Illuminating the Arts-Policy Nexus 
Illuminating the Arts-Policy Nexus is a fortnightly series of articles on the role of art in public policymaking. This series invites WPI fellows and project leaders as well as external practitioners to contribute pieces on how artists have led policy change and how policymakers can use creative strategies.
In Every Nation for Itself: Winners and Losers in a G-Zero World, World Policy Institute Senior Fellow Ian Bremmer illustrates a historic shift in the international system and the world economy—and an unprecedented moment of global uncertainty.
Illuminating the Arts-Policy Nexus
World Policy Institute Senior Fellow Todd Lester is organizing a fortnightly series of articles on the role of art in public policymaking. The series invites WPI fellows and project leaders as well as external practitioners to contribute pieces on how artists have led policy change and how policymakers can use creative strategies. The core themes engaged by WPI—media/conflict, security, water, migration, and the economy—will serve as guideposts for the series. When asked why 'this series', Lester responds:
Over the last several years, I’ve spent my time and energy trying from both the arts side and the policy side to create a bridge of understanding between arts and policy. What do artists mean for example when they claim to have a social practice? How does one assess that? I believe that a social practice can be verified by asking the creative practitioner to identify the policy area in which she/he hopes to affect change. I encourage using a policy lens to evaluate social change, because I think it helps artists to assert their influence and feel more legitimate in the face of shrinking cultural resources as they identify the area of society in which they seek to affect change as well as how that change may be measured. Similarly, I think that policymakers stand to learn new ways of communicating and advocating policy change through closer contact with artists working on the same issues.
"Go Home Yankee Hipster": How to Make Friends and Improve Public Art
In summer 2011, Shepard Fairey's mural on a controversial spot in Copenhagen earned him a black eye and his work defaced. Looking ahead, Martin Rosengaard and Wooloo have a new idea to improve public art by connecting artists to the communities they visit.
Toward a Common Archive: Reframing the Roots of Palestine and Israel
French-Israeli director Eyal Sivan wants to reshape the way Israelis and Palestinians think about the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. By creating an archive of memories, Sivan hopes a dose of realism will help broker trust in the long run.
Popular Dissent: Why Pussy Riot and Ai Weiwei Are Only the Beginning
In the first of a 10-part fortnightly series on the arts-policy nexus, Alice Wang argues that dissident artists like Ai Weiwei and Pussy Riot will usher in a new era of protest art.
A Drop of Life: A Filmmaker's Journey Inside the World Water Crisis
In the second installment of our 10-part series on the arts-policy nexus, filmmaker Shalini Kantayya describes how life imitated art when the dystopian future of paywalls for water depicted in her sci-fi film came to pass in real life, and what it means for the prospect of peace and the fate of humanity in the 21st century.
Reclaiming Unused Urban Space
The third arts-policy nexus article highlights an issue closer to home, but which resonates across borders: the public use of unused space.
Mapping Migration: Putting Journeys in Context
Barrak Alzaid reviews an image and video project by Bouchra Khalili that documents tales of migration. By showing these journeys in and out of their geographic context, Khalili pushes viewers to imagine their stories.
For the Sake of Others
Excerpts from The Mantle’s latest virtual roundtable in which four artists and allies with contrasting perspectives attempt to answer the question, "What is the role of the artist in a conflict zone?"
Did You Kiss the Dead Body?: Visualizing Absence in the Archive of War
Death certificates and autopsy reports of ill-treated Iraqi and Afghani men can serve as more than evidence of Bush and Obama administration abuses of power. After a stint as the ACLU's Artist-in-Residence, Rajkamal Kahlon, writes about the deeper meanings of these documents.
The Dry Wind Came: Breaking the Cycle of Violence in South Africa
Since August, South Africa has been embroiled in violence not seen since the fall of apartheid, all sparked by a massacre of striking platinum miners in Marikana. Now Nick Boraine and the other members of the Global Arts Corps must use their experience overcoming the wounds of apartheid to help their own country heal again, as they have tried to do worldwide.
Echoes of the Lost Boys of Sudan: Excerpts From a Graphic Novel
In 1983, four boys ran from their villages in southern Sudan, fleeing a violent army from the north. Niki Singleton interviewed the four boys when they finally got asylum and arrived in the U.S., and crafted their tales into a graphic novel.
Dissident Artists Matter, Regardless of Their Fame
Uncelebrated dissident artists, writes Sidd Joag, are often the most consequential. While high-profile rebellions like those of Ai Weiwei and Pussy Riot serve a purpose, artists working behind the scenes should not be forgotten.
An Artist Paints His Country's Toil
Kristin Deasy profiles an Iraqi artist named Ayad Alkadhi whose work reflects the violent politics and tortured history of his homeland.
Masked Faces, Censored Hopes: An Interview with Artist Shurooq Amin
World Policy Institute associate fellow Shaun Randol interviews Shurooq Amin, a Syrian-Kuwaiti artist whose show "It's a Man's World" was shut down by the Kuwaiti government. This act of government censorship only emboldened Amin. "Censorship," she says, "has only made me stronger."
