The Process: What happens when performance meets everyday activism?

About this episode

This episode explores the intersection of art and activism through the lens of Cooking Sections' installation, The Ministry of Sewers.

Artist duo Cooking Sections blur the lines between art and activism with their installation, The Ministry of Sewers. The Ministry of Sewers is an exhibit by artist duo Cooking Sections for the Folkestone Triennial. Inspired by the 1976 appointment of Dennis Howell as Minister for Drought – then Minister for Floods and Snows – it invites audiences to reimagine an alternative public service, using the voices of local communities to mobilise action against the scale of water pollution in the UK and reclaim the coastlines. From raw sewage spills to stream contamination and agrochemicals, The Ministry of Sewers amplifies the voices of swimmers, schoolchildren, farmers and scientists alike, all the while demanding change in shaping an alternative future of clean, swimmable seas all year. In this episode of The Process, Cooking Sections’ Daniel Fernández Pascual and Alon Schwabe explore the blurry boundaries between fact and fiction in artmaking: how might art and activism intersect, and can performance be a tool for direct change? They hear from Paula Serafini, Senior Lecturer in Creative and Cultural Industries at Queen Mary, University of London, and Liv Pennington and Michele…

People in this episode

Guests: Daniel Fernández Pascual, Alon Schwabe

Topics covered

• art and activism
• performance
• water pollution
• community engagement
• environmental change

Keywords

• art
• activism
• performance
• water pollution
• community
• environment
• Folkestone Triennial

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Cooking Sections, Queen Mary, University of London

Books & works: The Ministry of Sewers

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