CREATING A REVOLUTIONARY CULTURAL FRONT

“We don’t need any more writers as solitary heroes. We need a heroic writers’ movement: assertive, militant, pugnacious.” - Toni Morrison

Inspired by work undertaken through Writers Against the War on Gaza (WAWOG), this course will examine what it means to create a revolutionary cultural front. Combining historical education, literary and artistic analysis, and creative production, sessions will explore literary and artistic modes of struggle throughout the history of Palestinian resistance, from the revolts of the early 20th century through the Intifadas to the present day. We will also examine written works, visual art, and organizing and direct action as formats of cultural production, analyzing how they create consciousness and disrupt within the heart of empire. In addition to historical examples from Palestine, materials in this course will also draw on cultural blocks that formed during moments of resistance, from the Vietnam War and the AIDS crisis to the current ongoing genocide in Gaza. We will also hear from culture workers who have been organizing around the liberation of Palestine. 

Participants in this course will be challenged to set aside individualistic notions of creative expression, bridging creativity with material effectiveness and heeding revolutionary calls to create in service of liberation. Participants will work in groups on writing, visual art, or a direct action or organizing proposal, building off of the unique skills that each person brings. This course seeks to resist hegemonic forms of education that divorce theory and knowledge from action. What’s learned and created will be in service of action, but action and organizing will also be reframed as forms of cultural production.
THIS CLASS IS AVAILBLE IN PERSON ONLY
​AT ABRONS ARTS CENTER:
466 Grand Street, NY, NY

TUESDAYS 6-8 PM EST
April 2 - April 23, 2024
4 sessions
$250 Tuition
BIPOC sliding scale available
50% low income discount available
+ $25 non-refundable registration fee

INSTRUCTOR

Naib Mian is an editor, writer, and organizer based in New York City. He edits interpretive content for The Metropolitan Museum of Art, and multimedia and reportage for the South Asian Avant Garde Anthology. Having reported in Chicago, Cape Town, and New York, his writing, published in The New Yorker, The Nation, Lux Magazine, and Acacia Magazine, focuses on politics, labor, arts and culture, queerness, religion, and the shifting intersections of these realms. He has organized as part of The New Yorker Union and with The NewsGuild of New York and most recently has been working on labor organizing through Writers Against the War on Gaza and a coalition of museum and culture workers. https://www.naibmian.com/
Image credit: Prisoner's Day, Kamel al Mughanni (1977) - The Palestine Poster Projects Archives
This program is made possible through the generous support of the New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA).