FORUM TANZ 2024
The input “Art of Solidarity” given by social anthropologist Rohit Jain at Forum Tanz 2024 has been documented and is available to be read. It contains practical and theoretical food for thought for pluralistic cultural institutions.
In his lecture at “Forum Tanz 2024”, social anthropologist Rohit Jain offered theoretical and practical suggestions for an “art of solidarity” rooted in experience and collective struggle. Jain, who has been active in anti-racist movements for years, combines research, culture, politics and activism to question the role of the arts in building solidary, fair and integrative relationships.
Starting from the observation that concepts such as solidarity, participation, diversity and anti-discrimination have also gained in importance in Swiss culture, Jain notes that these are not only political or ethical issues, but also deeply aesthetic ones. He is convinced that in times of systemic crisis, art must invent and practice new forms of relationship. For Jain, cultivating an “art of solidarity” also means considering cultural sites as accessible and pluralistic spaces in which it is possible to build genuine alliances and develop more equitable, vulnerable, and at the same time more resilient forms of coexistence.
In his lecture, Jain also shares his personal experiences, such as how humor was used as a tool of resistance and anti-racist expression at the festival “Laugh Up Stand Up!” (Zurich, 2015). Jain is currently working on the “Schwarzenbach Complex,” an anti-racist memory project that involves witnesses, artists, researchers, and activists in the creation of postcolonial public spaces and communities of solidarity.