NEW POLITICAL MYTHOLOGIES AND ART

Ready to Change International Conference

Mark Twain’s quote “never let the truth get in the way of a good story” has its dark side. Cognitive science is increasingly establishing that facts don’t necessarily affect our perception of reality. Translating this into the language of mythology, one could say that myths are impervious to the negating and exposing power of fact, no matter how irrefutable.

The greatest myths of our time are those of the omnipotence of capital, the impossibility of true democracy, of irreconcilable differences between us and them, myths of the divinity of the nation-state, not least myths claiming change is impossible, that passivity and chaos are the order of the day.

The conference, focusing on the connection between contemporary political mythologies and art, isn’t interested as much in the deconstruction of current myths as in the exploration of the potential stories, narratives and mythologies of the future, and the role played by art in their emergence – an endeavour underscored with hope we’ll manage to transcend the stale, tired discourse of present day. The conference is designed as a set of diverse formats, all of which open up space for discussion and encourage attempts of thinking outside the box of today’s political mythologies. Spotlight will also belong to the artists; perhaps they are the ones who can wrest the construction of mythology from the claws of daily politics. Let’s join them in this!