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Lookup NU author(s): Michael MulvihillORCiD
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For this fourth edition of the Ghetto Biennial I propose to make drawings in response to the social, economic and geopolitical relationships of the charcoal trade in Haiti. The drawings will be made in situ utilizing charcoal manufactured in Port au Prince during the production period, and will use walls, pavements and any other available exterior surface to draw upon. The Ghetto Biennial offers an opportunity to enact notions of artistic performativity as an instigator of reconstructions in response to the aftermath of 2010 earthquake and in doing so will develop dialogues that explore the history of Haiti in relationship to geopolitics, the charcoal trade and environmentalism, and how these are articulated through community and culture. Charcoal has been a symbolic motif that provide the motivation to use drawing as a way to explore the relationship between private lives and wider political imperatives. Often using a childhood fear of nuclear war as a starting point to reveal global structures of power projection and the effect upon individuals. The impetus to use drawing came after the inauguration of George W Bush in 2001, when White House rhetoric returned to old Cold War belligerence. In the summer prior to September 11 2001 the Bush administration placed China as the new enemy to "the free world", while unveiling plans for a new orbital strategic bomber. My childhood Cold War fear of nuclear war returned, along with the thought that should there be a nuclear exchange with China then maybe charcoal would be the only abundant material left, to continue to make art.
Artist(s): Mulvihill M, et al
Publication type: Exhibition
Publication status: Published
Year: 2015
Number of Pieces: 1
Location: Port-au-Prince, Haiti
URL: http://ghettobiennale.org/4th-ghetto-biennale-2015/image-gallery/
