The Art of Social Change The Art of Social Change

This is the second part of our interview with Meriem Chabani, co-founder of New South, an international architecture, urban design and research practice based in Paris and Brussels. Our last episode left off as Meriem explained her architecture graduation project Remade in Bangladesh, where she looked at how new urban planning and architecture could improve the working conditions and the versatility of the Bangladesh’s landscape. If you want to see images of the projects discussed please go to our instagram account @theartofsocialchange. Enjoy the episode !

For our 31st episode we spoke to Meriem Chabani, co-founder of New South Architects. New South is an international architecture, urban design and research practice based in Paris and Brussels. During our conversation we discussed how relationships of power are present in cities, often taking the form of architecture and urban planning. We explored the idea of working from the point of view of the global south in order to find solutions that may also apply elsewhere. Our interview got so good that we ended up dividing this episode in two parts. We will be releasing part 2 in the coming weeks. If you would like to see images of the projects we discussed during the podcast you can go to our Instagram account @theartofsocialchange. We hope you enjoy this episode!   

For our 29th episode we spoke to Angolan-Portuguese artist Mónica de Miranda in Lisbon. Monica’s research-led practice is grounded in the concepts of urban archeology and emotional geography. Her films, installations and photographs are inspired by her own personal story and anchored in postcolonial politics, emancipation and identity.

During our interview we discussed her recent film The Island, her installation Mirage and the series of photographs titled Shadows Fall Behind. If you would like to see images of the works we discussed during the podcast you can go to our Instagram account @theartofsocialchange. We hope you enjoy this episode!

For our 29th episode, Alix had a conversation with Chaveli Sifre while visiting La Embajada’s booth in Liste, a fair in Switzerland dedicated to international, independent galleries and spaces. In her gallery's booth, Chaveli was conducting an experiment. Sitting in a corner, looking over a glass contraption, she distilled an odd mixture of water, money given to her or found in wishing wells, and locally sourced "healing alpine plants". Through this performance, Sifre explored the reduction of bodies to capital and means to reverse this process. Listen to the full episode to find out more about this serendipitous encounter.

In our 28th episode, curator Marielsa Castro made us wonder, What does it take to construct the bonds that bind communities together? How can we create genuine relationships with our neighbors?
During our conversation, we discussed how her interest in collectivity and commoning has led her to be a part of the cooperative Coopia and how this has influenced her current role in the Jumex Museum in Mexico City. She walked us through the museum’s recent project Museos en Común, where the entire team sought to build a long-lasting bond with with the people of their neighboring food market Mercado Granada.

As usual If you would like to see images of the artworks and projects we discuss on the podcast, and to stay up to date on the upcoming episodes you can go to our Instagram account @theartofsocialchange.

For this episode, we had a conversation with Yoshua Okón. Yoshua was born in Mexico City in 1970, where he currently lives and where Gabriela met with him.
His work ressembles a series of near sociological experiments executed for the camera. They blend stage situations, documentation, and improvisation to question our perceptions of reality and truth. In this episode, Gaby and Yoshua talked about staging real life soap operas, about police forces in Mexico, Astroturfing, about sneaking into a Los Angeles cinema set, political slogans, the movie industry and so many other things.

Enjoy!