In the public arena, stupidity and ignorance are omnipresent. They are even celebrated and institutionalised. From media to politics through education, critical thinking is losing ground to easy solutions, quick fixes and lighthearted entertainment. Contemporary arts incite criticism, ask difficult questions, make people think. However, we also submit to the general tendency, in the way we present and defend our work, hoping to attract a wider audience, to get subsidies or to confirm our value.
Stupidity defies deliberative democracy, citizens’ participation, public debate and political action. Isn’t therefore our most urgent responsibility as arts workers to challenge it, oppose it and fight it? What are our strategies of resistance? How to keep and promote a critical look at society, when self satisfactory ignorance reigns? This session will look for new ideas and good practices that could encourage us to keep on resisting the politics of stupidity.

Speaker:
Nielsen / Das Beckwerk Museum (dependent, www.dasbeckwerk.com - Copenhagen) 

Moderator:
Emina Visnic (POGON – Zagreb Center for Independent Culture and Youth - Zagreb, HR)