Members of artist collectives are often not traditionally equipped or
schooled in the way that the art establishment has historically expected of
artists. Their starting point is often an urgent need to tell their own
stories within and beyond their communities and claim their place within the
dominant narrative. Not only do collectives present alternative stories and
histories, they innovate by placing collaboration and dialogue at the centre
of their activities.
The unconventional and often interdisciplinary ways of working fuel
creativity. For example, The Nest Collective, a multidisciplinary collective
living and working in Nairobi, Kenya, offer different access points to
address politically contentious topics in their local context. They achieve
this by creating work in film, music, fashion, visual arts and literature,
such as their critically acclaimed queer anthology film, Stories of Our
Lives.
Polyvocality as Resistance
By Inge de Leeuw and Julian Ross
Recent years have seen the renewed popularity of artist and filmmaker
collectives around the world. As a result of various worldwide protest
movements, there is now greater awareness of the need for more diverse
representation in film, media and other disciplines. In response to the
social and political changes, we see a shift from an individualistic model
to one that is based on collectivity, which is perhaps more appropriate for
these times. By decentralising the roles of the artist, filmmaker and
curator, traditional concepts and ideas about authorship, ownership and
gatekeeping are upended. This perhaps explains the surge of new collectives
and the renewed interest in past ones.
Many examples can be found in the art world: the Karrabing Film Collective
have held solo shows in prominent museums such as MoMA PS1 and Kunstverein
Braunschweig; Canadian indigenous collective Isuma presented their work at
the Canadian Pavilion for the 58th Venice Biennale in 2019; the 2019 Turner
Prize nominees formed a collective in order to reject the competition
inherent in such prizes, and the Turner Prize subsequently nominated four
artist collectives for their 2021 edition; artist collectives have been
appointed to helm renowned art events, such as ruangrupa from Indonesia as
the artistic director for documenta 15 in 2022.
On the one hand, the spotlight on artist collectives within major
institutions gives space for previously underrepresented voices to be heard,
to be included in the canon, to be part of the discourse on art and society.
On the other hand, it raises some questions: What happens when different
modus operandi are incorporated in the traditional structures of the art
world and the film market? What does it actually mean to be in a collective
when the term has diffused to encompass many things, from artists making
work together to temporary collectives being formed for marketing or
commercial purposes? Is the idea of a collective in these different forms an
invaluable tool for filmmakers and artists to retain agency over their own
work?
In Domain: Collectives, we present artists and filmmakers who have united
for specific sociopolitical purposes. It is a programme about artists who
make work collectively to resist the dominant structures of art and film
production by de-emphasising the individual and resisting the cult of
genius. Their activities remind us that filmmaking is more often than not a
collective endeavour that involves multiple people channelling their
creativity and labour towards a project. The resultant works imagine
alternative futures and propose different ways of looking at the present and
the past, no longer shackled by dominant narratives. With the resurgence of
collectives in recent years, we are seeing previously under-represented
voices unify to bring imagination and criticality in a moment that feels we
need it most.
Still, collective filmmaking isn’t a recent phenomenon. The 1970s and ’80s
saw many collectives break out across the world. Through juxtaposing key
examples from the past with exemplary recent works, we hope to share the
many similarities and differences in themes that collective filmmaking touch
on despite being 50 years apart.
Domain: Collectives revolves and reverberates around some of the most hotly
debated topics today, including land rights, gender and spirituality—three
themes highlighted in the short film programmes. Predecessors to
contemporary collectives expressed their need to change the narrative for
the future. How much of this did we inherit and live through? We see a
return to these issues on our current agendas, and we can only hope we have
now arrived at the moment when these debates culminate in social change.
Underrepresented Stories and Voices
More Than Just Collective Production
We see collectives who exercise tight agency over their work by not only
making films and art together, but also collectively producing and
distributing their work. A successful example is the French female
collective, Les Insoumuses—founded by Carole Roussopoulos, Delphine Seyrig
and Ioana Wieder—who produced videos to document the struggles of women in
the ’70s. They later founded the Centre Audiovisuel de Simone de Beauvoir,
firmly retaining the rights of their works in their own hands.
Agency is also central to the group of day labourers and filmmakers involved
in Yama—Attack to Attack (1985), a powerful activist documentary exposing
the corruption between the yakuza and the police. Following the murders of
both co-directors for their involvement in the film, the YAMA Production and
Exhibition Committee have collectively ensured that each screening is
properly contextualised due to the sensitive content.
In Sudan in the 1970s and early ’80s, a group of filmmakers working in the
film department of the Ministry of Culture founded the Sudanese Film Group
(SFG) in order to be able to act more independently of the state. Their aim
was to be involved in all aspects of film production, screening, teaching
and igniting a passion for cinema in Sudan. The 1989 coup and subsequent
military rule brought about distrust of all forms of art and ended all
cultural endeavours. In 2005, the firm hand of the state was finally
somewhat loosened and SFG was able to register again. They are currently
working towards building a cinema culture in their home country through
organising screenings as seen in the documentary Talking About Trees (2019).
In this programme, we screen their compelling short film The Tomb.
The recent transition of artist collective Ummah Chroma into an independent,
artist-led production company, Ummah Chroma Creative Partners, also speaks
to the expanding function of a collective. The company’s intention is to
create a unique space of fostering to create, elevate and preserve authentic
Black narratives and perspectives in all media including advertising,
television, cinema and art. Rather than comprising artists only, the
collective have two producers among them, thus safeguarding the commercial
aspect of their work and ideas.
In the United States as well, film collective COUSIN support indigenous
artists to experiment with form and genre in their filmmaking. Founded in
2018 by Sky Hopinka, Adam Khalil, Alexandra Lazarowich and Adam Piron,
COUSIN actively create space for poetic works driven by strong artistic
voices, recognising that the industry’s expectation for indigenous
filmmaking has been historically limited to straightforward documentaries
and that there is a need to fortify the space for creativity. We are
screening one of numerous projects they have supported in recent years, Maat
Means Land (2020) by Fox Maxy.
Agency and Polyvocality
We started this essay with a reflection on the inclusion and appointment of
collectives as artistic directors in long-running art institutions and the
spotlighting of artist and filmmaker collectives in their programmes.
However, these are not systemic changes—at least, not yet. These initiatives
are often temporary detours before they return to their familiar ways. A
question arises: If the policy and zeitgeist change, will institutions still
offer space for underrepresented voices? Or would they by then have become
completely assimilated into the mainstream; if so, is this the goal?
At least, art institutions have been awakened by collectives. They have
offered the latter more than a platform to not only present their work, but
also to take on decision-making and organisational roles. But why have we
yet to see the same take place in the film industry? While works by film
collectives have screened in festivals and theatres, we are only beginning
to see collectives taking on other roles in the ecosystem of filmmaking—and
what we see is self-organised and situated at the periphery. Will the film
industry ever commit to initiating fundamental changes to how they operate,
or will their relationship with film collectives be nothing more than
short-term flings? Our hope is that this film series can contribute to a
conversation towards a film culture and industry that can be collectively
imagined.
