts today, hear from those who are using their work to fight for freedom and justice globally no matter the cost, and have conversations with poets, writers, film makers and more about how art can help make the changes we want to see in society today.Join us for the first episode out Wednesday, 8 May 2024.We are on Patreon! If you are enjoying the podcast, please consider subscribing to support our costs. From as little as £3 a month.And don't forget to subscribe wherever you listen.

We chat to Sami Tamimi about his life growing up in East Jerusalem where he became interested in cooking after working in a hotel at the age of 17. His career took off when he moved first to Tel Aviv before settling permanently in London. Sami talks about the making of his cookbook, Falastin, which explores contemporary Palestinian food and tells the story of the Palestinians he met along the way. We also discuss how he has been coping since the October 7 attacks and subsequent siege on Gaza which at the time of recording has killed more than 20,000 people. As always, if you are enjoying the Art Persists podcast please leave a review wherever you listen. Only with your help can these important stories be heard.Learn more: https://www.boslaarts.com/tapp-sami-tamimiFollow Bosla Arts on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/boslaarts/

We speak to Standing Together about their grassroots movement working towards peace and justice for Palestinians and Israelis. The organisation gives us insight into Israeli attitudes towards Palestinians, particularly since the October 7 attacks and Israel's subsequent siege on Gaza. We end discussing their Theory of Change towards an equal and just future.As always, if you are enjoying the Art Persists podcast please leave a review wherever you listen. Only with your help can these important stories be heard.Learn more: https://www.boslaarts.com/tapp-standing-togetherFollow Bosla Arts on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/boslaarts/

We are joined by Palestinian artist, activist, DJ, and producer Nour Palestina.We chat to Nour about her project, Refugee Chronicles, where she interviews survivors of the 1948 Nakba which saw 700,000 Palestinians forcibly displaced and a further 15,000 killed. Nour talks about her project and its eerie parallels to Gaza today where over 1.8 million people have been internally displaced and at least 15,500 have been killed since 7 October 2023. She talks about media bias and the role of social media in unveiling the truth.As always, if you are enjoying the Art Persists podcast please leave a review wherever you listen. Only with your help can these important stories be heard.Learn more: https://www.boslaarts.com/tapp-nour-palestinaFollow Bosla Arts on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/boslaarts/

In this episode, we are joined by Kurdish poet and journalist Nedim Türfent.The conversation focuses on Nedim’s recent release from prison in Turkey, where he spent 6 years and 7 months imprisoned for his journalism. We talk about his dedication to exposing Turkey’s brutal treatment of Kurdish communities which led to his arrest and subsequent imprisonment after an incredibly unfair trial.Throughout the episode, Nedim talks about poetry as a form of resistance, something that kept him alive for all those years he was kept imprisoned and, for much of it, under solitary confinement. We are honoured to all hear Nedim recite two of his poems; Let My Heart Give Life, and Searching Trails of You, in English for the first time. Towards the end, poet Ege Dündar joins us to read the letter he sent Nedim on his release.As always, if you are enjoying the Art Persists podcast please leave a review wherever you listen. Only with your help can these important stories be heard.Learn more: https://www.boslaarts.com/tapp-nedim-turfentFollow Bosla Arts on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/boslaarts/

In the episode we chat with Cuban artist and activist Tania Bruguera about her 30-year career as a pioneering artist advocating artistic freedom and human rights in Cuba and beyond. We discuss how she uses art as a tool of social change, transforming her audience into “citizens” to bring about real change. She coins the practice Arte Útil - art as a tool.We go on to discuss the systematic oppression she has faced for her work at the hands of the Cuban state, beginning thirty years ago with the publication of a magazine to today where she lives in forced exile. We end with Bruguera discussing her complex relationship with institutions and the controversy surrounding her current exhibition at the Museo de la Solidaridad Salvador Allende in Chile.As always, if you are enjoying the Art Persists podcast please leave a review wherever you listen. Only with your help can these important stories be heard.Learn more: https://www.boslaarts.com/tapp-tania-brugueraFollow Bosla Arts on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/boslaarts/